very slow 21.5 inch iMac 2017-has always been slow
The computer is an iMac 2019 21.5". It has always been very slow.
iMac 21.5″ 4K
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Well it will always be slow until you take the 5400 RPM HDD out of the equation.
you can do that by buying an external SSD and making that the start up drive. Your current HDD is the primary bottleneck!
However the computer is 7 (almost 8) years old and now considered obsolete. So you can spend money on an obsolete computer or invest in a new Mac Mini which will be orders of magnitude quicker than your current computer and be future proof for another 7-10 years.
Now all that being said you MUST begin backing up your computer using Time Machine which requires an external HDD. Operating ANY computer without back up is short sighted and a 150% guarantee of losing irreplaceable data like your photos or music or important documents!!!!!!!!!
Before you do anything please address your backup problem!!!!
