Slow Mac

there can be MANY reasons why a Mac is slow. since you have several issues rolled into one, and to save us from playing 20 questions, i'm thinking you should download and run the free version of EtreCheck so we can see if you have some software installed that is causing your issue. make sure you give "full disk access" to etrecheck. Learn how to use it by reading Using EtreCheck. if you need help interpreting the report, you can see how to post the report here by reading How to use the Add Text Feature When Posting Large Amounts of Text, i.e. an Etrecheck Report. and it automatically obscures sensitive things (like serial numbers) so you don't have to worry about sharing the report here.

First, I endorse Jeffery's recommendation to install and run EtreCheck. That will provide a lot of useful information. In response to your questions, the following should be helpful in dealing with a slow computer. Often times there is a specific cause and other times any of the following actions may be helpful. They are “maintenance” steps which are often ignored (as you noted).

·      It is important to occasionally restart a Mac. Ideally, once a week or more often. This does some system cleaning.

·      Regularly clearing the history of your browsers can help as all the data is stored in RAM. Clearing frees up RAM for system use.

·      If your computer is set to startup with too many apps that will slow down the startup process.

·      Some programs use a lot of RAM. (Like many Adobe apps and the Chrome browser.) When using them, close any other apps not being used.

·      Doing a restart in the safe mode can clear a number of problems. This is done by holding down the Shift key at start up. This process can take up to ten minutes while the computer is doing its maintenance and cleans the cache. You may then restart normally.

·      It is also a good idea to occasionally run the Disk Utility app. If it reports some issues, then rerun it repeatedly as needed until the final report is ok.

·      On some computers the problem may simply be that there is not enough RAM installed for RAM hungry programs that are being used. The very minimum amount of RAM I would recommend for computers running the Catalina, Big Sur or Monterey OS is 16 GB. This information is found by going to the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the finder and clicking on About This Mac. Note; not all computers are able to have RAM user installed. Some upgrades must be done by a qualified Apple service specialist.

·      Last, and most important, you should remove any and all maintenance and antivirus programs. They will cause problems and will significantly slow your computer.

·      As noted, it is also very useful to download and install the free app EtreCheck. Be sure to enable full disk access and run it. Save the report. You can post the results here at the bottom under “Additional text”. It will tell us exactly what you have installed which might be problematic. Then we can offer some suggestions.

Finally, you have not indicated whether the computer has always been slow or if it is a recent problem. Sometimes the issue is a failing HD. I hope these suggestions are helpful and enable you to speed up your computer.

In response to your questions - 8GB of RAM should be adequate, but 16 would be much better. Some of the newer operating systems seem to use more of the RAM. EtreCheck is absolutely safe. It doesn't change anything. It only reports. CleanMyMac X is completely unneeded and will often cause problems you don't need.

tharushi276 wrote:

And is the EtreCheck app absolutely safe to run? Because I was just considering using the CleanMyMac X, but saw that there were quite a significant amount of negative reviews. So I just asked the question.

I can answer that for you.

etrecheck is absolutely safe. it is a diagnostic tool. it only reports possible issues which are then left up to the end user wether or not to take action. and if needed you can safely share the report here so we can help you see issues that you may not know are possible issues.

cleanmymac, and other apps like it, are invasive apps. they run willy nilly through macOS and can and do remove things that are needed by macOS. and they can also block some things from working.