What to do if your Mac slows down

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

12 effective ways to speed up your Apple computer.

1. Remove unnecessary programs from the startup list

Some programs are loaded automatically when macOS starts up. They always work in the background, therefore they use RAM and load the processor. Because of this, the power of the Mac may not be enough for the rest of the tasks.

Check your startup list. If it contains programs that you do not need to run constantly, remove them from this list. Expand the Apple menu and go to System Preferences → Users & Groups. Then go to the Login Items tab. To delete a program, select it and click on the minus button.

2. Check the amount of free disk space

Mac performance depends on the amount of free disk space available. If the drive is more than 90% full, the computer may slow down.

Check how much space is left on your drive. Expand the Apple menu, click "About This Mac" and click the "Storage" tab. If the free space is less than 10% of the drive capacity, clean the disk from unnecessary files. To do this, click "Manage" and follow the recommendations of the system to optimize storage.

3. Remove unnecessary programs from your computer

Perhaps, among the programs you have installed, those that you do not use have accumulated. They take up disk space and can use up other system resources, slowing down your Mac.

Find and remove any unnecessary programs. Open Finder → Applications and look for them in the list that opens. If you find it, in turn drag the shortcuts of such applications to the trash can icon.

4. Clear the system cache

As you use macOS, software garbage accumulates in a special section of memory called the cache. And because of this, your Mac may slow down. Clear the cache using special programs or manually.

5. Remove unnecessary objects from the desktop

Perhaps you store files and folders right on your desktop. This is not a good practice as such objects take up RAM. If there are too many of these files and folders, or they are large, computer performance may slow down. Therefore, it is better to remove them from the desktop and distribute them in other partitions of the disk.

6. Optimize your Spotlight experience

Spotlight indexes file system partitions to help you find the files and folders you need. Indexing takes a significant amount of resources, and in some cases results in slow Mac performance.

To test the relationship between Spotlight and system speed, go to System Preferences → Applications → Utilities → System Monitor from the Apple menu. In the table that appears, click on the "% CPU" column so that the most gluttonous processes are on top.

If you notice that when your computer slows down, processes named mdworker are at the top of the list and the graph displays an increased load at the bottom of the window, try optimizing Spotlight search.

You probably have folders on your computer with many attached files that you don't need to search for. Exclude these sections from the indexing list. To do this, expand the Apple menu and click System Preferences → Spotlight. Go to the Privacy tab and drag and drop folders here that the service should not index.

7. Understand the processes that boot the computer

There may be other processes in the System Monitor menu that place an increased load on the processor. If they belong to programs you know, try closing the latter. If there are unknown processes among them, look on the Web for additional information about why they consume a lot of resources and whether they can be stopped.

8. Check the disk for errors

Mac performance may slow down due to drive errors. You can check for them using Disk Utility. If problems are found, she will try to solve them.

Open Finder → Applications → Utilities and launch Disk Utility. In the left pane, select the drive to check and click "First Aid" and then "Run."

If the system refuses to check the disk, it may be damaged. Copy important data to third-party media and, if other advice does not help, contact the service center. Sounds such as crunching and clicking sounds can also indicate a drive failure.

9. Update the system to the current version

The drop in performance can be caused by errors in the macOS system itself or by poor optimization. Developers are trying to quickly fix such oversights with updates.

Update macOS to the latest version available. To check its availability, open the App Store and on the top toolbar, click on the "Updates" button.

10. Check your RAM consumption

Often, serious performance problems are associated with a lack of RAM.

To check its status, open the "System Preferences" → "Programs" → "Utilities" → "System Monitor". Select the "Memory" tab and look at the bottom of the "Memory Load" indicator. If you see a red color on it, then the system does not have enough RAM.

Follow the rest of the guidelines in this article. If they don't help, consider adding more memory or replacing your Mac with a more powerful one.

11. Make sure the computer is cool

Mac may slow down when it gets too hot. Therefore, it is worth monitoring the temperature of the processor and other components. If it exceeds the permissible values, take measures to cool the device.

12. Restore the system to a previous state

Perhaps the slow speed of your computer is the result of errors in macOS that have accumulated over a long time of using it. If all else fails, try restoring your system to a previous state.