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1. Is your Mac acting a bit sluggish?
This article is for you if you see your Mac on this (non-exhaustive) list:
- The Mac you have is old.
- The hard disc appears to be nearly full.
- Some applications are no longer supported by your OS.
- You believe your access permissions need to be adjusted.
- Your Mac starts up with a lot of applications running simultaneously and automatically.
- Your Mac was left running with some applications open because you frequently forget to shut it down completely.
2. Shut down all unused programmes.
Although it might seem obvious, end any unnecessary background programmes first.
You might not have used a programme for days or even weeks, but your Mac may be devoting all of its memory and processor to it.
Just look at the Dock to find the affected applications. They are open if you see a dot below them.
You can check the Show indications for the open programmes box under Dock in System Preferences if you can't see anything and want to be sure.
If not, you can display the Apps Switcher by pressing Cmd and Tab (the key above Shift). To switch between applications, hold down both keys and press the Tab key.
There are three methods for closing open programmes:
- Click Exit from the context menu of the concerned app.
- Press the Ctrl key to select the concerned app, then click Exit.
- If you're using the App Switcher, hold down Cmd while pressing the Q key.
Your Mac may be slowing down because of this application if the Force Quit option is presented to you.
3. Use Activity Tracker to find programmes that use a lot of electricity.
Some applications need more storage and power than others.
All you have to do to find them is go to Utilities, choose Activity Monitor (or press cmd and the space bar), then type activity into the search box.
You can view every action your Mac takes in the Activity Monitor. Please take note that certain operations cannot be stopped.
Click Processor, then click% Processor to display the programmes from most resource-intensive to least resource-intensive in ascending order.
The same is true of the memory, disc, and network options.
You can end the most resource-intensive apps from the monitor. To accomplish this, choose your application and press the X button in the top left corner.
Keep in mind that they frequently undergo upgrades, which ought to improve their effectiveness and speed up their execution.
4. Modify your system settings.
Look at the last row in System Preferences after opening. This is a list of all the programmes you've added to the system. Delete them if you don't utilise them.
Nothing could be easier than to remove the "Flash Player" preferences window by performing a right-click on the application, in this case Flash Player.
5. Startup applications.
Activate System Preferences... click Users & Groups, then. Now select Open, where you can see the apps that start up with your Mac automatically.
Click (-) to remove the selections you want to close.
6. Look for open space.
Your Mac's performance is partially influenced by the amount of storage it has. Both reading and writing to the Mac's internal virtual memory is required. Data not used by random access memory (RAM) is temporarily kept in this additional memory space.
All of this brings up the subject of defragmentation, which is the clustering of scattered file fragments on the disc so that they may be accessed more quickly and conveniently.
File fragmentation is guarded against by the security features of macOS. This is most likely the cause of Disc Utility's lack of a defragmentation option. However, you must have at least 10% of your hard drive free for these security measures to function.
Your Mac will ultimately run out of memory, so replacing it won't help. Therefore, it would be wiser to "free yourself" completely from the largest files.
Large backups of programmes you no longer use, accumulated emails, or collections of images can all be included in these files.
There are various methods for determining the available space.
One of them is to select About this Mac from the Apple menu by selecting the Apple logo in the top left corner.
The amount of backup space used and the programmes taking up this space will be computed when you choose Storage from the tabs.
To maximise your backup space in newer versions of macOS, choose Storage and choose from the options presented. Otherwise, A really nice alternative is iCloud.
The free trial versions of WhatSize and OmniDiskSweeper can both be used to determine how much disc space each application on your Mac consumes.
7. Relocate your images and music files
You'll be shocked by how much room your computer's images, videos, and music take up.
You can save them on a USB stick, an external hard drive, or iCloud to free up space.
You may also sign up for iTunes March, a programme that enables you to upload your music to the cloud. Once there, you can access it from any device and manage it however you see appropriate.
8. Clean up the Downloads folder and the recycle bin.
Empty your recycle bin for another manipulation that is very evident.
