Is your Mac running slow lately? Machines do slow with age. Yet, not everything can be blamed with wear and tear. If you are noticing performance issues more often, maybe it's time to do some troubleshooting to give it some needed boost.
So, what causes your Mac to run slow?
Check out the list below to help you figure out the possible culprits that caused your computer's performance to degrade and what you can do to solve the problem.
1. Your macOS badly needs an update
You probably have delayed your system update for too long. Updating your operating system allow it to run smoothly and as fast as it should. And it also helps keep your operating system secured and issues are addressed. Yeah, software update feels like it's taking forever but it's good for your operating system's health: It's a must!
How to fix it: Go to the App Store to check for any updates on your Mac and approve the pending updates. An alternative is to click the Apple menu and then click "About This Mac." After that, click "Software Update," and then "Update Now" if there are updates available.
2. Your hard drive is almost full
Like most of us, we save files like photos and videos directly to our hard drive. Over time, these files accumulate, and with storage space almost full, your computer's performance suffers. If your Mac is running slow, check if your hard drive is almost full to the brim.
How to fix it: Click the Apple menu and then click "About This Mac." Select the "Storage" tab then "Manage.." to see how much storage space you have left. You should see several options to free up some space on your hard drive.
3. Too many running apps
Mac is still running slow? Maybe you are making your computer work too hard by having so many apps running in the background.
How to fix it: You obviously need to close some of the apps you are not using. You can do this by opening the Activity Monitor tool. Open your Applications folder and then launch the Utilities folder. Select the Activity Monitor from the list.
Here you will see all the apps currently running and which are overwhelming your Mac's system resources the most. You can quit a program by clicking the app and then the "x" icon. Be very cautious, though: if you are not sure what it is and what it does, then don't close it.
4. Cache and other temporary files
Sometimes all we need is to just clean up our browser of cache and temporary files. Cache files are temporary data that your browser stores in your hard drive. Your browser uses cache files so you can browse the internet faster. Whenever you visit a website for the first time, the page images and other temporary files are downloaded as cache files. Then the next time you visit that same website, the browser only needs to re-use the cache files to "recreate" the page, hence you see the webpage load faster.
The downside to it is that it will tend to slow down your computer as files start to build up and take up space in your hard drive.
How to fix it: To delete system cache, just open Finder and then select Go and select "Go to Folder." Enter this command, "~/Library/Caches," and then hit Go. From the toolbar select "Edit" and then "Select All." After that select "File" and then "Move to Trash."
