Check battery settings for low power mode

Ensure that your Mac’s low power mode is turned off in the battery settings. While low power mode can save battery, it can also reduce performance. For M1 MacBook Air users, low power mode cuts performance in half, so it’s best to keep it off if you need your Mac to run fast.

Toggle high power mode for better performance

If you want the best performance on battery, make sure to toggle on high power mode. This setting is available on some Macs and can optimize your Mac’s performance.

Disable slow animations for faster experience

By disabling slow animations when opening windows and applications, you can make your Mac feel faster. In the desktop and dock settings, uncheck the option to animate opening applications and turn off any slow animation effects.

Uncheck ‘Animate opening applications’ in desktop settings

In the desktop and dock settings, uncheck the option to animate opening applications. This will remove any extra delay when opening apps and provide a faster experience.

Automated Restart

If you often forget to restart your Mac, there’s a solution for you – automated restart. By using the terminal app, you can set up a schedule for your Mac to automatically restart, ensuring it stays fresh and performs optimally. Here’s how:

Use terminal app to set automatic restart schedule

Open the terminal app on your Mac and type in the command: “sudo pmset repeat restart”. This command will enable the automatic restart feature.

Select specific days of the week for restart

After entering the command, you can choose specific days of the week for the automatic restart. For example, if you want your Mac to restart every Monday, you can type “M” in the command. You can select multiple days by adding the corresponding letters for each day.

Password verification for terminal commands

Keep in mind that when entering terminal commands, you will be prompted to enter your password for verification. This is to ensure only authorized users can make changes to the system settings.

Check and clear restart schedule using terminal

If you ever want to check or clear the restart schedule, you can do so using the terminal. To check the schedule, enter the command “pmset -g sched” in the terminal. To clear the schedule, enter the command “sudo pmset schedule cancel”.

With automated restart, you can save yourself the hassle of manually restarting your Mac and ensure it stays running smoothly without any performance issues. Give it a try and experience the benefits of a freshly restarted Mac!

Optimizing Login Items

One of the biggest reasons your Mac might be running slow is because of unnecessary login items. Here are some tips to optimize your login items and improve performance:

Remove unnecessary applications from login items

Go to your system settings and search for “login items”. Here, you’ll find a list of applications that open automatically at login. Remove any applications that you don’t need to open every time you start your Mac. This will reduce the load on your system and improve performance.

Disable background apps and tasks

Along with login items, it’s important to disable background apps and tasks that consume system resources. Open your settings and look for background apps and tasks. Disable any apps that you don’t need running in the background, as they can drain performance.

Improve performance by closing unused apps

Make a habit of closing unused apps when you’re not using them. Keeping multiple apps open can slow down your Mac and consume valuable resources. By closing unused apps, you’ll free up memory and improve overall performance.

Identify and remove performance-draining apps

If you notice that certain apps are consistently draining performance, it’s worth identifying and removing them from your system. Use the activity monitor to check which apps are using a significant amount of resources and consider uninstalling them if they’re not essential.

Managing RAM Usage

Insufficient RAM leads to slowdowns, which can significantly impact the performance of your Mac. Here are some tips to help you manage your RAM usage:

Comparison of different RAM models

Apple offers different RAM options for their devices, and choosing the right model can make a significant difference in performance. In RAM comparison videos, it has been shown that models with higher RAM capacity, such as the 16GB models, perform better than models with lower RAM capacity, especially when multitasking.

Performance difference with multitasking

If you frequently multitask on your Mac, having sufficient RAM is crucial. With more RAM, your Mac can handle multiple tasks simultaneously without experiencing a significant slowdown. On the other hand, if you have limited RAM, your system may become sluggish when running multiple applications.

Using Activity Monitor to check Swap usage

The Activity Monitor is a useful tool for monitoring your Mac’s system resources, including RAM usage. By opening the Activity Monitor and checking the Swap usage, you can determine if your Mac is utilizing virtual memory due to insufficient RAM. High Swap usage indicates that your system is experiencing performance issues and may benefit from additional RAM.

Optimizing Storage Space

Managing storage space is essential for maintaining the speed and performance of your Mac. Here are some tips to optimize your storage space:

Full SSD can slow down system

It’s important to note that when your SSD storage is almost full, it can slow down your system. Ensure that you have enough free space on your SSD to maintain optimal performance.

Access storage settings in General

To access your storage settings, open the Settings application and navigate to the General section. Here, you can see an overview of your storage usage and manage your storage settings.

Identify and delete large unnecessary files

Review the files stored on your Mac and identify large unnecessary files that are taking up valuable storage space. You can use the file browser to sort files by size and delete any files that you no longer need.

Review and delete old files in Downloads folder

The Downloads folder can accumulate a large number of files over time. Review the files in your Downloads folder and delete any old or unnecessary files to free up storage space.

Improving Internet Speed

If your internet speed is slow on your Mac, there are several steps you can take to optimize it:

Disable unnecessary iCloud features

Go to your System Preferences and open the iCloud settings. Disable features such as iCloud Drive and Photos if you don’t need them. These features can consume bandwidth and slow down your internet connection.

Optimize Wi-Fi settings for faster connection

Hold down the Option key and click on the Wi-Fi icon in your menu bar. This will display detailed information about your Wi-Fi connection. Make sure you are connected to the 5GHz network instead of the 2.4GHz network for faster speeds. If your router supports it, consider upgrading to a Wi-Fi 6 router for even better performance.

Splitting network for better performance

If you have a dual-band router, split your network into separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks. This will allow you to connect to the faster 5GHz network when in range, improving your internet speed.

Adjusting Auto Join settings for Wi-Fi

Open your Wi-Fi settings and disable the Auto Join feature for slow networks. This will prevent your Mac from automatically connecting to slower networks, ensuring a faster and more stable connection.

By following these steps, you can optimize your internet speed on your Mac and enjoy a faster and more reliable browsing experience.

Enhancing Search and Spotlight

If you’re looking to improve your Mac’s search functionality and make it faster, there are a few settings and adjustments you can make to enhance the Spotlight and Siri experience. Here’s what you can do:

Improve search functionality in Spotlight

If you find that Spotlight is not finding your files or documents accurately, you can try re-indexing your computer. Go to your System Preferences and search for “Siri & Spotlight”. Then, go to the Spotlight tab and click on the Privacy tab. Here, add your hard drive or external drive to prevent indexing and click “Done”. Then, remove it from the list to force your Mac to re-index your files. This will improve the accuracy and speed of the search results.

Adjust Siri and Spotlight settings

In the Siri & Spotlight settings, you can also customize the behavior of Siri and Spotlight. For example, you can enable or disable Siri suggestions, change the keyboard shortcut for accessing Spotlight, and control what types of content are shown in the search results. By adjusting these settings according to your preferences, you can optimize your search experience.

Prevent indexing to speed up search

If you want to speed up the search process, you can prevent your Mac from indexing certain locations or drives. In the Spotlight Privacy settings, you can add specific folders or drives to exclude them from the indexing process. This can be useful if you have large folders or external drives that you don’t need to be searchable.

Re-indexing to improve search accuracy

If you’ve made significant changes to your files or folders, or if you’re still experiencing issues with search accuracy, you can manually initiate a re-indexing process. This can be done by adding and removing your hard drive or external drive in the Spotlight Privacy settings, as mentioned earlier. Re-indexing will help Spotlight to update its database and provide more accurate search results.

By following these tips and making adjustments to your Siri and Spotlight settings, you can enhance the search functionality on your Mac and make it more efficient for finding files, documents, and other content.