How to speed up slow macintosh computer startup time. Another of the main reasons as to why your Catalina Slow could be that you have an abundance of junk files from your system in your current OS before updating to macOS 10.15 Catalina. This will have a domino effect and will start to slow your Mac down after you have updated your Mac. Open up the Mac (using instructions from iFixit.com) and swap the two drives. Insert your system recovery/installation DVD in your optical drive. Restart your computer and press and hold the 'C' key as soon as you hear the chimes until the Apple appears. When you get to the screen saying 'Install Mac OS X,' do not press the 'Continue.

Everyone seems to love Sierra, but if your experience is like dragging your Mac through a swamp then it’s time to do something about it.

Let’s fix slow macOS Sierra

In this guide we’re going to highlight the most common problems that cause a slow Sierra and the solutions to help you speed up macOS. These solutions can be performed by anyone, but we’ve ordered them from easiest to hardest.

See how far up the Sierra speed solution ladder you can get.

Step 1 - Eliminate desktop clutter

Difficulty: Easy

Are you someone that puts everything on their desktop? To load all those icons takes up system resources that could be used for better things. Delete what you don’t need and group what you do into folders to improve macOS Sierra performance.

To quickly move files into folders:

• Hold Control and click the items you want to group
• Right-click any of the selected files and choose 'New Folder with Selection'

That was easy, wasn’t it? Now let’s use one of Sierra’s space saving features.

Step 2 - Optimize storage

Difficulty: Easy

Another way to free up space is to use one of Sierra’s features - the ability to automatically remove files that you don’t need. Optimized storage can remove old video files (like that movie you watched months ago) that you can always download from iTunes again. It can also remove old email attachments, which remain stored on the mail server should you need them again.

Clearing out old videos and email attachments can save a lot of space on your Mac and improve overall Sierra performance. Please note that you need to use Apple’s Mail app to make use of the email attachment setting. Also, having watched videos suddenly disappear may not be to everyone’s taste.

However, if you want to turn these settings on, follow these steps:

• Go to About This Mac
• Click on the Storage tab and click on Manage
• Select Optimize
• Check 'Automatically remove watched iTunes movies and TV shows'
• Check 'Download only recent attachments' or to manually decide what gets downloaded, choose 'Don’t automatically download attachments'

If you tried these options but prefer the old way you’ll need to navigate to iTunes > Preferences > Advanced to uncheck 'Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.'

If you want Sierra to download all your attachments again go to Mail > Preferences > Accounts > accountName > Account Information. Click on the Download Attachments drop-down menu and select 'All.'

That was a bit more work but still really easy, right? Next up is a way to always speed up a slow Sierra.

Step 3 - Remove background applications

Difficulty: Easy

Does your macOS slow down for no obvious reason? It could be that background apps are hogging your Mac’s memory. Most systems have multiple unneeded apps that use system resources. Next time things are slow open Activity Monitor (found in Utilities) and click on the top of the Memory column to order the apps by those that are using the most memory.

If you see an app that is using a good portion of memory (and you’re sure you’re not using it) select it and click the X at the top left to close the app.

Easy, huh?

The next steps are a little bit more challenging but if you want a Sierra that performs well we recommend you keep going!

Step 4 - Tone down visual effects

Difficulty: Moderate

Apple uses some fancy eye candy to make the Sierra UI (User Interface) a real treat for the eyes. But if Sierra is slow, it feels more like a trick than a treat.

To give Sierra a speed boost you can turn off transparency and motion effects. This is particularly effective if macOS 10.12 is running on older hardware.

To turn off effects in Sierra follow these instructions:

• Navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Display
• Turn on 'Reduce Motion' and 'Reduce Transparency'

You should now experience a snappier Sierra experience.

In our next step we’re going to show you how to take out the trash. Afterall, a clean Sierra is a fast Sierra!

Step 5 - Clean up full Mac hard drive to speed up Sierra

Difficulty: Moderate

Macs use available storage space on hard drives for the smooth running of the OS. When there isn’t much free space and your drive is almost full, Sierra will start running slow.

If you’ve seen the macOS 'Your disk is almost full' notification then you’vedefinitely got a problem that needs fixing. You can click the 'Manage' buttonon the notification, and it will take you to the Optimize Storage features.

A better solution would be to use CleanMyMac X, which has a bunch of tools to clean up your drive. With just a couple clicks you can clear out the junk and free up a ton of storage space for smoother operations.

Here’s how to easily remove hard drive junk:

• Launch CleanMyMac X
• Click on the Smart Scan tab
• Let the app analyze your system and when it’s finished select Clean

Can you believe how much free space you have now? Your Mac should be running much better after the first 5 steps but if Sierra is still slow it’s time to get serious.

These next steps are a bit more difficult but you’ve made it this far. Don’t stop now!

Step 6 - Reset your SMC

Difficulty: Hard

'Reset my what?' SMC stands for System Management Controller, and a reset can solve extreme levels of slowness as well as battery faults and some other hardware faults like problems with your fan.