Select Empty Trash by performing a right-click on the trash icon in the Dock.
In the Downloads folder, you can also remove pointless files. Click Downloads on the Dock to open the files, and all of their contents will be shown.
9. Remove big and outdated files
Another easy approach to free up space is to launch Finder, choose All My Files, and then arrange the files by date or size.
You can view files that take up a lot of space by sorting by size, and you can delete the oldest files by sorting by date.
Click on the wheel-shaped icon to get started. Select the Size checkbox under Organise by after selecting Show presentation options.
10. Remove all mini-apps and programmes.
The greatest place to start is frequently by deleting widgets and programmes.
The programmes can be moved to the Trash by simple drag and drop, but we advise utilising a programme like CleanMyMac X. You can find out how much disc space each application is consuming and when you last used it. It will take care of erasing both of them and any related files.
The widgets (mini-apps) in the notification centre should be removed, why not? To achieve this, click the bulleted list and choose the Today view in the top right corner of your screen.
If you don't need widgets, choose Edit All from the bottom menu and then click the red minus sign.
11. Programme updates, whether manually or automatically
Ensure that your macOS and all of your programmes are current. Click on the Apple icon in the top left corner to get started. Click Updates in the App Store.
Apps that weren't bought from the Apple Store must be updated separately, so keep that in mind.
If the Check for automatic updates check box is not already selected, click System Preferences... App Store to have macOS update automatically. Additionally, check the Install application updates box.
The widgets (mini-apps) in the notification centre should be removed, why not? To achieve this, click the bulleted list and choose the Today view in the top right corner of your screen.
If you don't require widgets, select Edit All from the bottom menu.
12. Remove the caches.
The Cache mechanism, which saves small files on the hard drive for later use, is heavily utilised by Mac.
The system controls some and applications control others. For instance, a web browser can hide web pages so that the hard disc can read the site's cached data instead of having to reload it when a page is accessed later. The quicker presentation of previously viewed pages is made possible by this procedure.
It should be noted that not all apps have access to these files; to check, press Cmd + Shift + G from your desktop.
a window called: When the folder opens, type "/ Library / Caches /" in the box.
Don't be alarmed by the amount of megabytes; the largest files frequently originate from your web browser and software like Spotify and iTunes.
You can erase caches without reluctance, especially those connected to unused programmes, as they are only regenerated when necessary. You have the option to clear the caches from Safari, Firefox, and iTunes.
There are numerous applications that delete caches and advise you to choose the ones you wish to preserve, such OnyX or even Cache Cleaner.
13. Delete Safari caches
Speaking of caches, Safari is clogged with them; your macOS will appreciate it if you do.
- Launch Safari
- Select Preferences.
- Choose the Privacy tab.
- To manage website data, click here.
- Next, click Delete or Delete All.
- Finally, select Done.
14. Permissions for repairs
The management of file rights and access distribution are handled by the permissions or permissions.
How to fix them
Activate Disc Utility.
Make your selection for your primary hard drive in the left-hand sidebar.
Click Run after selecting SOS.
You can no longer repair permissions through Disc Utility on El Capitan and macOS High Sierra. No repair is required since the new System Integrity Protection (SIP), a form of overprotection of the system against potential vulnerabilities, forbids any modification of authorizations.
15. Turn off the visual effects
Most people opt to keep their Dock steady in order to avoid slowing down the system.
To follow suit:
Then select System Preferences. Dock
In the app icon, uncheck all options besides Minimise Windows.
Next, choose Scale effect rather than Genie effect under Type of reduction.
16. Increase RAM
When a computer... trains, increasing RAM is frequently the first option thought of. RAM is random access memory where temporary data is saved.
See if upgrading the RAM in your Mac would make a difference before spending a lot of money.
The simplest method
After that, launch Activity Monitor from Applications Utilities.
Toggle to the Memory tab.
It won't be essential to install additional RAM if the memory indicator at the bottom of the window remains green, but if it becomes red, you should think about investing.
