Further tips and tweaks
Dig a bit deeper for more system-sapping culprits
With unecessary files and apps removed and large files moved to an external drive, if there’s still no noticeable improvement in system performance, there are further modifications you can make.
First, check for new system updates. You can usually do this by opening the App Store and clicking Updates. If you’re having trouble with the Mac App Store, consider downloading a “Combo Update” directly from the Apple Support website.
In the Spotlight
The Spotlight search feature – accessed by clicking on the magnifying glass at the top right – functions as a system-wide search engine. Each time you create or modify content, Spotlight indexes it so you can find it later on. As handy as this indexing is, it can sometimes go awry. You also may not want to index certain folders for privacy reasons.
If Macos gets stuck reindexing files, this can slow down your system. Go to the Spotlight pane in System Preferences. Click on the Privacy tab to see locations which are excluded from indexing. Click the “+” button and choose your startup disk, which is usually named Macintosh HD. You will see a warning message stating that this will disable the search feature. Click OK.
Now select your Mac hard drive in the Privacy tab and remove it from the list using the minus button. These steps force the Mac to reindex your data, which can improve search speeds. If you do not want to index certain folders such as your personal Documents folder, take this opportunity to add them now using the “+” button once again.
Leave the Mac on for a few hours to allow reindexing to complete. You can check its progress by clicking the Spotlight icon again.
Fixing Finder
By default, when you open Finder, it will display every file in your account. If you have a large number of files this can take a long time to load.
You can change the default view from All My Files to something else by opening Finder’s preferences. In the General tab, find “New Finder windows show” and click its pop-up menu to change to another location, such as your home folder. If Finder is still sluggish, click Go and Go to Folder. Type “~/Library/Preferences” and press Return. Choose View > As List, find the file named “com.apple.finder.plist,” and move it to your desktop. Restart your Mac, then delete that file from the desktop.
Delete GarageBand Loops
GarageBand stores files in several locations which, as you might imagine, can take up large amounts of space. Consider removing unnecessary audio loops. In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder. Type “Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Apple Loops” and press . Delete loops you no longer require and then empty the Trash.
Disabling FileVault
Thanks to FileVault 2 and the recent trend towards SSDs in MacBooks, encrypting your system should not reduce performance noticeably. There are many online guides which recommend disabling FileVault to increase system performance. While it is true that using FileVault requires slightly more resources, as data has to pass through an encryption layer, disabling the feature is unlikely to make much difference and leaves data vulnerable. If you have already enabled FileVault, we recommend you leave it as it is.
Purge virtual memory
Previously, we used Activity Monitor to see which processes were running and check the available amount of memory. As the system runs out, it will start to use your hard drive as temporary “virtual memory” to free up RAM for other tasks. You can tell the system to purge its virtual memory by clicking Spotlight and typing “Terminal.” Open Terminal, type “sudo purge,” press , and enter your password. The system’s virtual memory will be cleared. More recent versions of macOS try to use memory efficiently, so this will probably not do a huge amount on newer Macs.
Reset SMC
Resetting the SMC (System Management Controller) is usually done to fix problems with starting up your Mac in the first place, but it can also help to remedy a sluggish system.
If you have a desktop model, resetting the SMC is as simple as unplugging it from the wall, waiting 15 seconds, then plugging it back in. Wait five seconds and then power on the Mac.
If you have a MacBook, shut it down fully and disconnect the charger. Next, with your left hand, hold and Alt together while holding down the power button with your right hand. (If you have a 2016 MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar, the Touch ID button is also the power button.) Keep all these keys pressed for 10 seconds, then release them.
If the SMC reset fails to improve the Mac’s performance, there’s likely a hardware fault or your system files have been damaged. We’ll discuss ways to remedy this in the next section.