Is your Mac feeling tired and sluggish? Then try these cost-effective tips for a happier, faster and more efficient computer!

Every Mac gets slower over time. What was once a rapier-like supercomputer can start to feel sluggish and take longer to perform tasks it used to rattle off in the blink of an eye, and the spinning beach ball starts to become an all too regular feature on your screen. What causes this? Old hardware struggling to run the latest version of macOS is a distinct possibility, but it could just be that you have far too many apps, documents and Safari tabs open. Over the following pages we’ll guide you through all of the quick-fix solutions for remedying your lethargic computer which should, fingers crossed, prove successful.

However, if all else fails then it might be time to accept that your hardware is just getting old and will undoubtedly get slower, no matter what you do. If this is the case then don’t necessarily go out and buy a new Mac just yet because there are a couple of hardware upgrades that you can consider, such as adding more RAM modules. These are relatively cheap and easy to install in most Macs and are sure to provide a welcome speed boost. You could also consider buying a Solid State Drive (SSD) and making it your Mac’s system drive - which again is a cheaper alternative than buying a new Mac. Before you go down those routes, though, try these Mac-boosting tips.

The quick fixes

Before delving straight into the more advanced techniques for speeding up your Mac, there are a few quick tricks you can try to see if they yield instant results…

1 Quit apps

Are you one of those people who keeps loads of apps running, with hundreds of open documents reduced to your Dock? If so, close/quit all of the stuff that you don’t need and it will undoubtedly speed things up.

2 Restart your Mac

Although many of us probably don’t do it as much as we should, restarting your Mac can free up memory by flushing out cache files, which might provide a small, but welcome boost.