A Mac is surely a product of quality but any product needs maintenance, cleaning, and eventually gets slower with time. If you have noticed that your macOS is lagging and it makes your work or leisure less joyful and efficient – it is time to do something about it.
One of the most effective ways you can speed up your Mac is using specialized apps to clean it – you can read more about it here.
In this article, we’ll share a bunch of ideas that can help your Mac perform better and become faster – no matter what kind of model you own. We’ll talk about updates, optimization, malware scans, login items, caches, and much more.
Don’t Forget To Update Constantly
The first thing that you should and could do is update your macOS. This is about the latest security patches that are crucial for your system’s security. To check if your Mac is up to date, click the Apple icon on the top left corner, then choose App Store. Then select the Updates and click Update All option. This will not only update your macOS but most of your apps as well.
Use The Function “Optimize”
After the release of the macOS Sierra, Mac now has an option called “Optimize Storage”. This will directly clear up some space on your computer and increase its’ speed. To activate this option, click the Apple icon on the top left corner and click on the option called About this Mac. Then choose the Storage tab and click Manage.
Here you will see some useful tools that can help clear up your Mac, but for now, let’s choose the option Optimize storage. This tool will help you remove recently watched tv shows and other files you are not likely to use anymore. This method is the most efficient for those of you who tend to store a lot of media on your Mac.
Do A Malware Scan
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As you probably heard, Mac does have some security advantages. But that doesn’t mean that you are fully protected from viruses and other unwanted guests on your Mac. Therefore you should have and use an antivirus on your Mac. To learn more about what to do after a ransomware attack, if one already happened to you, check out this article. So If you noticed that your computer has been running significantly slower lately, then go ahead and run a quick malware scan just to be sure.
Disabling The Login Items
If you have noticed that the startup takes long to complete and it slows down your effectiveness, then there’s almost 100% that you have too many apps starting up with your Mac. Disabling some unnecessary login items will clear up your system resources and make your startup a lot faster. To do so, click on the Apple icon in the top left corner, go to System Preferences, choose Users & Groups, and then go to Login Items. Here you can choose which items should and which shouldn’t start with your Mac.
Disabling The Transparency
Some effects look nice on Mac but they do not help out with its’ speed and performance. The effect that eats up most of your resources is Transparency. To turn it off and speed up your Mac, click on the Apple icon in the top left corner, go to System Preferences, choose Accessibility, then click Display and Reduce transparency – make sure this option has a checkmark next to it.
Clearing The Caches
If used often, Mac is building up all kinds of caches that take up additional space on your drive and makes the Mac run slower. That’s why you should clean your cache from time to time. It’s not difficult to perform. To do it, you can use specialized apps or do it by yourself. To learn how to do it in more detail, check this article about how to clear the cache on your Mac computer to make it run more efficiently on Business Insider.
Removing Apps And Files You Don’t Use Anymore
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Removing apps that you don’t use anymore can raise the effectiveness and speed of your Mac, especially in those cases when your drive is nearly full. To delete some unneeded apps, choose the Go option in the menu bar, choose the Applications folder, and choose which apps you want to delete, and which ones you want to keep. When you have some free time, take a moment to review your files as well – you probably have a lot that you can delete. More free storage space will always lead to better performance and speed.
Disabling The Dashboard
If you have an older version of macOS than macOS Mojave, then you still have the option to see your Dashboard. The truth is, that it also eats up your resources – it’s a bunch of widgets that take up your screen. To turn the Dashboard off, click on the Apple icon in the top left corner, go to System Preferences, choose Mission Control and here you will be able to turn it off.