Launchpad and Preview Suddenly Becoming Very Slow

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Level 1

8 points

Launchpad and Preview Suddenly Becoming Very Slow

I've been experiencing an issue for a few months now that I just cannot figure out.

Seemingly at random, Launchpad, Preview (and also the ScreenSaverEngine function I have saved as a shortcut to quickly activate the screen saver when I need) all become extremely slow to respond and I haven't been able to figure out a way to fix it other than restart the computer.

It's always these three (and possibly more) programs, which makes me think they share some kind of resource. When it happens, it can sometimes take upwards of 30 seconds to open a PDF or bring up the Launchpad interface after clicking, when it's normally instantaneous.

I'm running a 15-inch, 2018 Macbook Pro with the 2.2 Ghz Intel Core i7, 32GB 2400 MHz DDR RAM, and Radeon Pro 555X 4GB dedicated GPU with Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB integrated GPU. My OS versions is MacOS Mojave (10.14.6). I would upgrade to the latest version, but this is a work computer and our IT department has not yet rolled out updates.

If anyone has any ideas that don't require me to restart my computer, I would greatly appreciate it. I need to open a lot of PDFs at my job and it becomes extremely frustrating for Preview to suddenly bog down.

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Feb 19, 2020 2:01 PM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

124,106 points

Feb 19, 2020 2:58 PM in response to DRN1234

Why not boot into Safe Boot mode once, and then reboot normally afterward. See if that either eliminates, or expands the intervals between slowdowns. Safe boot is holding down the shift key right after the power key, and releasing the shift key after the progress bar appears. It will be a slower boot process due to all of the ongoing safe boot housekeeping.

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

124,106 points

Feb 19, 2020 2:08 PM in response to DRN1234

Are you running one, or multiple anti-virus, or third-party memory management applications? Are you using FileVault for work filesystem security? How many GB of PDF documents are you concurrently opening in Preview?

When was the last time you rebooted your Mac?

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Answer 3

DRN1234 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 19, 2020 2:22 PM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks for the reply!

No dedicated anti-virus or file backup/security software is running as far as I can tell looking at Activity Monitor. In terms of PDF size, they are typically between a few MB to maybe 100 ~ 300 MB in size, with rarely more than two or three open at the same time. I doubt I've ever had over 1GB of documents open simultaneously in Preview.

I just now rebooted my Mac to fix the problem. I find it typically occurs every day or two, so I'll end up rebooting whenever it happens.

I haven't been able to identify what the trigger is, but once it happens, the only fix I've been able to find is to reboot the machine completely.

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Launchpad and Preview Suddenly Becoming Very Slow

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