iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) running very slow

Jack,

I assume you mean video/photo editing or similar software when you say professional. No, I do not use high-end software, mostly just Microsoft word, excel and PowerPoint, web browsing, and email.

Sorry for missing your original post; here are the actions I will take:

1. SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE - Western Digital as your backup drive. (Time Machine)
2. Go with the external SSD is the G-Technology G-DRIVE mobile SSD R-Series Storage - Apple. $100 less than the LaCie, for what I use that should be good

Thank you

After reading the report I see both of these options, which one do you recommend? both of them say iMac (2019)

For iMac (Late 2012) - iMac (2019) computers and Mac mini (Late 2012) - Mac mini (Late 2014) computers, an excellent choice for an external SSD is the G-Technology G-DRIVE mobile SSD R-Series Storage - Apple.

For iMac (2017) - iMac (2019) computers only, the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro External Drive with Thunderbolt 3 - Apple could also be considered. It is a more powerful external SSD than the G-DRIVE mobile SSD, but both are very fast.

Jack,

Thank you for the fast reply. I did use time-machine at one time; however, I have moved to iCloud+ as my backup.

I understand that the 5400 rpm hard drive is not as efficient as an SSD drive, but it has not always been like that; at one time, the 5400 rpm worked just fine? So why now?

I will read your linked article on setting up and using an external SSD.

I do have one more question about RAM? Am I able to upgrade to more RAM, or am I at the maximum RAM.

Again thank you very much for the information that you have to provide.

Jack,

Thank you. I will go with LaCie. Can I also use that as my Time Machine drive for backup?

Thank you :)