World Executive Digest| Why Is My Mac Running Slow? This Is What You Need to Know | One of the best things about a Mac computer is how reliable and efficient they are. It’s no wonder that they are the preferred computer for increased productivity. But, there are times when your Mac can slow down. This can be a huge inconvenience and can decrease your productivity. So what exactly can you do? If you’re wondering why is my Mac running slow, keep reading on so you can figure out what to do.
Why Is My Mac Running Slow? Here’s Why and What You Should Do About It!
As soon as you notice that your Mac is running slow, you need to act fast! If you postpone it any longer, it may lead to irreparable damage to your Mac.
To understand the full implications of the slowness of your Mac and a full guide of how to maintain your Mac, read this: https://setapp.com/how-to/how-to-speed-up-a-slow-mac
Meanwhile, here are some of the quick tasks you can do to speed up your Mac:
- Don’t Have Too Many Applications Running
When you are working on one application, make sure that you don’t have too many other applications running in the background.
If you find that you don’t need to use an application, close it immediately. If you are writing a document on Microsoft Word, and need Safari to be open for research then keep it open. But do you need Podcasts to also be open? Can you have the podcast stream through another tab in Safari?
The fewer applications that run, the faster your Mac will run.
- Clean Up Your Hard Drive
One of the most obvious reasons why your Mac is running slow is because there’s hardly any space on your hard drive.
Go to the Apple icon in your Menu bar. Select ‘About This Mac’ which is the first choice in the drop-down list.
A dialog box will open up and one of the tabs will read ‘Storage.’ Click on this tab and you’ll see how much hard drive space you have left. You’ll also see the breakdown of what’s taking up the majority of your hard drive space. For example, you may have your Music taking up 10 gigabytes of space and Documents taking up another 5 gigabytes.
Use this as a guide to clean up your hard drive. Delete what you absolutely don’t need. Back up (on an external hard drive and cloud storage) what you’ll need to keep. Then, completely delete them from your Mac.
As a general rule, your Mac’s hard drives should be as empty as possible.
- Update Your Operating System
Another reason why your Mac is running slowly is that you haven’t upgraded your operating system.
If you’ve been receiving notifications to update your operating system, you should go ahead and update it. An upgraded operating system will likely fix security bugs and can speed things up.
Once you start using your new operating system, you will likely see that your Mac is running faster.
- Update Your Applications
You should also make sure that you update your applications regularly. If you open an application and you are alerted that there is an update, make sure you install this update immediately.
If you continue to use applications that are not updated then they will slow down your Mac significantly. Never put off updating your applications.
- Insufficient RAM
Eventually, your RAM may slow things down. If your Mac is low on RAM, then you may need to have it replaced. If you’ve had your Mac for a few years, you may wish to consider having the RAM replaced. It’s very likely that the RAM has deteriorated over the years.
But this isn’t for you to determine and certainly not for you to manage yourself. We suggest going to a computer technician (Apple’s Genius Bar is a great option) and ask them to inspect your Mac’s RAM.
The computer technician will determine if your Mac’s RAM is indeed insufficient and needs to be replaced.
- Give Your Mac Some Rest
Because we spend so much time on our computers nowadays, we never give them the rest they need! Our powerful Mac computers are no different.
When you aren’t using your Mac it should be off. Shut down your Mac when you sleep at night and only turn it on in the morning when you are ready to get back to work.
If you are on an hour-long lunch break from your work, why not put your Mac to sleep?
Also, don’t forget to restart your Mac once in a while. If you fail to give your Mac adequate rest, its efficiency will deteriorate over time. Giving it rest will ensure that it doesn’t slow down significantly in the future.
- You Have Too Many Startup Applications
Do you have applications that open as soon as you launch your Mac? As harmless as this may seem, it slows down your Mac.
You should always open applications manually. This may seem inconvenient and inefficient, but its what helps your Mac run faster.
Open the System Preferences utility. Then, navigate to ‘Users and Groups.’ Once this has opened, click on the ‘Login Items’ tab.
You will see a list of applications that are set to open upon startup. Uncheck all of them.
Then, restart your Mac. You’ll now notice how much faster your Mac is loading and you’ll also see the Mac working faster in the long run.
- Clear Your Cache
Finally, you should always clear your cache.
Your cache slows down your internet browser and also slows down your Mac. All you have to do is open your web browser (or web browsers) and empty the cache. Usually, you only have to access the browser’s preferences and click on a button that will empty the cache.
We recommend doing this at least on a monthly basis. If your web browser has a feature to empty the cache upon closing the application, make sure this is toggled on.
Speed Up Your Mac!
Now that you know the answers to why is my Mac running slow, you can troubleshoot these issues. Your Mac will be up to speed in no time!
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