The "don't turn off your Mac" thing is especially relevant for older users like myself. I was always used to shutting down my Windows computers when done for the day, especially in an office setting. But even though I now leave my Mac to sleep instead of turning it off, the occasional restart always seems to speed things up and lessen "buggy" behavior in the OS. Really nice, comprehensive video that I'm going to remember when people tell me their Macbook is running slowly.
This information is absolute gold. I trust my Macs to take care of themselves, and I rarely have issues. Since switching to Mac, my troubleshooting task time has been reduced by at least 95% (emphasis on “at least”). A quick Spotlight tip: If your Spotlight performance is abysmal and you have an external drive for Time Machine, then add that Time Machine drive to the Privacy list in Spotlight settings/preferences. That was the culprit for me a few years back.
SO useful. Much of this I've learned on my own over the past 15 years, but there's at least one thing I learn in each of your videos that is changing the way I use my mac daily ... and saving me TONS of time. Thank you!
Another terrific video full of easy to follow suggestions about the Mac. I definitely learned a couple things here that I must apply on a regular basis. Specifically, activity monitor and knowing what the green means as opposed to other colors that might appear there.
so well done. You speak nice and clear and slowly. Mostly everyone else speaks too fast, and most assume you know how to find everything -I’m so not everyone 🤪. Thank You 😊
Thanks Gary..excellent suggestions. I would add that in the case of Numbers worksheets or Keynote presentations, saving the document as a package makes a huge difference to performance - at least for me (File->Advanced ->Change File Type->Package). I find this makes everything faster and more responsive and reduces considerably any spinning balls. There is an abstruse reference to this in the Numbers manual.
Appreciate all these tips, some of which I have not incorporated and will try. Over the years, seems like about once per week, I have to restart my Mac to resolve random issues, and that fixes it. I always sleep my M1 MacBook Air until I can't resolve a random issue.
A brilliant tutorial, I never let my Mac sleep but since taking your advice of letting it sleep, I have found it is much quicker. Great stuff, thank you.
Thank you soo so much! Your tips really worked for me and my slow mac. Could you please do a tutorial on time machine and whether it's worth getting an external hard drive to back up, or whether to pay for iCloud? Thank you
Yes, definitely back up to an external drive with Time Machine. ua-cam.com/video/BppbfDE1UOs/v-deo.html Note that iCloud Drive is NOT a backup. It is very very useful, but should not be a substitute for a backup. See ua-cam.com/video/yM-hbmpTfgI/v-deo.html
Thank you for this video! You mentioned anti-virus softwares. Would you recommend installing them at all? If yes, could you name some that you think is good? I have a newer mac with Ventura.
XProtect uses a YARA based detection system. This means it has to wait for Apple to update definitions. It has NO heuristic detection abilities. It also has NO behaviour based detection abilities. Advising people to not use a malware detection system is bad advise, especially when not explaining the limitations of XProtect. This is exactly how new malware makes it on to Mac systems.
@@diddybug5112 Disagree. Heuristic/behavior-based detection can lead to false positives and a mess of slow-downs and legit software being blocked. Just don't install things from site you shouldn't trust. XProtect is then all you need. But if you are going to take risks and download junk, then even third-party anti-malware won't insure anything.
Awesome info. We have an 11 year old MacBook.. still working but this may be useful if it starts slowing down. Do you have a video on using the iCloud? I'd like to learn more about it but have no clue what I'm doing. thanks.
WOW ! I am going to need to watch this several times to absorb all this fabulous info, because I am pretty slow. Well, I guess that's unrealistically optimistic of me. I'll be lucky if I can learn and understand a good part of it. The RAM between my ears is extremely fragmented and I spend most of my time in a short circuiting state of being. But wow this guy obviously knows his stuff and if I can just clean up the cookies and viruses in my head then I could stand to learn a lot here on his sites.
That was extremely interesting to me! As I have a new Mac and whilst I don't have issues right now! It was great to learn some aspects that might help! Many thanks! It helped on a number of ways to find things too! As I have just subscribed to your channel too! 🙂😉👍
I'll try a few of these. Been running Sonoma for a while now, and for some reason the whole thing just seems laggy from the moment I upgraded. For example after opening system settings, clicking on a section takes about 3 or 4 seconds to come up.
Nice, it’s very useful. However I’m a bit confused which step to do just to make my mac run at it’s best. For example spotlight is slow in finding things such as contacts, however it may be normal speed for MacOS. However, my computer is not slow however the fans speed goes up a lot (it doesn’t heat up I guess), is this from energy tab ? How can I know if it’s normal as I don’t remember it was like this years ago. Do you recommend opening it and removing dust perhaps ?
There's no way I can guess what, in particular, may be wrong with your Mac. Look at each of these suggestions and evaluate. You can use the Energy tab in Activity Monitor to see what is causing your fans to run when that happens. But the fans are there for a reason and it is OK for them to turn on.
This was the video I've been looking for! Thank you-- I just subscribed. Question: In Activity Monitor, how do I know what all these programs are in the CPU list? There's tons of them. I once had a friend look in there (I couldn't remember how he found it and this video showed me) and he found where I was mining crypto for someone. That freaked me out. Do you have a video discussing this-- how to know if "phantom" things are running on your computer?
The vast majority of computer users won't know what most of them are. They are background processes and pieces of other apps. You'd have to spend hours researching each one. But if you had something mining crypto then that means you installed some malware. Or, maybe your friend was wrong.
