On my M1 Mac Mini, deleting a file can take up to 2 minutes, other file operations, even programme-intern, often call up the coloured wheel.
I have tried clearing the questions raised by EtreCheck, which did lots of good elsewhere but didn’t seem to touch the problem this is about. Even before entering the problem-text in EtreCheck the coloured-wheel took around 2 minutes.
Mac mini, macOS 13.1
Remove/uninstall TotalAV per the publisher's instructions and run without for a while to evaluate the problem.
Active anti-virus is not needed on the Mac and often causes problems like you are experiencing.
If you keep the macOS updated and don't install clean-up, speed up and optimizing apps, the Mac can keep itself very healthy.
There are very many post here in the communities regarding this. A quick search will reveal that for you.
Edit - additionally, unless your financial institute or employer requires a VPN to connect, you should reconsider whether you need to have that installed. They are often less than stellar regarding adding security and often contribute to misbehavior of the Mac.
Remove/uninstall TotalAV per the publisher's instructions and run without for a while to evaluate the problem.
Active anti-virus is not needed on the Mac and often causes problems like you are experiencing.
If you keep the macOS updated and don't install clean-up, speed up and optimizing apps, the Mac can keep itself very healthy.
There are very many post here in the communities regarding this. A quick search will reveal that for you.
Edit - additionally, unless your financial institute or employer requires a VPN to connect, you should reconsider whether you need to have that installed. They are often less than stellar regarding adding security and often contribute to misbehavior of the Mac.
It took some time to get rid of TotalAV, as the uninstall method on their website doesn’t work on Ventura and I still have not got rid of the system extension - can't even find it. Even EtreCheck does Beachballing.
File operations are slow