You should only take this step if everything else has failed to speed up Sierra.

Start by closing all apps (force-quit with Command-Option-Escape if necessary) and shut down your system.

SMC reset instructions for Mac notebook:

• With your Mac shut down, plug in the power cord
• Press the power button while holding down Shift-Control-Option at the same time
• Let go and start your Mac up like normal

SMC reset instructions for Mac desktop:

• Shutdown your Mac and unplug it
• Plug it back in after 5 seconds
• Wait 5 more seconds and then start your Mac as normal

Be honest, you thought that would be much harder didn’t you? If you reset your SMC you can definitely reset your PRAM/VRAM. That’s the next step!

Step 7 - Reset PRAM/NVRAM

Difficulty: Hard

NVRAM stands for 'non-volatile random-access memory.' 'P' used to stand for Parameter in older Macs where it is called PRAM. Resetting NVRAM is generally recommended when your Mac is behaving strangely. Things like your Mac starting with the wrong disk, screen resolution issues, or wonky battery charge reporting. If you’re not sure if you need it, there’s no harm in giving it a try just in case.

Follow these instructions to perform a PRAM/NVRAM reset:

• Turn your Mac on from a shutdown state
• When the startup chimes press Command+Option+P+R at the same time
• Hold them until your Mac restarts and you hear the startup sound again
• Let go of the keys

You’ve done it again. There are only two more steps left. Don’t stop now!

Step 8 - Speed Up Sierra’s Startup

Difficulty: Hard

If starting up macOS Sierra is taking too long it might be because you have too many startup items. Some apps you’ll want starting with Sierra, but others would be better off waiting till you open them.

You could use Step 3 to keep manually closing down these apps but that sounds like a waste of time to us. To stop macOS Sierra startup apps and items, follow these instructions:

• Navigate to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items
• Tick the apps you don’t want loading at startup
• Click the '-' button to remove the selected apps from startup

If you want even more control use CleanMyMac to easily deselect startup items or completely remove them from your macOS:

• Launch CleanMyMac
• Click the Optimization tab
• Click on 'Login Items'
• Click enabled/disabled to choose what apps load on startup and what apps don’t
• If you never use an app you can also click the check box on the left and then click Remove

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the top of the ladder. You’ve taken every step to speed up Sierra. If macOS is still slow, it’s probably that your hardware is old. In the final step we’ll show you what you can do about it.

Step 9 - Upgrade hardware to SSD

Difficulty: Very Hard

If your Mac doesn’t have a SSD (Solid State Drive) then this single change would give you the greatest Sierra performance boost. SSDs are significantly faster than normal mechanical drives and they’re also less likely to fail.

Things to consider when shopping for a new SSD:

• What size do you need? Nothing smaller than your current system drive.
• What is your budget? SSDs are more expensive than regular drives.
• Is the drive Mac-friendly? If so it will make it easier to keep your drive’s firmware updated and performing smoothly.

With all the different Mac models out there it would be hard to give you a step-by-step instruction. But if you search for your model + 'how to add SSD' you should find the instructions you need.

Or better yet, get a professional to install it for you.

Get macOS Sierra running faster

With the solutions above you should be able to easily transform your macOS Sierra from a slug to a responsive and snappy Mac that is a joy to use.

Just remember that over time, problems that slow down Sierra will build up. Bookmark this page so you can return to these solutions if you have the need.

Alternatively, just regularly run CleanMyMac’s range of optimization and cleaning tools to keep macOS Sierra from getting slow.

These might also interest you:

In this article, I’m going to show you how to fix slow macOS Big Sur Performance on Windows and other platforms. When you install macOS Big Sur on VMware or VirtualBox or any other virtualization platform, you’ll see that macOS Runs so slow and you can’t eventually do anything because it’s extremely slow. So in this guide, I’ll give some tips and tricks to come up with a great performance with any version of Mac Operating Systems. Let’s get the ball rolling.

Related: Install macOS Big Sur on VMware

Fix macOS Big Sur Slow Performance in General

Once, you’ve installed macOS Big Sur or any other versions of macOS on your system. You’ll see that your macOS is very slow and you’re not able to do your work as smoothly as you wished to do. Now, I’ll show you some general performance tips that might help you to speed up your macOS.

#1. Check Compatibility Issue

First, you need to check if your system is compatible with macOS new version or No. If you’re not sure that your device is compatible with the latest version of macOS then check the following system compatibility lists.

Macs compatible with macOS Big Sur – macOS 11:

• 2015 and later MacBook
• 2013 and later MacBook Air
• Late 2013 and later MacBook Pro
• 2014 and later iMac
• 2017 and later iMac Pro
• 2014 and later Mac mini
• 2013 and later Mac Pro

And Accordingly, the following models capable of running macOS Catalina will not be able to be upgraded to macOS Big Sur:

• 2012 and Early 2013 MacBook Pro
• 2012 MacBook Air
• 2012 and 2013 iMac
• 2012 Mac mini

If you need to see more about the compatibility list head over to Apple support.