Thanks for your amazing info... I do have clean my mac and it does have an great option for cleaning up purgeable space, freeing up ram, running maintenance scripts and flushing dns cache..Whats your opinion on clean my mac app? It always finds at least 3-6 gigs of space to free up on a daily basis. Also does pinning tabs slow your browsing or computer down? And what about a reading list? does a reading list slow down your computer? I have the latest mac studio with ventura. And instead of keeping my folder of desktop files in documents ...i have just one folder on my desktop with many folders inside. Is that a culprit for slowing things down? thanks Gary... you gave such valuable info...Norm
I don't recommend using any "cleaning apps." ua-cam.com/video/qcu5H3ZfyqQ/v-deo.html All those things you mention are either done already by the system, aren't needed, or actually work against you. For instance, freeing space often means cleaning caches which sounds good, but then the apps need to generate the caches again using processor or downloads, slowing you down in the process. So often I hear of problems people have and those maintenance apps are the problem, not the solution.
Thanks Gary... I will take your advice seriously. I appreciate your reply and can't thank you enough for such inspiring knowledge that you provide us with each week. Norm
Hello Gary, FANTASTIC TUTORIAL, Question: I have a MBP [ EARLY 2011 ] with HIGH SIERRA [ SSD 1TB & 8 RAM ] thinking of UPGRADING to BIG SUR or MONTEREY ..which one do you recommend if any other. ??? Also, do you recommend an anti virus like BITDEFENDER ?
I don't understand your first question. Why would you not update to the latest version of macOS that your Mac supports? Why would you want an older system with fewer features and compatibility? As for anti-virus, see ua-cam.com/video/Dhl9_P8uBw0/v-deo.html
@@macmost Hello Gary, thank you for your response, my concern is if an UPGRADE to a NEWER OS could downgrade the speed and overall performance. *** If not the case which would you recommend MONTEREY or BIG SUR [ currently HIGH SIERRA ] . Also, any tutorial to follow the process on that UPGRADE ??? Thank you sir !!!!
@@rafaelgomez1989 I always recommend the latest and greatest. It will probably improve performance, but everyone's Mac is unique (which apps you use, extensions you have, how you use it, etc).
I mention "older Macs" several times here. In each case, if you are unsure just try the way I show it first, and then if you don't see the right option or it doesn't seem to work that way, try the "older" method. Spring 2020 is probably an Intel Mac, right? So most of it would apply.
@@macmost Thanks again. I did all the methods you showed and ended up calling Apple which was great advice.. I asked for a senior advisor and she really knew her stuff. I had done many of the fixes already thanks to you. And then she went a bit deeper. Advising me to rid my Mac of old unused old apps, empty the trash and restart. Now key here is that I had just upgraded to Sonoma and her advice was that it needed to process all those changes. So long story longer I was terrified to upgrade from Ventura because Sonoma seemed so different and I worried about, even as a long time Mac user, could I figure it out? It was easy breezy. I recommend you to any Mac friends in need of help. Thanks again. I can always depend on you!
Question I have a 14 pro that starting working Oct 6th and I have had 2 different days that my phone got really hot. I’m guessing it’s the battery but do you know of anything else it could or should I take it to the Apple Store? Thank you & happy thanksgiving
So an iPhone, not a Mac? If it gets hot again, go to Settings, Battery, then set to "Last 24 Hours" and then scroll down to see which app is using a lot of power. Then you can identify what is causing the heat.
Is CleanMyMacx not OK? used to have malware issue. Quite terrible. I had to resort to CleanMyMac and it cleaned off the malware. But I heard so many not recommending that apps.
How much energy will an iMac use when it’s in sleep mode? Is it very little? I have been shutting mine down at the end of every day due to soaring energy prices here in the UK 🇬🇧
Excellent, thank you. I've just signed ups to your Patreon. Have you done a video which will show me things I can do to get rid of the spinning wheel (wheeling cursor) on the Mac? It's interfering more and more with my work.
Thanks for your support! This is the video you should watch if you are having that problem. If none of the 20 suggestions here work, you should call Apple Support.
@@macmost I have that same spinning ball problem on my intel iMac. I was under the impression that genius bar or phone support cost money for Macs that are out of warranty.
Great video, as always! So it is your recommendation that if you are running an anti virus program, like Avast Antivirus, it would be best to uninstall it as MacOS is performing the same level (or better?) of protection? I am running MacOS Ventura.
I haven't had any issues with it. Love the new features. Using it since day 1 on all machines, but one I had the beta since the summer. I'd investigate the machine where you are having trouble. See what apps and background processes could be the cause, etc.
Excellent information.very helpful. I would like to make one suggestion. Please do this kind of video under the topic "HOW TO SAVE BATTERY LIFE IN MacBook" .in here pls highlight if there is any good app to save battery life in MBP.
Are you looking to prolong the life of your battery (years before replacement) or how long a charge lasts (hours without being plugged in)? I do have this video here: ua-cam.com/video/Ot3bzKKgzp8/v-deo.html
@@macmost First thank you so much for your prompt response.Actually I need a topic under "how long a charge lasts (hours without being plugged in)".Thanks again!!!
How much hot is too hot for Macbook pro with intel chip? mine is always around 45 degree centigrades when idle and around 65 degree centigrades with light task. Is it too hot?
You'll see a warning message if it is too hot and then it will shut down as the next step. So if it isn't there yet, it isn't "too" hot. When it happens, check in Activity Monitor and look at Energy use to see which app or processes causing it.
Gary, I went to your Patreon page to donate. I couldn’t find a onetime donation option. I don’t like subscribing ad infinitum (I’m sure contributors can cancel at any time, but….). If there’s something I missed, please advise.
Thanks for wanted to support MacMost! The reason I prefer Patreon and monthly support is so I can set a budget and plan for the future. Most people get regular paychecks and really couldn’t work a job if they just received occasional single payments from the source that supported them. I’m no different. Without regular monthly income, I could never do MacMost. But one way you could support MacMost without a monthly contribution is to buy a course at courses.macmost.com. That way you get something in return for your contribution. Thanks!
