The tools I use when I need to speed up my Mac quickly

Photo by Liam Arning on Unsplash

I’ve always believed that Macs are never sluggish. That notion, however, shattered recently. Here’s what happened.

I was supposed to prepare for a presentation recently when my MacBook Air refused to run normally. It took me 3 seconds to launch Chrome, and several more seconds for Canva to load. (which sounded like forever!)

Initially, I thought it was a glitch, something that would eventually clear up after a Mac reset. Then, I waited patiently, tried to edit the presentation deck, and the browser momentarily froze.

That’s when I had enough and decided to tackle the issue head-on.

My favorite tools that make my Mac run faster.

Honestly, finding tools that speed up my Mac isn’t tough. What’s more important is to use the tools strategically. For me, I wanted tools that fit into these steps.

• Diagnose — figure out what’s slowing my Mac.
• Fix — solve the problem that’s robbing my Mac of memory and CPU.
• Monitor — keep me on alert in case it happens again.

After searching around, I managed to find a few that help.

Here’s how to speed up a MacBook strategically with tools I found.

Diagnose possible issues with Activity Monitor

First, I launched Activity Monitor to get an overview of apps and processes running on my Mac. It’s a utility tool that ships with MacBooks. It lets me know if processes are taking way too much memory, which slows down the entire machine.

For example, Chrome is notorious for using a lot of memory. If I have too many tabs open, I’ll see lots of Google Chrome Helper processes on Activity Monitor.

2-minute fix: Try quitting apps and processes that have high CPU and memory usage. Sometimes, that’s the trick to speed up your Mac.

A word of caution: Activity Monitor can’t detect issues linked to malware. If you accidentally downloaded a malware-infected file, it might not show up as one of the processes.

Fix a slow Mac with MacKeeper

Next, I use MacKeeper to discover issues that Activity Monitor misses and fix them. Once installed, MacKeeper lets you run checks on memory usage, malware, adware, and unnecessary files. Think of MacKeeper as a housekeeper that makes sure your Mac remains uncluttered even after prolonged usage.

In my case, MacKeeper reveals several issues that might contribute to my sluggish Mac. One of them is unnecessary files that accumulate over time.

2-Minute Fix: Often, a cleanup is all it takes to get my Mac back to its normal speed. If you’re like me, who has a habit of downloading multiple apps and quickly forgetting about them, you’ll find MacKeeper useful.

A word of caution: While MacKeeper offers some services for free, many deep fixes are paywalled.

Monitor recurrences with iStat Menus

Lastly, I installed iStat Menus to keep an eye on my Mac’s processes, CPU, and RAM. That’s because I don’t want to be caught unaware if my Mac becomes sluggish again.

With iStat Menus, I have an overview of what’s taking up most of the resources in real time. By checking memory pressure, I can see whether any apps I recently opened are the culprit for a slow Mac.

2-Minute Fix:

I create a custom alert with iStat Menus that notifies me when memory pressure is above 80% for 30 seconds. So, there’s no need to keep checking the indicator.

A word of caution

I don’t recommend turning on all the indicators in iStat Menus. They’ll end up crowding the top menu. Usually, CPU and memory are good enough for pre-empting Mac speed issues.

Wrap up — how to make a Mac run faster

Mac doesn’t slow down overnight. It’s just that we often don’t realize the buildup until the proverbial dam bursts. Looking back, I wouldn’t have gotten into such a predicament if I had maintained some Mac housekeeping habits.

These are other ways to speed up a slow Mac.

• Always uninstall apps that you no longer use.
• Run a malware scan periodically, not until your Mac behaves erratically.
• Remove unneeded browser extensions.
• Move large files (e.g., 4K Video) to the cloud.
• Reduce apps that launch automatically at startup.

Did any of the tips and tools I shared help to speed up your Mac? What else did I miss? Share your thoughts in the comments below.