This may shock a lot of people, but there are slow Mac units. As with Windows computers, there are many reasons why a usually fast-loading Mac might go sluggish. Thanks to the experts who sell iPhone and other Apple gadgets, here are tips on how to speed up a slow Mac.
- Pinpoint the processes that consume too many resources.
Resource-hungry processes can instantly slow down a generally fast Mac. To check if your computer’s processes devour too many resources, simply:
- Launch the “Activity Monitor” on your Mac. This is similar to the Windows’ Task Manager. To do this, press Command + Space. On the “Spotlight Search,” type in Activity Monitor. Press the “Enter.”
- Choose the “% CPU” heading. This will sort the processes by CPU usage. Click the processes you rarely use or are idle at the moment. You can force-quit a process by selecting it and clicking the X icon on its toolbar.
- Exit unused applications.
It’s common for Macs to leave an application running even if the computer is idle or in the dock. Sometimes even when you click the exit or X button on the app window, most likely, the application is still running in the background.
While this is not a big issue, a slow Mac can benefit from closing unused apps. To do this:
- Search for the apps with a dot on your computer’s dock.
- Right-click the icon.
- Choose “Quit.”
- Lessen the apps in the Startup Programs.
One of the potential reasons for a slow Mac is having too many startup programs. To lessen its volume and remove those that are not of importance, manage your startup programs:
- Launch the “System Preferences” window.
- Click the option “Users & Groups.”
- Choose your Mac’s current user account and log-in.
- Deselect the apps you don’t want to run during the startup.
- Moderate your computer’s Animations and Transparency settings.
If your Mac is suddenly running slow, checking its Animations and Transparency settings can give you answers. To do this:
- Launch the “System Preferences.”
- Choose “Accessibility.”
- Click the option to “Reduce Transparency” to make the images and menus more opaque.
Alternatively:
- Choose the “Dock” icon.
- Select the “Scale Effect” option. This effect, rather than the Genie one, can speed up the window minimizing animation on the Mac.
- Check your web browser.
If you’re using Google Chrome on Mac OS X, you can almost always expect slow performance since the two are not compatible with each other. Choose Safari instead. Otherwise, lessen the quantity of browser extension on your browser. Use fewer tabs to save the unit’s resources.
- Free up the computer’s storage space.
As with any machine or gadget, freeing up its storage space can easily speed things up. This is particularly true if the original disk space is considerably smaller. To do this:
- Launch the Apple menu.
- Choose the “About This Mac” option.
- Check your computer’s space under the “Storage” tab.
If you can free up the space, do so.
Decluttering your Mac from offline and online garbage can go a long way in ensuring a fast computer all the time.