Hi my Mac was running Monterey update security came up so I downloaded it but after it downloaded safari is in white at tool bar abd says you can’t open the application because this application is not supported on this Mac ? So frustrating I do have another update that has come up 12.6.5 not sure how to get Safari to work again seems everytime I do security updates or update to latest platform I get so many issues.
My new (in 2018) iMac "ran" at a snail's pace. I spent hours on the phone to Apple without solving the problem. A couple of years ago a Mac magazine included, almost as a throwaway line, that current operating systems did not run well on the built in hard drive. The answer was to replace the start up disc with a SSD. A £150 purchase of an external SSD from Amazon and the problem was solved.
I'm dealing with a laggy keyboard but no other performance issues. Across multiple apps (Pages, Safari, Mail, Notes, Numbers, BBEdit) I’m experiencing keyboard lag and characters getting out of order. Its frequent and intermittent. I’m running Fall 2021 MBP, M1 Pro, 16", 16GB , Ventura 13.0.1 Shortcuts, Hazel, Keyboard Maestro, TextExpander (all current versions) Fantastical, GoodTask, Facebook Messenger, and Apple Messages are also running most of the time in the background. A chat with Apple Support this afternoon didn't really turn up any good leads.
This week has been weird. Apps stop working, closed just like that, but then opens up again and resume like nothing has happened. This is across iOS - iPadOS - macOS Especially in photo editing apps. Not often but enough to annoy me.
Wish I had seen this 3 years back I could have saved lot of time with a spinning wheel mac now I can't even perform any of these recommendations its so slow right after login (if I am st all able to log in) 😕
Mostly useful content. I'd argue some thinigs, like updating your network hardware is a little silly though. With routers especially it is often a case of "if it works" DON'T TOUCH IT. I have updated in the past and had to revert to older firmware due to bugs or performance degradation. So if it works in January, unless your actual data line has issues, you should not see any issues in June... a restart once a while is good though.
I put my Mac to sleep every night but it disconnects from the internet for some reason and so misses out on overnight maintenance. Is there a way to make it sleep AND stay connected?
I was really stunned to see in the Activity Monitor that a simple app as Notes is, uses over 100% of CPU. Once again, not stunned by that it is over 100% (with your explanation) but you wouldn't expect a note-taking app to be so hungry, right? :)
It is constantly above 100%? Having any app at 100% in one moment isn't an issue, but if it is always over 100% then you may want to look at what you have going on. So watch it while you work.
@@macmost yes, it's stays at around 104-110%. I exactly started what you suggest. It just got interesting. Another factor here is that I very rarely reboot my mac, so this app has now been up for almost 300hrs. With some bad code inside this could result in an increased cpu usage. At the same time, and IDE called WebStorm which has always been known to be resource hungry, has only 15%, but it runs on Java Runtime so it might be comparing apples to oranges. Interesting anyway.
@@macmost I restarted Notes and when it launched again, it started at 180% decreasing slowly as I type this comment. Mini M1 (2020), Sonoma. Curious what readout you have...
@@aram5642 At launch, 20%. Then quickly dropping below 1%. Now holding at 0.3%. Maybe you've got a lot going on in Notes? lots of graphics and such? Maybe it is currently syncing to iCloud (or Google or whatever you are using)?
A Mac running hot, especially the laptops, could also be the thermal paste that connects the heatsink with the CPU (and GPU). If that dries it does not transfer the heat properly to the sink. The paste that Apple used on some models is of low quality and dries up within a couple of years. Replacing the paste yourself is not a super easy task, but can be done by a layperson with proper instructions.
With an older Mac, maybe. I wouldn't recommend for anyone to try to do it on their own unless they feel they know what they are a doing, have a good backup(s) and are willing to deal with the consequences if they break it. Newer Macs shouldn't have this issue.
@@macmost - True, older Macs are easier to repair, but also more in need of than the new ones. And a regular user opening up and removing parts of their computer should indeed not happening. So your software based advice makes most sense.
I didn't realize Onyx was cleaning software (my bad) and if I startup from shut down it is slooooow. Otherwise fine. I really don't want to do a clean reinstall. I've uninstalled of course, but sure I didn't get every piece of it.
I know that on windows systems, cleaner apps can sometimes remove system files (which can really screw up the operating system), which is one reason why i never use them, I don’t know if that is an issue on mac os, but i would rather not find out the hard way Many years ago i had a laptop that was so full of junk, there wasn’t much space left on the drive, and the operating system was even becoming glitchy, sometimes it would not let me log in at all (it would come up with a really weird error which did not make sense, sometimes it would allow the administrator account to log in when it was doing this, sometimes it wouldn’t), and it was REALLY slow to start up (i can’t remember exactly how long, but i did time it, and I’ve never had a computer take THAT long to start up before or since)
Alright now I know this may sound stupid. But bro slow down! You’re forgetting the whole point of the video! My mac is slow slow, it can’t keep up with yours! 😂😂😂
I just did a factory reset on my mac. I don't run any heavy apps, but it still freezes/glitches randomly from time to time. Does anyone know what causes this to happen? Thanks for anyone that will reply.
Usually impossible to diagnose things without a firsthand look. Try the things mentioned in this video and keep investigating. Get pro help if you need it.
My grandmas iMac is still very slow, there’s no obsessive use of ram, or memory, she has 900gb that are not used in her 1tb hard drive. There is no software downloaded other than Microsoft word and acrobat reader. Please help. It’s been like this and I’ve never been able to find a fix. And I consider myself at least a little bit decent with technology since I built 4 different computers and have done an internship with IT. I’m not saying I know everything or a lot. I just don’t know what else to try.
Next, how to stop battery drain? Under System Information > Hardware > Power > Power Events, there are few things keeping the Mac up all night. Always wake with losing 9-10% battery.
First, why are you having your Mac sleep at night without being plugged in? That's usually the most convenient time to charge it. Do you live in an area without power at night? What "things" does it show as waking your Mac? 10% isn't horrible, depending on what you have running on your Mac. Still, should be a non-issue if you just plug it in.
