My Mac used to be fast, but now it’s running so slow.
I’ve heard many versions of this complaint, and they’re usually factually true, not just opinions: Macs can become sluggish over time, even if all of their chips and hard drives are working like new. Even diehard Apple fans will admit that Macs typically run new OS X versions better (faster, and with fewer bugs) if you start with a clean slate: completely wipe your hard drive, do a fresh install of the latest OS X release, and restore only the files you need. That’s not as hard as it sounds, but it’s a radical and fairly time-consuming solution.
There are many things you can do to clear the cobwebs in your Apple device and keep it running as fast as it was from day one. First, find and delete enough files to leave your Mac at least 50GB of free storage capacity – enough room for the Mac to work without pausing to manage its hard drive space. Regular maintenance is must. Like a car, watch, or bicycle, anything regularly serviced and taken care of can extend the lifetime.
Deleting apps you no longer use from your Applications folder is a great spot to start your cleaning adventure. It may sound obvious, but clearing out the trash regularly will help your computer run smoother. Always keep in mind that anything emptied from the trash is permanently deleted. You may need to restart or shutdown your computer for the space you’ve reclaimed to properly show on your hard drive.
Compressing and archiving your old files is another way of cleaning up your Mac. Compressing your files will make them dramatically smaller, freeing up extra space on your hard drive. Once your files are compressed, move them to an external hard drive, USB thumbdrive or CD for storage. Also, keeping files you don’t regularly use on your hard drive can slow it down. Regularly check your ~/Movies/, ~/Music/, and ~/Downloads/ folders for unused files. Drag unneeded files to the Trash. Apps like to save here by default, and this can result in used hard drive space, so be vigilant about what gets put in here.
Lastly, if you are running 10.10 Yosemite or earlier, run Disk Utility to verify and repair permissions to speed up your Mac. Installing and uninstalling of programs on Macs over time can lead to changes in permissions for programs. Sometimes this gets obsolete and causes unnecessary processing. This unnecessary processing won’t affect the size of space taken on your hard drive, but it will increase efficiency, which equates to increased speed.