Macs don’t have all the typical problems of Windows computers. This is true. For example, there is no system registry that can be “flooded” or filled with unnecessary keys that slow down the operation of the computer, are less prone to viruses and are not marketed with so many useless software “on board” (bloatware) as it happens with Windows PCs. However they are not perfect and they are not without problems.
In other words, yes, even Macs can get slow, can show error messages and even crash. In short, contrary to what Apple’s marketing department wants us to believe, they are not “magical”, but fortunately there are ways to speed up Macs and bring their performance back to the levels that one would expect from such expensive machines.
Which? You find everything explained below, where a detailed guide awaits you in which I tried to put together the various possible solutions to the problems of slowness on macOS: read it and try to put my “tips” into practice. After following it all the way you should be able to fully exploit the potential of your computer of the “bitten apple” again. Good luck!
Index
- Perform a full system maintenance
- Change antivirus (or remove it)
- How to speed up Mac on startup
- Check the status of the disk
- Reset PRAM
- Turn off animations and transparencies
- Free up disk space
- Hardware modifications
Perform a full system maintenance
To speed up Mac it is necessary to perform a complete maintenance of the system : an operation that can be carried out “manually” by acting on the individual areas of macOS (as we will see in the following chapters of this tutorial) or that can be delegated to applications that perform the “work dirty ”on behalf of the user, proposing unified solutions to solve computer performance problems.
If you are interested in solutions of the latter type, I strongly recommend that you take a look at CleanMyMac X , which is among the most complete and reliable applications in the industry (which is very important, given the proliferation of fake applications for maintenance of the system, often a vehicle for malware and other threats).
CleanMyMac X allows you to keep your Mac constantly “in shape” and to better prepare it for macOS updates . It is compatible with all versions of the Apple operating system (including macOS 13 Ventura ) and offers a very intuitive interface completely translated into Italian . It not only speeds up your system by optimizing macOS settings, but also deletes unnecessary files from your disk, uninstall unused programs, and eliminate malware and other threats from your Mac in just a few clicks.
The program can be downloaded and used for free in a version that allows you to free up to 500MB of disk space. The full version without limitations, on the other hand, has prices starting from 29.95 euros and can be purchased from the official website ; alternatively, you can subscribe to MacPaw’s Setapp service which, at a cost of $ 9.99 / month (after a 7-day free trial), allows you to install and use without limits a wide range of paid applications for macOS without having to purchase them individually . With a small addition to the monthly fee, it is also possible to access a series of paid applications for iOS / iPadOS.
That said, if you are interested in trying CleanMyMac X for free, connect to the official website of the program and click on the download button . Once the download is complete, open the .dmg file you obtained and install CleanMyMac X on your Mac by simply dragging its icon into the Applications folder .
After passing the gusto step, start CleanMyMac X, respond affirmatively to the security warnings that appear on the screen and accept the privacy conditions and Terms of Service (by ticking the appropriate box) of the program, in order to access its main screen.
Well: now you just have to click on the Scan button to start a first full system analysis, which will allow you to find out how much space you can free up on the disk by deleting unnecessary files, what security problems are present on your computer and what settings you can optimize. to improve macOS performance.
Wait, therefore, for the test to be completed (it will take a few seconds) and click on the Start button to start both the disk cleaning and the automatic correction of security and performance problems found in the system.
Alternatively, if you want to “manually” choose what to act on and what not, use the individual icons on the screen (in the center of the window or in the left sidebar, where all the functions of CleanMyMac X are listed): Cleaning for choose which files to delete from the disk; Protection to erase any malware found on the Mac and traces of online activities; or Speed to access tools to optimize the performance of the operating system.
Other useful CleanMyMac X tools – also accessible from the left sidebar – are those you find under the Applications (to uninstall and update applications) and Files (to find the files that take up more space on the disk and the unnecessary ones ) and to delete data securely).
As mentioned, everything is very intuitive: just select a tool, press the button to start the relevant scan and wait for the results, then deciding if and how to act based on the instructions on the screen (all in Italian). When you first use the various tools included in CleanMyMac X, you may be asked for system permissions – just accept them.