@@macmost I am usually plugged in all day, and by night, unplugged to sleep. I would imagine "sleep" means completely asleep. I know there is the "Wake for network access" but I have it set for Never. Before, as in around the mid Monterey update, I think leaving over night unplugged, next morning I would see 5% or less, but now it's always around 10% and to me that doesn't seem normal. For me, it says the following: com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.CalendarNotification.EKTravelEngine.periodicRefreshTimerf and com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.acmd.alarm found in the Power Events. But doing: pmset -g log | grep "Wake Requests" shows more things happening every hour. At least five events per hour for few seconds. I don't know how to read it all, but key words like Bluetooth and SDXC pops up. And that leaves me thinking is it because of the Bluetooth is consistently waiting for connectivity? SDXC, I do have a card in the slot, but nothing is running from it. Even the "Optimize battery charging" hasn't been working since Ventura update. Feel like all this has something to do with the update.
@@nuj427 None of those things would use much battery. But sleeping isn't "off" because it is doing maintenance tasks while it sleeps (so it doesn't need to do them when you are working during the day). Just leave it plugged in at night unless it is a big problem. Otherwise, it doesn't seem like it is a problem either way since you have it plugged in while working during the day. 10% isn't that bad. I wouldn't worry about it. As for "Optimize battery charging" what makes you think that isn't working? Of course if you aren't plugging it in at night then I'm not sure what you expect it to do.
@@macmost Thanks for your thoughts on this. Concerns me because I just feel like it didn't drain as much before. But I remember well one weekend when I had it unplugged but asleep all weekend and on Monday I found it.. forgot exactly but almost dead. As for the "Optimized battery charging", I haven't seen it working since a long time now. For a while I turned off Screen Time after reading discussions on battery drain. Maybe because it was off there's not a log of my daily schedule?
@@nuj427 But what makes you think it is not working? What indicator do you see that is showing you that? Of course if you aren't charging your battery at night, then I'm not sure what you expect it to DO. for you, exactly. You are using it plugged in (which is fine, good even) but then sleeping it not plugged in. That's the opposite of the situation which optimization usually deals with.
Love your videos, expertly explained. However, I disagree with not shutting down. This may be one of the reasons Americans use 3 times the energy of people in the rest of the world, being generally wasteful in energy use should not be encouraged. Admittedly Apple Silicon Macs are extremely power efficient, but macOS should be completely shutdown occasionally. I see a lot of people that have issues if they never shutdown / restart their mac. I always turn off my kit when I’m not using it.
A sleeping Mac isn't using much power, and a lot (all?) of the power it is using would be used during waking hours for startup and deferred system maintenance anyway. But then it would also be slowing you down too. Gotta think that the energy use difference is about Americans heating and cooling larger homes, particularly cooling in the hot states.
Restart in Safe Mode, nope..disagree, make a new User Account, then log into that account after a restart, this way you know if the account gives you the trouble. If there are problems it almost always is the User account.
Both techniques are useful. Restarting in Safe Mode will run a check of your Mac's startup disk, and delete some system caches and other maintenance. So it is definitely worth trying.
The "don't turn off your Mac" thing is especially relevant for older users like myself. I was always used to shutting down my Windows computers when done for the day, especially in an office setting. But even though I now leave my Mac to sleep instead of turning it off, the occasional restart always seems to speed things up and lessen "buggy" behavior in the OS. Really nice, comprehensive video that I'm going to remember when people tell me their Macbook is running slowly.
This information is absolute gold. I trust my Macs to take care of themselves, and I rarely have issues. Since switching to Mac, my troubleshooting task time has been reduced by at least 95% (emphasis on “at least”).
A quick Spotlight tip: If your Spotlight performance is abysmal and you have an external drive for Time Machine, then add that Time Machine drive to the Privacy list in Spotlight settings/preferences. That was the culprit for me a few years back.
I love that you tell the memory issue as it is. Full RAM doesn't mean you need more, only high memory pressure signals a possible problem.
SO useful. Much of this I've learned on my own over the past 15 years, but there's at least one thing I learn in each of your videos that is changing the way I use my mac daily ... and saving me TONS of time. Thank you!
It doesn't get anymore useful than this. Thank you.
This is SUPER HELPFUL. Thank you so much, I was able to remove several unnecessary files and now my Mac works fast. Thanks a lot!
Another terrific video full of easy to follow suggestions about the Mac. I definitely learned a couple things here that I must apply on a regular basis. Specifically, activity monitor and knowing what the green means as opposed to other colors that might appear there.
In the end, I just set up a new user account and works much better. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent tutorial, very thorough.
so well done. You speak nice and clear and slowly. Mostly everyone else speaks too fast, and most assume you know how to find everything -I’m so not everyone 🤪. Thank You 😊
Thanks Gary..excellent suggestions. I would add that in the case of Numbers worksheets or Keynote presentations, saving the document as a package makes a huge difference to performance - at least for me (File->Advanced ->Change File Type->Package). I find this makes everything faster and more responsive and reduces considerably any spinning balls. There is an abstruse reference to this in the Numbers manual.
It is on my to-do list to do some tests on performance at various document sizes and maybe present some results in a video.
Some fabulous info they're Gary and definitely a video to store and go back to, brilliant thank you.
Appreciate all these tips, some of which I have not incorporated and will try. Over the years, seems like about once per week, I have to restart my Mac to resolve random issues, and that fixes it. I always sleep my M1 MacBook Air until I can't resolve a random issue.
A brilliant tutorial, I never let my Mac sleep but since taking your advice of letting it sleep, I have found it is much quicker. Great stuff, thank you.
You are so helpful. love how you explain things in laymen's terms.
Another excellent video, thanks Gary.
My Macbook issue is when it goes to sleep, can take up to 3 minutes to wake up - so frustrating.
