Mac Cleanup

& Optimization

If your Mac has started feeling sluggish, or things aren't syncing the way they should, you're not imagining it. I help individuals and small offices in San Francisco and Washington, DC get their Macs running well again and keep them that way.

Book an Appointment
Book an Appointment

If your Mac has started feeling sluggish, or things aren't syncing the way they should, you're not imagining it. macOS accumulates cruft over time, apps compete for resources in the background, and cloud services like iCloud, Google Drive, and OneDrive each have their own quirks that can quietly cause problems. I help individuals and small offices in San Francisco and Washington, DC get their Macs running well again and keep them that way. I don't work with large businesses or enterprise IT — my clients are people who use their computers at home or in a small office.

My approach

Most Macs have a lot in common after a few years of use: pending updates that never got installed, apps that are outdated or haven't been opened in years, old installers taking up space, and background processes running on behalf of software the owner thought they removed long ago. I know what to look for and can get through it quickly. On the sync side, I work primarily with iCloud and Google Workspace (Drive, Calendar, Gmail). I can also help with Microsoft 365, though I'll be upfront: Outlook, OneDrive, and Teams have a rocky history on Mac.

What I can help with

Slow Mac diagnosis and cleanup If your Mac is sluggish, I'll find out why. That might be background processes, memory pressure, a problematic app, or storage that's nearly full. I'll show you what I find and fix what I can in the session.

Login item and startup cleanup Apps love to add themselves to your startup list, and some keep loading pieces of themselves even after you've deleted them. Over time that adds up to a machine that takes forever to be usable after login, often slowed down by software you thought was long gone. I'll go through what's launching, trace anything suspicious back to its source, and clear out what shouldn't be there.

iCloud troubleshooting Sync stuck on "Waiting," photos not uploading, Desktop and Documents not appearing on another device: these are common problems with specific causes. I can track them down and get things moving again.

Google Workspace setup on Mac Getting Google Drive for Desktop, Google Calendar, and Gmail working well in macOS takes some deliberate configuration. I'll get them set up so they behave consistently with Apple's own apps.

Microsoft 365 on Mac Outlook, OneDrive, and Teams work on Mac, but Microsoft's Mac support has always been uneven, and some recurring issues are on Microsoft's end rather than yours. I can get things configured as well as they can be.

Family calendar setup Whether you want a shared iCloud family calendar or a shared Google Calendar, I'll set it up so everyone in the household can see and add events from any device, with no duplicates or missing invites.

Shared folder setup Shared iCloud Drive folders, shared Google Drive folders, or a combination: I'll set up a document-sharing structure your family or small team can actually use and find things in.

Multiple Macs Keeping two Macs in sync is harder than it looks, and I'll usually make the case for simplifying down to one. But if you're committed to running two, or you have separate work and personal machines, I can help you figure out what should and shouldn't sync between them and get both set up so they're stable on their own terms.

Storage management If your Mac is telling you storage is almost full, I'll help you figure out what's taking up space and what you can safely remove or move to the cloud.

macOS updates and app compatibility Hesitant to update because something broke last time? I can help you update safely, check app compatibility beforehand, and troubleshoot anything that doesn't survive the transition.

Set up right, not patched together

A lot of Mac problems trace back to apps or services that were configured in a rush, or that accumulated mismatched settings across multiple macOS upgrades and migrations. Cleaning that up isn't glamorous work, but it makes a real difference in how stable and predictable your machine feels day to day. My goal isn't to hand you a faster Mac for a week. It's to leave you with a setup that makes sense and holds up.

How it works

I work in person in San Francisco and Washington, DC, and via Zoom for clients anywhere. Sessions are typically one to two hours depending on what needs doing, though some setups take longer. I'll give you a sense of scope once I know more about your situation. Rates are listed on the booking page. Book a session

Frequently asked questions

My Mac is slow. How do I know if it's a software problem or if I need a new computer? It depends, and I can usually tell pretty quickly. A lot of slowness is software: background processes, memory pressure, storage that's nearly full, or one misbehaving app. That's fixable. If the hardware is failing or the machine is genuinely too old to run current software well, I'll tell you that honestly and help you think through your options before you spend money on a session that won't solve the underlying problem.

Do I need to back up before our session? I always encourage it, and I'll mention it when we're scheduling. Most of what I do, clearing out old app remnants, removing decade-old iPhone backups, reconnecting sync, doesn't touch anything you'd want to recover. But if you're not already running Time Machine or another backup, that's something I'm happy to set up as part of the session.

I use Google for everything, not iCloud. Can you still help? Yes. I work with Google Workspace on Mac regularly: Drive for Desktop, Calendar, and Gmail in both Apple Mail and the browser. If you're in a mixed household where some people use Google and some use Apple, I can help you figure out a setup that actually works for everyone.

My iCloud says "Waiting" and never finishes. Is that fixable? Almost always, yes. It usually comes down to a storage limit, a stalled process, a conflict between devices, or an account issue that iCloud doesn't surface clearly. It's one of the more common things I see, and it's almost always resolved within a session.

I have two Macs. Can you get them set up consistently? Honestly, my first question is whether you need two. Keeping two Macs in sync is a recurring source of frustration, and for most people, one well-set-up machine handles everything they need. That said, if you have a good reason for two, or if one is for work and one is personal, I can help you figure out exactly what should sync between them and what shouldn't, so you're not constantly fighting with mismatched files or settings.

Do you need my passwords to do this work? I'll need your macOS login password to access some system settings, and possibly your Apple ID password if we're working on iCloud. You're welcome to enter passwords yourself as we go, or you can ask me to handle it. It's entirely up to your comfort level, and I'll always tell you what I'm about to enter and why before I do.

How long does a session typically take? It depends on the scope. Diagnosing a slow Mac and cleaning up startup items usually takes about an hour. Setting up sync across multiple services and devices, or doing a full cleanup plus family sharing setup, can take two hours or more. I'll estimate the scope once I know what we're working with.

Do you help with Microsoft 365 on Mac? Yes, with a caveat. I can get Outlook, OneDrive, and Teams configured as well as they can be on macOS, and that often makes a meaningful difference. But Microsoft's Mac apps have a long history of inconsistent quality, and some issues come back to decisions Microsoft has made about how these apps are built. If that's what we're dealing with, I'll tell you rather than have you book another session chasing a problem that isn't solvable from your end.

Can I watch what you're doing so I understand it? Please do. I prefer it. I'll walk you through what I'm looking at and why, and explain what changes I'm making. If you want to know how to check something yourself in the future, I'll show you.

Related reading