| Upgrade OS X | |
| Macs know how to take care of themselves. Having the latestversion of OS X is good practice. Don’t think of it as adding morejunk to your Mac. Think of it as new software that makes your Mac run more smoothly. So, the first step in speeding up your Mac is,naturally, to update your Mac. OS X Mavericks has just been released. It should definitely help you add some speed to your Mac. If you’d like to learn how to install OS X Mavericks, take a look at our article on how to do so. |
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| Manage Startup | |
| Get your Mac up and running with a clean start. Imagine that you start running a race with an 80-pound backpack. It’s going to take you a bit longer to get moving, right? Lighten the load on you Mac. Get a fast Mac startup by removing unnecessary apps. Go to your System Preferences > Users & Groups, and then click on your username. Now click on Login Items and check the box of each program you don’t immediately need when your Mac starts up. This should help out a ton. Now, we’re two steps closer to a newer, faster Mac. |  |
| Activity Monitor | |
| One of the easiest ways to take back control of your slow Mac is to check your Activity Monitor. Quitting a single app could make a huge difference in speeding up your slow Mac. Open up your Applications folder and then your Utilities folder. Here you’ll find the Activity Monitor, open it. Check out the list of apps and processes that are going on inside your Mac. Pretty complex, eh? We want to find out what’s causing your Mac trouble. Click on the %CPU filter at the top of the list. This sorts the programs by the amount of space they’re taking up on your Mac RAM. The higher the number, the harder you can grind your teeth at that app. Remove, for example, iTunes or maybe Safari (especially if you’re using Chrome) by clicking on the app from the list and then clicking Quit Process, located at the top-left corner of the window. Don’t remove anything you don’t know, or, if you do, make sure to look up what it is that you’re removing before doing so. |
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| Hardware Upgrade | |
| So, you’ve tried the above and you still want to make your slow Mac faster? Look into upgrading your hardware. Unfortunately, this can be a bit pricey and some Macs are beyond help (kidding; some just can’t be upgraded). Check out this guide that discusses diagnosing your Mac and what is available in terms of hardware upgrades. Cost and time will be a major factor in deciding if this is the way to go. It should be noted that this might just be the best way to fix your slow Mac. |  |
| Hard Drive Cleanup | |
| The most well-rounded option for Mac users is to clean out your hard drive. The problem is knowing what files to delete and how to completely remove them from your Mac. The best way to do this? CleanMyMac 2. CleanMyMac 2 takes the guesswork out of cleaning. It gives your Mac a complete scrub down by removing apps, data, and other unnecessary junk. With its Automatic Cleanup function, you can clean your Mac in just two clicks; click to scan, click to remove. Done. It removes caches, logs, language packs, and more to help speed up your Mac.
The Best Cleaner for Mac: CleanMyMac 2
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