A wealth of information in this video. Thank you.
Thank you soo so much! Your tips really worked for me and my slow mac. Could you please do a tutorial on time machine and whether it's worth getting an external hard drive to back up, or whether to pay for iCloud?
Thank you
Yes, definitely back up to an external drive with Time Machine. ua-cam.com/video/BppbfDE1UOs/v-deo.html
Note that iCloud Drive is NOT a backup. It is very very useful, but should not be a substitute for a backup. See ua-cam.com/video/yM-hbmpTfgI/v-deo.html
Happy Thanksgiving and for a video on this holiday!🦃🦃
Happy Thanksgiving! A very useful and informative video tutorial today! Thank you, Gary! 👏🏻❤️
Thank you for this video! You mentioned anti-virus softwares. Would you recommend installing them at all? If yes, could you name some that you think is good? I have a newer mac with Ventura.
It's been 30 years since I started with Macs. Never installed anti-virus. Simply no need to.
No. See ua-cam.com/video/Dhl9_P8uBw0/v-deo.html
Thank you!
XProtect uses a YARA based detection system. This means it has to wait for Apple to update definitions. It has NO heuristic detection abilities. It also has NO behaviour based detection abilities. Advising people to not use a malware detection system is bad advise, especially when not explaining the limitations of XProtect. This is exactly how new malware makes it on to Mac systems.
@@diddybug5112 Disagree. Heuristic/behavior-based detection can lead to false positives and a mess of slow-downs and legit software being blocked. Just don't install things from site you shouldn't trust. XProtect is then all you need. But if you are going to take risks and download junk, then even third-party anti-malware won't insure anything.
Thank you! This helped a lot!
You've saved me many a time when I wanted to throw my mac out the window. Have a great Thanksgiving, Gary!
Awesome info. We have an 11 year old MacBook.. still working but this may be useful if it starts slowing down. Do you have a video on using the iCloud? I'd like to learn more about it but have no clue what I'm doing. thanks.
Never mind.. I just found your iCloud video.
WOW ! I am going to need to watch this several times to absorb all this fabulous info, because I am pretty slow.
Well, I guess that's unrealistically optimistic of me. I'll be lucky if I can learn and understand a good part of it.
The RAM between my ears is extremely fragmented and I spend most of my time in a short circuiting state of being.
But wow this guy obviously knows his stuff and if I can just clean up the cookies and viruses in my head then I could stand to learn a lot here on his sites.
I always learn so much from you!! thanks
I use Clean My Mac. I've been using it for years and it's great.
Thank you, Gary!
Excellent tutorial thanks Gary
That was extremely interesting to me! As I have a new Mac and whilst I don't have issues right now! It was great to learn some aspects that might help! Many thanks! It helped on a number of ways to find things too! As I have just subscribed to your channel too! 🙂😉👍
I'll try a few of these. Been running Sonoma for a while now, and for some reason the whole thing just seems laggy from the moment I upgraded. For example after opening system settings, clicking on a section takes about 3 or 4 seconds to come up.
Thanks very much Gary. You are the greatest!!!!!!
Awesome, tutorial is on point thanks for the lesson
i do appreciate.
If only all UA-camrs offered this content quality !
Thank you so much for this video! 🌞
Soo useful! Thx for sharing!!
Thank you Gary this for me always useful, like your other videos 😀 👍
Awesome informative jam packed video. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤Thank you!!!!!!!
Thanks bunches--have a wonderful Thanksgiving
Nice, it’s very useful. However I’m a bit confused which step to do just to make my mac run at it’s best. For example spotlight is slow in finding things such as contacts, however it may be normal speed for MacOS. However, my computer is not slow however the fans speed goes up a lot (it doesn’t heat up I guess), is this from energy tab ? How can I know if it’s normal as I don’t remember it was like this years ago. Do you recommend opening it and removing dust perhaps ?
There's no way I can guess what, in particular, may be wrong with your Mac. Look at each of these suggestions and evaluate. You can use the Energy tab in Activity Monitor to see what is causing your fans to run when that happens. But the fans are there for a reason and it is OK for them to turn on.
thanks Gary so useful video
This was the video I've been looking for! Thank you-- I just subscribed. Question: In Activity Monitor, how do I know what all these programs are in the CPU list? There's tons of them. I once had a friend look in there (I couldn't remember how he found it and this video showed me) and he found where I was mining crypto for someone. That freaked me out. Do you have a video discussing this-- how to know if "phantom" things are running on your computer?
The vast majority of computer users won't know what most of them are. They are background processes and pieces of other apps. You'd have to spend hours researching each one. But if you had something mining crypto then that means you installed some malware. Or, maybe your friend was wrong.
@@macmost Thanks for clarifying that
Thanks for your amazing info... I do have clean my mac and it does have an great option for cleaning up purgeable space, freeing up ram, running maintenance scripts and flushing dns cache..Whats your opinion on clean my mac app? It always finds at least 3-6 gigs of space to free up on a daily basis. Also does pinning tabs slow your browsing or computer down? And what about a reading list? does a reading list slow down your computer? I have the latest mac studio with ventura. And instead of keeping my folder of desktop files in documents ...i have just one folder on my desktop with many folders inside. Is that a culprit for slowing things down? thanks Gary... you gave such valuable info...Norm
I don't recommend using any "cleaning apps." ua-cam.com/video/qcu5H3ZfyqQ/v-deo.html All those things you mention are either done already by the system, aren't needed, or actually work against you. For instance, freeing space often means cleaning caches which sounds good, but then the apps need to generate the caches again using processor or downloads, slowing you down in the process. So often I hear of problems people have and those maintenance apps are the problem, not the solution.
