iMac very slow, beachballing, etc with low usage

Hi there,

I have a 2019 iMac for work (which was barely used over 2020), and has been fairly slow since the beginning but is becoming absolutely intolerable.

When I run Activity Monitor, it is adamant that everything is mostly idle, and there's 926.97 GB available of 1 TB storage. I only have 8 GB memory, but I have issues with lag and loading when I'm writing emails, opening Word, or switching between programs – I'd imagine that would have been okay!

EtreCheck report attached.

EtreCheck report

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Mar 23, 2022 1:10 PM

Top-ranking reply

John Galt

Level 10

155,822 points

Posted on Mar 23, 2022 1:43 PM

Given those symptoms, the most likely cause of the behaviour you describe is a startup disk that is operating in a state of failure.

Diagnosing a failed hard disk drive is not straightforward. You can perform a variety of tests and use a number of diagnostic utilities including Apple Diagnostics, but even those results can be inconclusive: Diagnose problems with your Mac - Apple Support.

Observing a Mac's performance in "Safe Mode" is likely to be more valuable than anything else you can do on your own: How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support. If the Mac performs just as poorly in that mode, the likelihood of disk failure is nearly certain.

Fortunately your Apple remains fully supported and Apple can perform any required repairs. Click Get Support.

Backup:

Time Machine Not Configured!

It goes without saying that if you do not back up the information on a hard disk, that information is certain to become lost... eventually. That inescapable event is imminent.

To learn how to use Time Machine please read Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support.

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iMac very slow, beachballing, etc with low usage

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