Additionally, your Mac model will determine how much RAM to add and how to go about doing it. To pair RAM sticks, it is still necessary to try to find ones made by the same company and with the same capacity. This is a rule that applies to all Macs.
17. Reconfigure your workplace
Each file on your desktop is an image window that has an icon or a file preview. Each window has content that is kept in RAM so that your Mac can display it when you switch to the desktop or utilise Quick Look.
In other words, when there are more files on your desktop, more RAM space is being used to store data. Your computer may become slower as a result of this.
So consider logically categorising your files, such as allocating a folder to your music, another to your photos, etc.
18. Regularly restart
Is it better to put the Mac to sleep or switch it off—this is the age-old argument.
The biggest benefit of leaving it on standby is that it will continue operating as it did before you last used it. However, because more temporary files will be kept there until your Mac is completely shut down, its standby will have an impact on the RAM.
It can "pretend" that RAM is accessible thanks to virtual memory and hard disc space. It is therefore required to consider restarting it after these empty places are filled.
Restarting your computer numerous times a day is advised, since this will enable it to delete all temporary files that have been saved and will depend on your usage and the RAM on your device.
You may always plan your Mac to shut down if you need to undertake maintenance work overnight or run maintenance scripts (basic instructions for carrying out and automating particular specialised system activities). automatically after the maintenance is complete.
In conclusion, restarting your Mac will make it faster by clearing the caches and closing the apps that are using them.
19. Spotlight Control
You have Spotlight in macOS, a tool for finding files on your Mac.
Spotlight may take longer to investigate and reexplore the system if your Mac is an older model. So, that may cause a slowdown.
Manage Spotlight to restrict the files it can explore as a fix. Go to System Preferences > Spotlight to accomplish this. Click the Privacy tab when the window appears.
Now that Spotlight doesn't need to browse those files or discs, you can drag them. He won't be able to accomplish that, in fact.
A smaller amount of files to peruse, a quicker search, and improved Mac performance are three important effects of this.
20. Design a Fusion drive of your own
Instead of the conventional hard drive, the majority of Macs come with an SSD.
Data is stored on Flash memory, such as a USB key, using SSDs, which are smaller, more energy-efficient, and faster than traditional hard drives.
The drawback is that, depending on its storage capacity, it is obviously more expensive.
Apple introduced Fusion drive technology so users wouldn't have to pick between a hard disc and an SSD or between price and performance. The only one that Mac recognises is the hybrid drive, which combines an SSD and a hard drive. Because it is faster, the operating system and applications will be stored on the SSD portion of the Fusion.
Your music, films, and images, among other stuff, will be located on the hard drive portion.
Unless your Mac has an optical drive, you can also create your own Fusion drive if your Mac has a free hard drive bay (the area on the computer where the hard drive is located).
21. Customise Finder
By default, All My Files is the first place that appears when you launch Finder.
Go to Preferences under Finder to modify this. Choose the desired location from the drop-down menu after clicking the General tab.
Viewing files can also slow down an older Mac if you have a lot of them, particularly if they are videos, graphics, or photos.
22. Turn off File Vault
Your hard drive's files are encrypted by FileVault using processor resources. If you use it, switch it off and check the performance thereafter.
What to do is as follows:
Then select System Preferences. , then select Security & Privacy.
Choose the FileVault tab.
Activate FileVault is located on the right side of the screen; if it is greyed out, FileVault is not active. FileVault is not enabled for the "Mac hd" drive, which is verified below.
If you need to deactivate it, first click on the padlock in the lower left corner of the screen, then type your password to unlock it. then deactivate FileVault.
23. It's all or nothing!
Even if none of our quick fixes for speeding up your Mac really worked for you, there is still hope: Replace your OS.
You will need to fully wipe the hard drive where your operating system is installed, so be careful; this should not be taken lightly.
The many libraries you've accumulated over the years, which could also be the reason why your computer is slow, will be specifically deleted by doing this.
Before wiping everything off your disc, keep in mind that you should create at least one (preferably two) backups of it. After installing a new operating system, you can use this to restore all of your files.