Thanks Gary... I will take your advice seriously. I appreciate your reply and can't thank you enough for such inspiring knowledge that you provide us with each week. Norm
Hello Gary, FANTASTIC TUTORIAL, Question: I have a MBP [ EARLY 2011 ] with HIGH SIERRA [ SSD 1TB & 8 RAM ] thinking of UPGRADING to BIG SUR or MONTEREY ..which one do you recommend if any other. ??? Also, do you recommend an anti virus like BITDEFENDER ?
I don't understand your first question. Why would you not update to the latest version of macOS that your Mac supports? Why would you want an older system with fewer features and compatibility?
As for anti-virus, see ua-cam.com/video/Dhl9_P8uBw0/v-deo.html
@@macmost Hello Gary, thank you for your response, my concern is if an UPGRADE to a NEWER OS could downgrade the speed and overall performance. *** If not the case which would you recommend MONTEREY or BIG SUR [ currently HIGH SIERRA ] . Also, any tutorial to follow the process on that UPGRADE ??? Thank you sir !!!!
@@rafaelgomez1989 I always recommend the latest and greatest. It will probably improve performance, but everyone's Mac is unique (which apps you use, extensions you have, how you use it, etc).
Whe you say 'older mac' how much older do you mean? Mine is a spring 2020. Old? Thank you. Always go for your videos first!
I mention "older Macs" several times here. In each case, if you are unsure just try the way I show it first, and then if you don't see the right option or it doesn't seem to work that way, try the "older" method. Spring 2020 is probably an Intel Mac, right? So most of it would apply.
@@macmost Thanks again. I did all the methods you showed and ended up calling Apple which was great advice.. I asked for a senior advisor and she really knew her stuff. I had done many of the fixes already thanks to you. And then she went a bit deeper. Advising me to rid my Mac of old unused old apps, empty the trash and restart. Now key here is that I had just upgraded to Sonoma and her advice was that it needed to process all those changes. So long story longer I was terrified to upgrade from Ventura because Sonoma seemed so different and I worried about, even as a long time Mac user, could I figure it out? It was easy breezy.
I recommend you to any Mac friends in need of help. Thanks again. I can always depend on you!
Question I have a 14 pro that starting working Oct 6th and I have had 2 different days that my phone got really hot. I’m guessing it’s the battery but do you know of anything else it could or should I take it to the Apple Store? Thank you & happy thanksgiving
So an iPhone, not a Mac? If it gets hot again, go to Settings, Battery, then set to "Last 24 Hours" and then scroll down to see which app is using a lot of power. Then you can identify what is causing the heat.
Going to use tip 1 on my Mac Book Air, thanks Gary. 👍
Is CleanMyMacx not OK?
used to have malware issue. Quite terrible. I had to resort to CleanMyMac and it cleaned off the malware.
But I heard so many not recommending that apps.
I recommend not using any "cleaner" apps at all. ua-cam.com/video/qcu5H3ZfyqQ/v-deo.html
How much energy will an iMac use when it’s in sleep mode? Is it very little? I have been shutting mine down at the end of every day due to soaring energy prices here in the UK 🇬🇧
Very little. And if you don't sleep it will use some to start up, and some to run maintenance in the background while you work.
@@macmost Thanks for the reply.I’ll bear that in mind.
Excellent, thank you. I've just signed ups to your Patreon. Have you done a video which will show me things I can do to get rid of the spinning wheel (wheeling cursor) on the Mac? It's interfering more and more with my work.
Thanks for your support! This is the video you should watch if you are having that problem. If none of the 20 suggestions here work, you should call Apple Support.
@@macmost I have that same spinning ball problem on my intel iMac. I was under the impression that genius bar or phone support cost money for Macs that are out of warranty.
@@qwincyq6412 Hardware repairs cost money, but advice and quick software fixes do not.
@@macmost Thanks for your responses, Gary.
Thanks
so generous, so helpful, thank you...
Its a good thing to have clean my mac x software on your computer?
ua-cam.com/video/qcu5H3ZfyqQ/v-deo.html
Thank you!
Great video, as always! So it is your recommendation that if you are running an anti virus program, like Avast Antivirus, it would be best to uninstall it as MacOS is performing the same level (or better?) of protection? I am running MacOS Ventura.
See ua-cam.com/video/Dhl9_P8uBw0/v-deo.html
@@macmost Thanks so much!!!
Very helpful 👍
this is fantastic!
Gary what is your opinion about ventura? I install it on 2 machines and the 1 was slow as hell and buggy.
I haven't had any issues with it. Love the new features. Using it since day 1 on all machines, but one I had the beta since the summer. I'd investigate the machine where you are having trouble. See what apps and background processes could be the cause, etc.
Excellent information.very helpful. I would like to make one suggestion. Please do this kind of video under the topic "HOW TO SAVE BATTERY LIFE IN MacBook" .in here pls highlight if there is any good app to save battery life in MBP.
Are you looking to prolong the life of your battery (years before replacement) or how long a charge lasts (hours without being plugged in)? I do have this video here: ua-cam.com/video/Ot3bzKKgzp8/v-deo.html
@@macmost First thank you so much for your prompt response.Actually I need a topic under "how long a charge lasts (hours without being plugged in)".Thanks again!!!
Is the clean my mac app any good?
You do no need any "cleaner" apps. See ua-cam.com/video/qcu5H3ZfyqQ/v-deo.html
How much hot is too hot for Macbook pro with intel chip? mine is always around 45 degree centigrades when idle and around 65 degree centigrades with light task. Is it too hot?
You'll see a warning message if it is too hot and then it will shut down as the next step. So if it isn't there yet, it isn't "too" hot. When it happens, check in Activity Monitor and look at Energy use to see which app or processes causing it.
@@macmost Got it. Thanks for the reply.
Would you like change Dark Mode please thanks
I have low vision myself and deaf.
My MacBook Air early 2015 battery is in service stat this can be a reason ??
