Activity Monitor running too many processes, how to clean up tasks

Kernel Extensions:
  /Library/Extensions
    CUDA.kext (1.1.0)
  [Other] com.nvidia.cuda.launcher.plist (? 20f73770  - installed 2018-03-18)
  [Loaded] com.nvidia.cudad.plist (? bf79c9a2  - installed 2018-03-18)

  /System/Library/Extensions
    TrueFi.kext (1.8.7 - SDK 10.12)
  [Other] com.goat.fi.plist (? d0ade551  - installed 2018-04-16)

CUDA sometimes gives Mac users grief. If you no longer need to load it, maybe you should consider uninstalling it (or at least disabling its .plist) I think CUDA is one of those things you get via XCode, but not sure.

But if you need CUDA for your work, then ignore my ramblings.

I do not know what TrueFi is, but I suspect something related to sound. Again, if you do not need it, consider uninstalling it. I know this is a FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt kind of answer).

But if you need it for your work, then again ignore my ramblings.

  [Running] com.syniumsoftware.CleanAppDaemon.plist (Synium Software GmbH - installed 2017-07-12)

I do not know what this is, but it looks like a Mac cleaner. Some of these things can spend a lot of time looking for things to do. Some get over excited and delete things they shouldn't . On the whole most of the forum volunteers suggest avoiding them.

  [Other] com.reverable.zm.plist (? 0  - installed 2018-04-19)
  [Loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (? 0  - installed 2019-02-17)

Not sure what reverable.zm is but do you need it?

Also steamclean. What is it cleaning and do you need it?

  Low disk space - This machine is running critically low on free hard drive space.

You should see if you can free up some more disk space. Not so much because a full SSD runs slow, but if macOS needs to create additional swapfiles, you could run out of disk space.

OmniDiskSweeper (free download)

<http://www.omnigroup.com/more>

Unless of course the Daisy Disk reference lets you find where all your storage is going.

I do not see anything concrete. I suggest you remove anything that is old and not used anymore.

I suggest you try booting into Safe mode and see if the performance is better (or worse)

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1564

This will not load any 3rd party additions, it will load some more conservative Apple drivers (may cause screen flicker), and it will clear some kernel caches (a cache is saved data in a form that can speed up a program, but is totally redundant to the original source, and thus can be safely cleared).  Booting into Safe mode is just an experiment, but can frequently eliminate any 3rd party interference, or a cached item out-of-sync with the world.  (Verify Safe mode via Applications -> Utilities -> System Information -> Software -> Boot Mode -> Safe vs Normal)

Finally, did your Mac come with an Apple SSD? I only ask because it was not as common back in 2012 to ship with an SSD. I know it says it is an Apple SSD, but I'm also wondering if it was an after market upgrade.

I'm ONLY asking that because sometimes when a Mac's storage device is replaced, the SATA cable from the motherboard to the drive gets damaged, and slow performance has been one of the causes.

If this is original Apple SSD and it has not been touched, then ignore the SATA cable comment.

Yikes, you need to clear off about 30 GB or more of Disk Space.

Have you emptied the Trash lately?

Delete these files& restart...

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.reverable.zm.plist

/Library/LaunchAgents/com.goat.fi.plist

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.nvidia.cuda.launcher.plist

~ tilde indicates hidden Home Library.

Apple hid the Users' Library folders...

Method 1:

1 From the Finder, select the Go menu at top of the screen, and choose Go to Folder.

2 In the window that opens, enter ~/Library, and click Go.

Method 2:

1 Go to the Finder (or desktop).

2 Hold the Option key on your keyboard, and click the Go menu at the top of the screen.

3 With the Go menu open, you'll notice that pressing and releasing Option will display or hide the Library choice in this menu.

4 Select Library from the Go menu (while holding down Option) to access the hidden folder.

Purging local backups

Please note that although this doesn't affect your remote backup from Time Machine, this will get rid of the redundancy (at least until the next Time Machine backup) that a local backup disk will provide. If you need such redundancy or are worried about the recovery of your data then you would be best served to let macOS determine when to purge these files.

Start Terminal from spotlight.

At the terminal type tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates.

Hit enter.

Here, you'll now see a list of all of the locally stored Time Machine backup snapshots stored on your disk.

Next you can remove the snapshots based on their date. I prefer to delete them one at at time. Once my "System" disk usage is at an acceptable level, I stop deleting but you can delete all of them if you want to reclaim all of the disk space.

Back at the terminal, type tmutil deletelocalsnapshots YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS , where will be one of the dates from your backup. This will be in the form of xxx-yy-zz-abcdef. Try to start with the oldest snapshot.

Hit enter.

Repeat for as many snapshot dates as required

http://www.thagomizer.com/blog/2018/03/27/cleaning-up-time-machine-local-snapshots.html

Please post the EtreCheck output as a "Reply" to this thread

<https://itunes.apple.com/app/etrecheck/id1423715984?ls=1&mt=12>

Click on the Share icon and select "Copy Report"

And then Paste the report as a "Reply" to this thread using an "Additional Text" box.

EtreCheck is a tool that helps Apple Support Community volunteers debug problems without any access to the troubled computers. Debugging problems can be a difficult task even when the machine is in front of you. Attempting it via a discussion forum is extremely difficult. EtreCheck is a great help that regards.