In addition to the functions just mentioned, CleanMyMac X includes real-time protection against malware and other cyber threats and an assistant that, accessible from the icon that appears at the top right of the menu bar, allows you to constantly monitor the memory status, bandwidth , disc etc. If you find them superfluous, know that you can disable the anti-malware protection by going to the CleanMyMac X> Preferences> Protection menu (top left) and the assistant by going to the CleanMyMac X> Preferences> Menu menu (always top left).
On macOS 11 Big Sur is also available the CleanMyMac X widget that allows you to monitor the space occupied on the disk and start a system check “on the fly”. You can activate it in the macOS notification center by pressing the Choose widget button .
In case of doubts or for more information on how CleanMyMac X works , also consult the tutorial that I have dedicated entirely to the program.
Change antivirus (or remove it)
In the Mac world, antivirus is not essential. They are starting to be useful – yes – but they are not yet as important as on Windows computers.
How come I tell you about it? Simple, because some antivirus for Mac are not yet well “run in” and lead to noticeable slowdowns of the system. If you have recently installed one, it may well be the culprit of your computer’s slowness!
If you want advice, try uninstalling it and see if that way you can speed up slow Mac (if you need a hand, also read my guide on how to uninstall applications on Mac ). If successful, if your Apple-branded computer gets up and running quickly after removing the antivirus, consider what to do.
If you are aware that you do not run any particular risks, do not frequent “dangerous” sites and do not exchange files with Windows systems (which could become infected with viruses carried by your computer, which however would be immune to it) you could avoid installing other antivirus. Otherwise I suggest you take a look at my post on Mac antivirus and try one of the ones recommended in it.
At present, however, more than viruses, on Mac there is the risk of contracting adware . These are particular malicious software that change the browser home page, insert additional advertising banners within Web pages and cause other nuisances of this kind. To get rid of it, you can use CleanMyMac X , which I told you about earlier.
How to speed up Mac on startup
It does not take a computer expert to understand this: if the computer is forced to run a large number of applications at the same time, it ends up slowing down.
This is why it becomes essential to speed up Mac at startup , by disabling unnecessary software set to run automatically when the computer is turned on, in order to restore performance to maximum. How you do it? Nothing easier.
To begin with, click on the System Settings icon (the one in the shape of a gear wheel ) that you find on the Dock bar and, in the window that appears on the desktop, select the General item from the left side menu and, in the right of the screen, click on the heading Login items .
Then locate the applications that you do not want to run automatically at system startup and deactivate them by first clicking on their icons and then on the (-) button located at the bottom left.
I also suggest that you check that in the Allow in background list there are no applications that are not actually useful to you as you continue to work in the background slowing down the performance of your Mac. If you find any, turn the relevant switch to OFF to fix it.
If you are using an older version of macOS (e.g. macOS 12 Monterey or earlier), you must click on the System Preferences icon on the Dock bar , select the Users and groups item from the window that opens, make sure that yours is highlighted user account in the left sidebar and select the Login Items tab , then you can proceed with the removal of applications at startup as I have already explained to you.
Check the status of the disk
On macOS there is a handy application, called Disk Utility , which allows you to check for logical errors on the disk and repair user and application file access permissions. Performing both of these operations – if there are many errors on the disk – can improve the overall performance of the Mac.
To correct the errors on the computer boot disk (the one on which the operating system is installed) you must select the Disk Utility icon (the one with the hard disk and the stethoscope ) found in the Other folder of the Launchpad , select the reference disk from the left sidebar (if you don’t see it, click on the View button at the top left and choose the Show Sidebar option from the menu) and press the SOS button at the top.
Next, press on the Run button , then on the Continue button and wait for the process to start. Keep in mind that in the meantime the computer will stop responding, but still don’t worry, it should only take a few minutes. At the end of the operation, you will be returned the response that you can close by pressing the End button .
Reset PRAM
Have you ever heard of PRAM ? No? Then I’ll quickly explain what it is. PRAM (also known as NVRAM on non-Mac computers) is a small non-volatile memory in which information such as screen resolution, boot disk address, and speaker volume is stored.
As a result of hardware changes or the use of particular software, the information it holds may be altered in such a way as to cause minor system slowdowns. Erasing this memory, therefore, can solve the aforementioned problems.