It says it needs service? Well, it is 9 years old, so that would be expected.
That was Fken Awesome!
Gary, I went to your Patreon page to donate. I couldn’t find a onetime donation option. I don’t like subscribing ad infinitum (I’m sure contributors can cancel at any time, but….). If there’s something I missed, please advise.
Thanks for wanted to support MacMost!
The reason I prefer Patreon and monthly support is so I can set a budget and plan for the future. Most people get regular paychecks and really couldn’t work a job if they just received occasional single payments from the source that supported them. I’m no different. Without regular monthly income, I could never do MacMost.
But one way you could support MacMost without a monthly contribution is to buy a course at courses.macmost.com. That way you get something in return for your contribution. Thanks!
are you talking about removing malwarebytes too? not sure what this application does. ? i removed clean my mac
Why did you install it if you don't know what it does?
Hi my Mac was running Monterey update security came
up so I downloaded it but after it downloaded safari is in white at tool bar abd says you can’t open the application because this application is not supported on this Mac ? So frustrating
I do have another update that has come up 12.6.5 not sure how to get Safari to work again seems everytime I do security updates or update to latest platform I get so many issues.
My new (in 2018) iMac "ran" at a snail's pace. I spent hours on the phone to Apple without solving the problem. A couple of years ago a Mac magazine included, almost as a throwaway line, that current operating systems did not run well on the built in hard drive. The answer was to replace the start up disc with a SSD. A £150 purchase of an external SSD from Amazon and the problem was solved.
An SSD is much faster than a HDD in any case. I think it was just that speed increase that made a difference.
I'm dealing with a laggy keyboard but no other performance issues.
Across multiple apps (Pages, Safari, Mail, Notes, Numbers, BBEdit) I’m experiencing keyboard lag and characters getting out of order. Its frequent and intermittent.
I’m running Fall 2021 MBP, M1 Pro, 16", 16GB , Ventura 13.0.1
Shortcuts, Hazel, Keyboard Maestro, TextExpander (all current versions)
Fantastical, GoodTask, Facebook Messenger, and Apple Messages are also running most of the time in the background.
A chat with Apple Support this afternoon didn't really turn up any good leads.
Try restarting in Safe Mode and see if the problem is still there. If not, then you know it is something you have installed.
This week has been weird.
Apps stop working, closed just like that, but then opens up again and resume like nothing has happened.
This is across iOS - iPadOS - macOS
Especially in photo editing apps. Not often but enough to annoy me.
Wish I had seen this 3 years back I could have saved lot of time with a spinning wheel mac now I can't even perform any of these recommendations its so slow right after login (if I am st all able to log in) 😕
Mostly useful content. I'd argue some thinigs, like updating your network hardware is a little silly though. With routers especially it is often a case of "if it works" DON'T TOUCH IT. I have updated in the past and had to revert to older firmware due to bugs or performance degradation. So if it works in January, unless your actual data line has issues, you should not see any issues in June... a restart once a while is good though.
if I factory reset my mac will it with monterey will it be forced to update ventura
Forced? You are never forced to update. But I wouldn't downgrade your Mac. If there is an issue, figure it out.
@@macmost thank you for the fast reply
I put my Mac to sleep every night but it disconnects from the internet for some reason and so misses out on overnight maintenance. Is there a way to make it sleep AND stay connected?
It shouldn't disconnect for no reason. Could be a problem with your Wi-Fi router, not your Mac.
I was really stunned to see in the Activity Monitor that a simple app as Notes is, uses over 100% of CPU. Once again, not stunned by that it is over 100% (with your explanation) but you wouldn't expect a note-taking app to be so hungry, right? :)
It is constantly above 100%? Having any app at 100% in one moment isn't an issue, but if it is always over 100% then you may want to look at what you have going on. So watch it while you work.
@@macmost yes, it's stays at around 104-110%. I exactly started what you suggest. It just got interesting. Another factor here is that I very rarely reboot my mac, so this app has now been up for almost 300hrs. With some bad code inside this could result in an increased cpu usage. At the same time, and IDE called WebStorm which has always been known to be resource hungry, has only 15%, but it runs on Java Runtime so it might be comparing apples to oranges. Interesting anyway.
@@macmost I restarted Notes and when it launched again, it started at 180% decreasing slowly as I type this comment. Mini M1 (2020), Sonoma. Curious what readout you have...
@@aram5642 At launch, 20%. Then quickly dropping below 1%. Now holding at 0.3%. Maybe you've got a lot going on in Notes? lots of graphics and such? Maybe it is currently syncing to iCloud (or Google or whatever you are using)?
@@macmost not a single graphic, snippets of code, 12 notes in 4 folders. Hahaha :) It's getting ridiculous, I think I'm gonna just quit it for ever :)
A Mac running hot, especially the laptops, could also be the thermal paste that connects the heatsink with the CPU (and GPU). If that dries it does not transfer the heat properly to the sink.
The paste that Apple used on some models is of low quality and dries up within a couple of years. Replacing the paste yourself is not a super easy task, but can be done by a layperson with proper instructions.
With an older Mac, maybe. I wouldn't recommend for anyone to try to do it on their own unless they feel they know what they are a doing, have a good backup(s) and are willing to deal with the consequences if they break it. Newer Macs shouldn't have this issue.
@@macmost - True, older Macs are easier to repair, but also more in need of than the new ones. And a regular user opening up and removing parts of their computer should indeed not happening. So your software based advice makes most sense.
I didn't realize Onyx was cleaning software (my bad) and if I startup from shut down it is slooooow. Otherwise fine. I really don't want to do a clean reinstall. I've uninstalled of course, but sure I didn't get every piece of it.
