Mac lagging why

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. For details, see our Cookie Policy. Disagree Agree. Our Features. We publish resources related to digital security, malware threats and more. Visit blog. Do I need a VPN? Read why you do and how to choose the best one. Data breach? Follow these steps to recover your data. Log in. Topic Mac Security. By Andriy Slynchuk Updated: May 07, 12 min read. Updated: May 07, 12 min read. Check for macOS updates To prevent cybercriminals from wreaking havoc on your computer, you must keep your operating system OS up-to-date.

To check and install updates on your Mac, follow these simple steps: Go to the Apple icon on the upper left corner of your screen. If updates are available, click Update Now. Restart your Mac once in a while Have you tried turning it off and on again? Free up space on the startup disk Your Mac needs adequate drive space to function efficiently.

Free up space on your device by moving your files to cloud storage. Optimize Storage. You can also use the tool to make sure your system is only storing recent email attachments. Empty Trash Automatically. Turning this tool on automatically empties the Trash of items that have been in there for more than 30 days. Reduce Clutter. Use this tool to easily spot and delete large or useless files. Limit the number of apps running in the background Although your Mac is a powerful machine, there are limits to how much it can handle at once.

Manage login items on startup Macs are set to auto-launch certain apps when you log in. Follow these simple steps: Go to the Apple icon and open System Preferences. Go to the Login Items tab. The steps above are especially helpful if your Mac is slow to boot. Clear cache files on Mac When you carry out tasks on your computer, the system puts some files into temporary storage. Open Finder. Select Go , then Go to Folder. Repeat step 4. Additionally, look into buying more RAM.

Something around 4 GB is no longer enough by standards. How many gigabytes of photos are there on your drive? We seldom bother to check how many photos we have collected over the years. In any case, there will be more than you expect. This results in a lagging computer because your hard drive space is quickly vanishing. Not only does this get you a few gigabytes of extra space, but it also motivates you to put your photo library in order. Better late than never.

You may transfer your photo library to Google Drive or DropBox, or move it to separate storage. How to do it:. Browser tabs are probably the most resource-intensive processes on your Mac: if they are open, they are continuously running and consuming RAM and CPU resources. Many IT consultants recommend having no more than 9 open tabs at a time. Unused apps are the biggest space-wasters.

All of us download applications that seem helpful and exciting at first but turn to clutter up our disk instead of being used frequently. Mind the fact that if you delete the apps, the chances are that some leftover files will remain on your Mac. Its Uninstaller module shows how many apps you have and gathers all leftovers in one tab — so you can quickly delete them. Not many people know this, but every desktop icon is, in fact, a little active window that your macOS has to render and process.

If there are myriads of icons, no wonder your Mac is slow. To make your Mac run faster, organize files on your desktop into separate folders. Right-click on your desktop and select Use Stacks. Then, you can move them to another location. Never hesitate to send to Trash things you rarely use, like apps you had downloaded months ago. In other words, if your browser is slow, your Mac will be slow too.

Even the fastest machine can be dragged down by hundreds of opened tabs and extensions. Hidden add-ons, plug-ins, and extensions often come disguised as free software. You download something and the next moment see weird search bars, pop-ups, and torrents of advertisements on your screen.

And lastly, such tools may stealthily collect your data. All your user files and applications may over time become a heavy burden for your macOS. This is tied to your user account. It simply contains too many caches, cross-links, user logs — more than your Mac can chew.

Though it sounds a bit radical, you can activate a new user profile. It is absolutely safe and is a bit like starting a new life. You will have to copy all the needed app files such as Preferences to the new user. As a result, your Mac may become much snappier. To transfer your important files from one account to another, you need to drop them into the Shared folder which is found on your hard drive.

Animations and rich graphics are extremely resource-hungry. We are not suggesting you should switch your Mac back to style simplicity. But in the case of a slow Mac, the less is sometimes more.

Click "Minimize windows into application icon" and change Genie effect to Scale. The scale is a much simpler zoom and less taxing on memory. SMC stands for System Management Controller and manages a whole range of low-level functions of your Mac: fans, lights, power, system volume, and other parameters.

Quite often SMC preferences get broken and your Mac gets slow. Now, click System Report. Choose Controller in the hardware section — if your Mac has a chip, there should be Apple T2 Security Chip on the right. This memory is like fuel for all your apps. But that is a time-consuming operation that will chip a few bucks off your wallet.

Luckily, there is a shortcut. You can perform this operation if your system urgently needs a fresh memory. This is often the case with media converters and video editors that consume all the RAM they can get.

If you followed the tip from the previous section and downloaded CleanMyMac X, you should be able to perform another trick that proved quite effective on most Macs. From our experience, it does boost up the performance of many applications. Running this command helps to clear your Mac's memory with a few clicks. Try it and see how your Mac is doing. An often-reported lag that could seriously alter your productivity. Sometimes, when you type, your keyboard would freeze for a fraction of a second.

This lag usually affects the Notes app as well as Chrome. Sort either by memory or CPU by clicking on the top of either column. Highlight any running process by clicking on it followed by the End Process button to stop it from running.

Outside of Chrome's built-in tool, you can use your Mac's Activity Monitor for dealing with rogue app or process after you identify it. You can either troubleshoot like I did, closing each tab, window or app until you figure it out, or you can highlight the process in Activity Monitor and click on the stop sign button with an "X" in it. You'll see a prompt asking if you want to quit or force quit the process. Even if your Mac is brand-new, you'll still run into apps and programs that can slow it down from time to time.

Those processes are pretty vague and have no direct way to link them to a specific app that's running on your Mac. In those instances, it's a good idea to go back to the obvious troubleshooting tips that we can all overlook at times. They could very well make a difference. There are other issues that can slow your Mac's performance. Stuff like random login items, running out of hard drive space, or old apps you no longer use can impact performance.

It's a good idea to learn five tips to help you speed up your Mac , and also addressing common Mac issues and how to fix them. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic.

We delete comments that violate our policy , which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. Fix your slow Mac once and for all We walk you through how to figure out what's slowing down your Mac.