Author: Maria Garner

Maria Garner

I used to do technical customer
support, now a passionate writer and
storyteller fulltime. Avid adventurer.

 
 
 
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20 ways to solve Mac slowdown

Published: 28th of March, 2024, Updated: 2nd July, 2024

You might be experiencing slowdown on your Mac for any number of reasons. Today I'll share 20 common causes and solutions for fixing a slow Mac, all without requiring any 3rd party tools or downloads. So let's get to it!

01. Overloaded cache

Your browser cache generally speeds up your web browsing but may take up too much disk space, in turn causing a slowdown. This is particularly an issue if you use more than 1 browser in the course of your work. For example you may use Safari to log in to work related sites and Firefox or Chrome for personal browsing, in this case there are 2 or 3 sets of caches on your Mac that might both be regularly outdated. Outdated caches are useless and just take up valuable space. See my How to clear cache files article for full details on how to do this manually.

02. Too many startup items

Limit the number of applications that automatically open on startup, too many apps running at startup means it takes longer for your Mac to start up and be ready for work or play. Managing startup apps is easy, open System Settings then search for "login", turn off anything you don't need immediately every time you startup your Mac. Do not leave "Allow in the Background" apps on unless they are needed to continually do some type of work on your Mac. An anti-malware or network adblocker have a reason to run in the background, most other apps do not.
Managing Login Items on Mac


03. Outdated macOS

Apple works hard to keep macOS the best desktop operating system for your Mac. They release regular updates to ensure optimal performance and security for your beloved Mac. Make sure you are running the latest version of macOS available for your model of Mac. To search for updates, go back to System Settings and search for "update" then select "Software Update". For more comprehensive instructions on how to update macOS, see Charlie's How to download the latest macOS article.

04. Low on Memory

Nowadays you cannot upgrade RAM on your Mac since it is soldered directly onto the logic board. When buying a Mac consider getting one with as much RAM as you can afford, as it will need to be enough for the lifetime of the machine. You can use Activity Monitor to view each app's memory usage and shut down memory intensive apps while they aren't in use.
Managing RAM with Activity Monitor
Activity Monitor is installed on all Macs. You can access it from Applications → Utilites → Activity Monitor, once it's open click the "Memory" tab.


05. Low on Disk Space

It is good practise to ensure at least 10% of your hard drive is free; if not, delete or transfer files to an external storage. A good place to start is with large applications, to find these you can open Finder then click the magnifier icon to expand the search bar. Start typing and click the [+] that appears, click "Name" and select "Kind" from the dropdown menu. Set this paramater as "Application". Press [+], click "Name" again and select "File Size" and set the search params to be greater than 200MB. You can use this strategy to narrow down your search to large and old files by setting the last access date etc. Managing large files with Finder
Generally you can just drag macOS apps to the Bin to remove them, but not always. Please read my How to Uninstall Apps on Mac article for a more comprehensive set of details.


06. Disk Integrity Issues

Incorrect file permissions or disk integrity issues may lead to a slow Mac startup. Rule these out, or fix them by running the Disk Utility and using the "First Aid" function.
Disk First Aid on Mac
You can access Disk Utility from Applications → Utilites → Disk Utility, once it's open click the "First Aid" button.


07. Too many open tabs

Too many open browser tabs consume a significant amount of memory; close tabs you are not actively using. If you refer back to the screenshot I included in '04. Low on Memory', you'll notice that it has many instances of "Google Chrome Helper (Renderer)", each taking up around 30MB of RAM. Each of these renderer processes correspond to a browser tab I had open at the time.

08. Too many open apps

Like browser tabs, having too many apps open at the same time consume a lot of memory. Once you run out of memory (see point 4, low on memory), macOS starts swapping between RAM and disk, usually resulting in slowdown. An easy way to free up RAM is by properly exiting unused apps. Use CMD+Q to quit apps completely, rather than just clicking away from them. Force quit apps that are unresponsive or consuming too much memory.

09. Buggy or misbehaving apps

Sometimes apps are buggy or just go haywire, you can identify these with the trusty Activity Monitor we learned about in step 4. From Activity Monitor select the "CPU" tab then click "% CPU" to sort the table by CPU usage. Identify and stop any apps using too much CPU. You may want to repeat the process for the "Energy" and "Disk" tabs. Be sure to save your work in any app before stopping it with Activity Monitor.

