You may have loved your Mac when you bought it, but the chances are that it doesn’t work as smoothly and speedily as it once did. A few years can take a toll on a computer, and Macs are no different. Fortunately, there are a few easy ways to bring your Mac back up to speed without upgrading the hardware.
1. Clear Cache
In macOS, each program creates cache files, and they’re stored on the local disk. With time, the size of these files increases significantly. Furthermore, this stored data might get damaged for various reasons, or you might have removed applications, but their cache remains on your system. Therefore, your Mac starts to lag. It is highly recommended to clear the cache periodically to boost Mac’s speed.
You can manually clear the cache by opening Finder and pressing Command + G. Enter the location: ~/Library/Caches in the search field and click Go. Ensure to go to each folder and delete cache files. For more information on how to clear cache files on Mac, you can visit setapp.com.
2. Keep Your Macos And Other Software Up-To-Date
Check if the macOS is updated and check if the installed applications are updated. All the applications must be optimized for the latest macOS. Otherwise, they won’t work seamlessly.
You can go to the App Store and click on Updates to update all the applications you have downloaded from the App Store. If the apps have been downloaded from the developers’ sites, you need to update them separately.
Keeping your used applications and macOS up-to-date helps protect your Mac against hackers and keeps your system working smoothly. You must regularly check if your macOS is updated. You need to select the Apple icon in the Menu and click System Preferences. Then, select Software Update and find out what macOS version you are using. You can click on Automatically keep my Mac up to date to let your system check for updates and install them automatically.
3. Close Applications That Are Memory-Consuming
Whenever you launch a program or application, you are putting pressure on RAM. So, if you have multiple active apps, it can significantly slow down your system. You can make your Mac faster by finding out the heavy applications and closing them. You need to launch the Activity Monitor, and in the CPU tab, you’ll see the tasks are sorted by their CPU usage. Find the most memory-consuming, demanding processes and close them.
4. Deactivate A Few Items At Startup
When your Mac reboots or starts up, some apps or programs launch automatically. Therefore, you have several apps running the moment you switch on your system, which impacts the system’s performance. You can stop applications from running automatically by going to the Menu and selecting System Preferences. Then, you need to click on the Users & Groups tab and switch to the Login Items tab. If there are too many startup items that you don’t need, remove them by pressing the – button at the bottom of the list.
5. Uninstall Unused Applications And Programs
If you’ve been using your Mac for years, it is common to have littered your system with applications and programs that you don’t use anymore or don’t need. It would help if you remembered that lack of free space affects the performance of your Mac. So, you must uninstall the unused applications and free space. You need to open Finder and select the Applications folder. Here, you can go through the list of applications and remove those you don’t need.
6. Delete Unnecessary Browser Extensions
A huge number of installed browser extensions might be the reason why your browser is slowing down. Some browser extensions might even be used as malicious software that allows annoying pop-ups or changes to your search engine or start page. You need to remove the rarely used or unused browser extensions to make your Mac lightning-fast.
Follow these steps for disabling browser extensions for different browsers.
- Safari: Remove browser extensions by opening Safari > clicking Safari in the menu bar > selecting Preferences > going to the Extensions tab > choosing to uninstall the extensions you no longer need.
- Chrome: Launch Chrome > click Chrome in the menu bar > choose Preferences > select Extensions on the left and remove the unneeded ones from the list.
- Mozilla Firefox: You need to open Firefox and click on Firefox in the menu. Then, you need to click Preferences > select Extensions & Themes > choose Extensions. Remove the extensions you don’t need by clicking on the settings icon.
Now you know how to speed up your Mac and make it work as good as new. However, if these tricks fail to boost your Mac’s speed, you might need to refer to a technician.