The procedure must be performed with the Mac turned off, but it is only possible on Macs with Intel processors (on Macs with Apple Silicon chips , eg M1 or M2, this type of memory is not present). That said, the first step you need to take is to completely shut down the Mac by clicking on the apple icon in the menu bar and selecting the Shut Down item from the menu that appears.
At this point, turn on the Mac again and immediately press the cmd + alt + p + r keys simultaneously, holding them down until the Apple logo disappears and the Mac restarts again. You can release the keys after the second startup tone, if your Mac allows it, or after the Apple logo disappears and appears for the second time, if you have a Mac equipped with the Apple T2 security chip .
Afterwards, check if the malfunctions you experienced previously have disappeared.If you notice an unusual slowness in starting the system, don’t worry, it is normal after resetting the PRAM. Also, if any steps are not clear to you and you want to get more details, you can check out my tutorial on how to reset PRAM .
If, on the other hand, you have problems with the keyboard lighting or the screen brightness control, try resetting the SMC following the instructions I gave you in my guide on how to reset the SMC Mac .
Turn off animations and transparencies
If you want to speed up Mac because you are having problems with fluidity in the animations of the operating system (eg when switching from one desk to another), try to disable all the graphical trappings present in macOS.
- To disable the transparency effects, go to System Settings , click on the Accessibility item in the left sidebar of the window opened, then on the Monitor on the right and enable the Reduce transparency option . If you are using an older version of macOS, you can do the same by going to System Preferences , selecting the Accessibility item and then the Monitor item .
- To disable the transparency effects and increase the contrast of colors, go to System Settings , click on the Accessibility item in the left sidebar of the opened window, then on the Monitor on the right and enable the Increase contrast option . If you are using an older version of macOS, you can do the same by going to System Preferences , selecting the Accessibility item and then the Monitor item .
- To disable the Dock bar animations, go to System Settings , click on the Desktop and Dock item and disable the Magnification and Animation settings when opening applications . If you are using an older version of macOS, you can do the same by going to System Preferences and selecting the Dock item .
Free up disk space
Contrary to what is often read around, there is no close relationship between system performance and available disk space. Having a lot of free space on the disk increases system performance when there is not enough RAM and some data that should be in the hard disk is moved to the hard disk (when the so-called swap occurs), but otherwise deleting files will not help you. will help speed up Mac.
In any case, I recommend that you use the default tool for managing the data stored on your computer. You can access it immediately by clicking on the System Settings icon (the one in the shape of a gear wheel ) that you find on the Dock bar , selecting the General item from the left sidebar in the pop-up window on the desktop and on the wording Space on the right.
Then, click on the various tabs Applications , Trash , Documents , Photos , iCloud Drive and Mail and evaluate whether to perform any cleaning operations based on the indications provided and the amount of space occupied by the reference data.
If you are using an older version of macOS (e.g. if you want to speed up macOS Catalina or if you are interested in speeding up Mac High Sierra ), to access the aforementioned tool you have to click on the apple -shaped icon in the upper left part of the screen, select the item About this Mac from the proposed menu, click on the Archive tab in the screen displayed and then on the Manage button located in correspondence with the icon of the hard disk of your Mac. The rest of the operations to be performed are unchanged to what I have already explained.
Alternatively, you can try DaisyDisk , a very practical application that analyzes the Mac’s disk and indicates where the bulkier files are located. It is paid (costs 11.99 euros), but there is also a free version that does not delete files automatically (leaves the user to do the “cleaning). Alternatively, there is the free OmniDiskSweeper solution , which works in a very similar way, albeit less aesthetically pleasing. To learn more, read my tutorial dedicated to Mac cleaning .
Hardware modifications
If the space available on the disk does not substantially affect the performance of the system, an SSD instead of a mechanical disk and a larger amount of RAM do it all right.
This means that one of the best ways to speed up a Mac, especially to speed up an old Mac , and more generally a computer is to replace the hard drive with a solid state drive (SSD) and the RAM with a large memory. greater. Unfortunately, both of these operations cannot be performed on the most recent Macs, so they are not useful for, for example, speeding up Mac M1 , as the latter have all the components welded inside.
For more information, check out my tutorial on how to increase computer RAM and my posts on which RAM to buy and which SSD to buy .
