A while back , I rabbit on about the Services bill of fare in OS X. As a brief retread , the Services menu is potentially quite utile — it lease you do things to excerption ( of textbook , file , folders ) from many diligence . However , the user has no control over this menu — it can be modified by any installed app , and the user will not be notified of a change to the menu .
The spread of Services
Over time , especially if ( like me ) you bask downloading and taste out some of the huge mixed bag of OS X applications , you ’ll find yourself with an out - of - control Services menu . As a real - world deterrent example , here ’s what the Services menu look like on my G5 only a few months after doing a clean install of OS X 10.4 :
Ugh ! There ’s no way that menu is anything close to useable , and it ’s loaded with Services that I ’ll never use . ( Launching a Call of Duty multiplayer waiter ? Translating Chinese text ? ) unluckily , there ’s no Malus pumila - provided method of managing your Services menu .
Enter Peter Maurer’sService Scrubber (; donationware ) . ( Full revelation : my name appears in the credits for Service Scrubber , as it was my complaining to Peter that prompted him to publish the app in the first place . However , I have not been involved in the product , beyond my initial supplication for help and testing other interlingual rendition . )
Using Service Scrubber
Robert William Service Scrubber is an software with a very simple purpose in biography : to give you , the user , control over your Services bill of fare . When you launch the programme , it will glance over your motorcar for all register Services . This process can take a bit of time , especially if you have a lot of Services . Once it ’s done with the initial CAT scan , you ’ll see the Service Scrubber window :
There are two way you may use Service Scrubber . If you select the Services Menu item in the Source pillar , you’re able to direct enable or disable any given service provide by an covering . Remove the checkmark next to any servicing ’s name , and it will be removed from your menu ( as soon as you dawn the Save button ) . This is the quickest way to empty your Services card ; just scroll through the leaning and will only those serve you trust enabled . But what befall when you see a service whose name is n’t familiar to you ? Or what if you see manifest extra in the list ?
In those cases , you ’ll desire to use the entries in the Service Providers section of the Sources column . In this field you ’ll find an introduction for every program program that ’s providing a service of process to the Services carte . When you cluck on an entry in the Service Providers department , the bottom of the Service Scrubber window will show you the full path to the selected broadcast . This can be a good way to find extra that descend from other hard drive or partitions , as seen here :
observe that I have multiple entries for both SpeechService and Stickies . That ’s because I have three freestanding OS X partition ( 10.3.9 , current live version , and an observational sectionalisation ) , and these help can be found in all three . ( There is an pick in Service Scrubber ’s preference to only search your the boot bulk . ) As noted in the highlighted row , however , I have turn off the ingress for the copy of Stickies that reside on my old system disk ( and I ’ve done the same for the data-based divider ) , leave just the one from my boot disc . In practice , you do n’t really need to do this , as OS X wo n’t list accurate twinned entrance in the Services menu . I just choose to have the structure visibly blank so I recognize exactly which version of a given Service is being used .
you could also assign your own keyboard shortcuts — just two-fold - detent in the Key column next to the entry whose time value you ’d care to set or change , and the Inspector window will open . ( you’re able to not transfer the cutoff for a booklet moderate Services , only for the service themselves ) . Just enter your preferable shortcut in the Keyboard Shortcut box . you could also rename Services in this same dialog , and even rearrange them . However , since there ’s no material GUI method acting to move and stage the overhaul ( you have to type the name of a folder in the Submenu box in the Inspector window ) , I would n’t necessarily advise going unhinged with the rearrangement feature .
After you ’ve checked and unchecked Services as you wish , click the Save button in the toolbar . record your admin password when cue , and Service Scrubber will make your changes semi - lasting . I say “ semi - lasting ” because Service Scrubber works in an intelligent personal manner — you’re able to well undo any change , even after saving . In the Source column , any Service that ’s been disabled will appear with a small trigon in a round icon next to its name . penetrate that ikon , and the Service will be re - enable . So it ’s always easygoing to go back , in fount you find you want a Service that you ’ve disabled .
I establish another welfare to using Service Scrubber — I found that I had many duplicate copies of certain applications stash on multiple hard drives . Since they all shew up in the Source pillar in Service Scrubber ( with their path and a crosscut “ go to ” button visible in the condition measure below ) , it was simple to then delete the duplicates in the Finder .
Conclusion
Service Scrubber puts me ( finally ! ) in charge of my Services menu . Since instal it a couple months ago , I ’ve found that I now use Services much more often than I did before — mainly because my Services menu is now of a reasonable size :
Once you ’ve done a “ mass edit , ” you do n’t need to feed Service scrub brush every day . or else , summate it to the list of things you lead once a month or so , or run it again when you acknowledge new applications sneaking their way into the Services menu .
Apple really needs to build similar functionality into OS X. Until it does , though , Service Scrubber will be doing the job for me .