10. Corrupted SMC settings

The System Management Controller is a subcomponent of your Mac that controls most power functions. Resetting the SMC can resolve issues related to power, battery, and performance. This does not apply to Apple Silicon Macs, since on those the SMC gets reset whenever you restart your computer. If you own a Apple Silicon Mac that hasn't been restarted in a long time, it might be time to do that now.

11. Corruped NVRAM values

On an Intel Mac you can reset NVRAM as this may fix any issues with startup disk selection, screen resolution, and others. Resetting NVRAM is not applicable if your Mac has an Apple Silicon Processor. If your MacBook is less than 4 years old it likely has an Apple processor.

12. Cluttered Storage

Recent versions of macOS have a very simple built-in utility that allows you to free up some space. To access Storage Settings on Mac, open System Settings, search for Storage Settings then work through the various options this built-in app offers.
Storage Settings on Mac


13. Too many apps

Have a think about which apps you use regularly, and which are just dead-weight on your Mac. Having many apps installed may not always be ideal, and may even be a threat to your privacy. Particularly when they are apps you installed years ago before it was common practise for developers to sandbox them. Don't remember installing it? Drag it to the trash or uninstall to free up disk space!

14. Visual Effects

Reducing or turning off visual effects like transparency and motion can improve the responsiveness of your Mac Desktop. To access these settings, open System Settings then search for "Dock". The setting mainly of interest here is "Animate opening Applications". You'll need to go to "Accessibility" then "Display" to adjust transparency and motion effects.

15. Malware, Adware

A Mac infected with malicious software, like search hijackers, spyware or adware can experience slowdown and lowered battery life. Apple has built-in protection with XProtect but sometimes threats evolve quickly, or a more considered grey-ware than actual malware so aren't included in XPRotect definitions. Practise common sense and if in doubt, use a trusted anti-malware app to run a scan on your Mac. You may have heard that there is no malware on macOS, this is no longer true. Read Charlie's post about The Truth About Spyware on macOS for more information.

16. Cluttered Desktop

Each desktop item consumes system resources; keep your desktop as clean as possible and make use of Mac's built-in storage areas for file storage. Use the Documents, Music, Photos and Videos folders as intended. Things will run better and your files will be easier to manage, find, and work with.

17. Outdated Apps

Most respectable application developers provide regular app updates that incorporate important bugfixes, feature enhancements and performance improvements. Check the App Store for any available updates and install them as they become available. Since not all apps you have are from the App Store, you might want to use a unified update checker to bulk check if there are any updates to any of your installed apps. A good, totally free one is the "Check my Apps" function in iBoostUp.
Check for App Updates on Mac


18. Slow Disk

Every Mac sold today comes with a solid state drive (SSD) - these are faster than old spinning magnetic disks. If your Mac still has an old style of disk, consider switching it over to an SSD. You may need to take it to a technician to install one but with some models of Mac, like the glued together iMacs this isn't worth the trouble so you can consider using an external SSD instead. Read Charlie's Understanding the Role of Hard Disk Speed article for details on how to do that very quickly and easily.

19. Dirt and Grime

Suprisingly, a dusty or dirty Mac can actually lead to slowdown! Dust (or cat hair) may interfere with your Mac's carefully designed cooling system causing it to run hotter than usual. When a Mac runs hot, thermal throttling can kick in causing it to run slower than it otherwise does. If you notice your Mac looking a bit dustier or dirtier than it should, check out my How do I Clean my Mac article for easy to follow steps.

20. Corrupted Profile

If none of these steps have improved the speed of your slow Mac (unlikely), a corrupt user profile could be the cause; creating a new one might help. Once again we go to System Settings, search for Users and select "Users & Groups". Click "Add Account..." to make a new one. Now, click the Apple icon at the top left of your screen and select "Log Out ...". At the login screen select the new user you just created, log in and see if your Mac feels a lot more responsive. If not, you may need to do a hardware test.



Your Mac running good as new!

Hope really you found these solutions useful and this article very comprehensive, drop me a line if you have any suggestions to add. You can reach me via email maria (at) this domain (dot) com!

See you next time,
  ❤️ Maria

 

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