I know that on windows systems, cleaner apps can sometimes remove system files (which can really screw up the operating system), which is one reason why i never use them, I don’t know if that is an issue on mac os, but i would rather not find out the hard way
Many years ago i had a laptop that was so full of junk, there wasn’t much space left on the drive, and the operating system was even becoming glitchy, sometimes it would not let me log in at all (it would come up with a really weird error which did not make sense, sometimes it would allow the administrator account to log in when it was doing this, sometimes it wouldn’t), and it was REALLY slow to start up (i can’t remember exactly how long, but i did time it, and I’ve never had a computer take THAT long to start up before or since)
Alright now I know this may sound stupid. But bro slow down! You’re forgetting the whole point of the video! My mac is slow slow, it can’t keep up with yours! 😂😂😂
So does this mean I should uninstall Bit Defender Virus Scanner?
So you don't recomend " clean my mac" app?
No. ua-cam.com/video/qcu5H3ZfyqQ/v-deo.html
@@macmost thank man 👍
I just did a factory reset on my mac. I don't run any heavy apps, but it still freezes/glitches randomly from time to time. Does anyone know what causes this to happen? Thanks for anyone that will reply.
Usually impossible to diagnose things without a firsthand look. Try the things mentioned in this video and keep investigating. Get pro help if you need it.
My grandmas iMac is still very slow, there’s no obsessive use of ram, or memory, she has 900gb that are not used in her 1tb hard drive. There is no software downloaded other than Microsoft word and acrobat reader. Please help. It’s been like this and I’ve never been able to find a fix. And I consider myself at least a little bit decent with technology since I built 4 different computers and have done an internship with IT. I’m not saying I know everything or a lot. I just don’t know what else to try.
Try the things in this video. If that doesn't work, take it to an expert like at the Genius Bar and have them diagnose.
@@macmost yeah I have to take it to genius. Nothing worked
I am also facing issue as I shutdown mh Mac
Next, how to stop battery drain? Under System Information > Hardware > Power > Power Events, there are few things keeping the Mac up all night. Always wake with losing 9-10% battery.
First, why are you having your Mac sleep at night without being plugged in? That's usually the most convenient time to charge it. Do you live in an area without power at night?
What "things" does it show as waking your Mac? 10% isn't horrible, depending on what you have running on your Mac. Still, should be a non-issue if you just plug it in.
@@macmost I am usually plugged in all day, and by night, unplugged to sleep. I would imagine "sleep" means completely asleep. I know there is the "Wake for network access" but I have it set for Never.
Before, as in around the mid Monterey update, I think leaving over night unplugged, next morning I would see 5% or less, but now it's always around 10% and to me that doesn't seem normal.
For me, it says the following:
com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.CalendarNotification.EKTravelEngine.periodicRefreshTimerf
and
com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.acmd.alarm
found in the Power Events. But doing:
pmset -g log | grep "Wake Requests"
shows more things happening every hour. At least five events per hour for few seconds. I don't know how to read it all, but key words like Bluetooth and SDXC pops up. And that leaves me thinking is it because of the Bluetooth is consistently waiting for connectivity? SDXC, I do have a card in the slot, but nothing is running from it.
Even the "Optimize battery charging" hasn't been working since Ventura update. Feel like all this has something to do with the update.
@@nuj427 None of those things would use much battery. But sleeping isn't "off" because it is doing maintenance tasks while it sleeps (so it doesn't need to do them when you are working during the day). Just leave it plugged in at night unless it is a big problem. Otherwise, it doesn't seem like it is a problem either way since you have it plugged in while working during the day. 10% isn't that bad. I wouldn't worry about it.
As for "Optimize battery charging" what makes you think that isn't working? Of course if you aren't plugging it in at night then I'm not sure what you expect it to do.
@@macmost Thanks for your thoughts on this. Concerns me because I just feel like it didn't drain as much before. But I remember well one weekend when I had it unplugged but asleep all weekend and on Monday I found it.. forgot exactly but almost dead.
As for the "Optimized battery charging", I haven't seen it working since a long time now. For a while I turned off Screen Time after reading discussions on battery drain. Maybe because it was off there's not a log of my daily schedule?
@@nuj427 But what makes you think it is not working? What indicator do you see that is showing you that? Of course if you aren't charging your battery at night, then I'm not sure what you expect it to DO. for you, exactly. You are using it plugged in (which is fine, good even) but then sleeping it not plugged in. That's the opposite of the situation which optimization usually deals with.
Love your videos, expertly explained. However, I disagree with not shutting down. This may be one of the reasons Americans use 3 times the energy of people in the rest of the world, being generally wasteful in energy use should not be encouraged. Admittedly Apple Silicon Macs are extremely power efficient, but macOS should be completely shutdown occasionally. I see a lot of people that have issues if they never shutdown / restart their mac. I always turn off my kit when I’m not using it.
A sleeping Mac isn't using much power, and a lot (all?) of the power it is using would be used during waking hours for startup and deferred system maintenance anyway. But then it would also be slowing you down too. Gotta think that the energy use difference is about Americans heating and cooling larger homes, particularly cooling in the hot states.
Extensions! Ty, little buggers.....
I think my logic board is going max keeps shutting off
Restart in Safe Mode, nope..disagree, make a new User Account, then log into that account after a restart, this way you know if the account
gives you the trouble.
If there are problems it almost always is the User account.
Both techniques are useful. Restarting in Safe Mode will run a check of your Mac's startup disk, and delete some system caches and other maintenance. So it is definitely worth trying.
My macs to slow to do any of these 💀💀💀
You must really like Alice’s Adventures Underground!
Yes, I do. My favorite public domain book. 😉
@@macmost I’m a Snark man myself.
my MacBook storage is 121 Go, Why why I got scammed It's 1200$
for this money it could be at win 11 level
Money?
Tip 21. Buy Windows 😏
Thank you Gary. very helpful.
How long should it take to get back to normal after update?
As long as you aren't shutting it down at night, it should be good by the next day.
Thanks
This is great information-thank you so much!!!