Noticed your Mac acting sluggish after installing macOS Catalina? That’s pretty normal at first. Catalina performs background tasks like re-indexing Spotlight, updating system files, and optimizing performance — which can temporarily slow things down. But if days have passed and your Mac is still crawling, it’s time to take action.
Here’s a straightforward guide to help you speed things back up.
1. Restart Your Mac
A reboot clears temporary memory and gives your system a fresh start.
Here are a few ways to do it:
- Click the Apple icon at the top-left of your screen > Restart.
- Press Control + Command + Power (or Eject on older Macs).
- Press and hold the Power button, then select Restart from the dialog box.
Save any open files before restarting.
2. Update All Apps
Catalina dropped support for 32-bit apps, so any outdated software could be bogging your system down.
To check for updates:
- Open the App Store > Updates tab.
- For apps not downloaded via the App Store, visit the developer’s website and grab the latest version.
Uninstall any apps that no longer work — they’re just taking up space.
3. Force Quit Resource-Hogging Apps
Some apps eat up a lot of RAM and slow everything else down. Here’s how to identify and quit them:
- Open Finder > Applications > Utilities.
- Launch Activity Monitor.
- Check the CPU and Memory tabs to see which apps are using the most resources.
- Double-click any heavy app, then click Quit or Force Quit.
Don’t force quit system processes — stick to third-party apps.
4. Clear Cache Files
Old or corrupted cache files can drag down your Mac’s performance. You can safely remove them with these steps:
- In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder.
- Type:
/Library/Caches
and hit Go. - Go into each folder and delete its contents (but not the folders themselves).
- Repeat the process for
~/Library/Caches
.
Be careful not to delete anything you’re unsure about. If you’re nervous, back up first.
Still Slow After Trying These Fixes?
If your Mac is still lagging:
- Check System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items — disable any apps that launch at startup.
- Run Disk Utility and use First Aid to scan for drive issues.
- Consider upgrading your Mac’s RAM or switching to an SSD (if it’s an older model).
- Or reset the SMC and NVRAM to refresh low-level system settings.