#2. Update your macOS to the Latest Version

If your system is compatible with macOS latest version, you should upgrade to the latest version. Because the latest version is most often better than previous versions due to bug and performance fixes.

#3. Quit Starting Applications

When you start your Mac, a lot of things load up in the background. Not only do they slow down your startup, but they continue to do so the whole time you’re on your Mac device.

You can get a fast macOS startup by removing unnecessary apps. To turn off Login Items go to your System Preferences > Users & Groups and then click on your username. Now, click on Login Items, click on the name of an application you don’t need to launch during startup, and then click the “-“ symbol located below the list to the left; this will remove the application from the list. The fewer applications on the list, the better. This should help out a ton with speeding up your slow macOS.

#4. Stop Background Running Apps

When you’ve got too many running applications in the background, your macOS can’t even handle simple tasks that cause slow performance. If you want to have speed macOS then you need to stop and quit background running apps.

Activity Monitor will show you what processes are using up your system resources. Quitting an unnecessary app that’s taking up a lot of processing power could make a huge difference in speeding up your slow Mac. Open up your Applications folder and then your Utility folder. Here you’ll find the Activity Monitor, open it. Check out the list of apps and processes that happening on your Mac system in real-time.

Slowpstart Mac Os Catalina

From here, you can see what’s causing trouble with your Mac. Click on the Memory tab at the top, then the Memory filter at the top of the list; this sorts the programs by the amount of space they’re taking up on your Mac RAM. The higher the number, the more power they need. Stop an app from operating by clicking on the app in the list and then clicking the gray “x” icon located at the top-left corner of the window. Don’t remove anything you don’t know!

#5. Uninstall Unused Apps

Most of us download applications that seem helpful and exciting at first but turn to clutter up our disk instead of being used frequently. Unused apps are the biggest space-wasters on our system. So to get rid of those or at least honestly tell yourself which ones you don’t use anymore.

• Go to Finder and navigate to the Go menu.
• From the drop-down list, select Applications.
• You will see all applications installed on your system.
• Right-click on the app that you don’t normally use it. Select Move to Bin or Trush.

Uninstall Unused Apps

#6. Remove Outdated Cached & Junk Files

There are various types of cached files on your system such as; system cache, user cache, app-generated cache, and more. These cache files are one of the cause that slow down you macOS so you should remove these files frequently. To remove cached files, follow the steps below.

Note: This step can be risky because you might delete not outdated files so be gentle with deleting the files. At least take a backup of the file you’re trying to permanently delete. Just in case something went wrong, you should have the backup to replace it with the corrupted folder.

• Open Finder and click “Go to Folder” in the Go menu.
• Type in /Library/Caches and press Enter or click Go
• Locate a cache folder tree
• Go into each folder and delete its contents
• Empty the Trash bin

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#7. Clean your macOS with CleanMyMac X

Clean my Mac X is a well know software that has been in the industry for quiet time and one of the most used applications for Mac Users. It’s a great software for cleaning and speeds up macOS dramatically. According to MacPaw which is the software owner says CleanMyMac X chases junk in all corners of your macOS. It cleans unneeded files, like outdated caches, broken downloads, logs, and useless localizations. You can remove tons of clutter that lurks in iTunes, Mail, Photos, and even locate gigabytes of large hidden files. Mac cleaning tools in CleanMyMac X will cut the extra weight in seconds.

Fix macOS slow performance on VMware or VirtualBox on Windows

As you might know that you are able to install macOS on VMware or VirtualBox on Windows PC as well. So if you’ve already installed and having issues with its performance so you can apply the above steps outlined. In addition, you can do the following steps;

Related: Install macOS Big Sur on VirtualBox on Windows

Note: The following research has been done by one of our website visitors (Jordan Van Bergen). The following steps might not be helpful for those who using Windows Hyper as their virtualization software.

After getting it to work with VMWare I tried booting my Catalina version on Virtualbox but this really doesn’t start at all and is very slow as well. I have the Windows10 May Update. Windows 10 – Version 2004 OS Build 19041.329

So it could well be that everything depending on VirtualBox doesn’t work as it should due to the Windows 10 may update. BlueStacks Android emulator doesn’t work any longer as well due to the May Update.

So I found this as well: https://dev.to/bobnadler/virtualbox-6-1-x-windows-10-2004-upgrade-problem-resolution-4i39

So a lot is not functioning 100% after Windows 10 – Version 2004 OS Build 19041.329 with VirtualBox.

I had to do this: It’s due to the Windows 10 Version 2004 May Update! If you do the following as long as you have the same issues then it will work again:

#1. Navigate to Control panel -> Programs and Features -> Turn Windows Features on or off -> Uncheck Hyper-V and Windows Hyper-Visor Platform.

Uncheck Windows Hyper-V

Additional Notes for Windows Hosts

#2. To check the status of Hyper-v in Windows 10. Open Run and type OptionalFeatures.exe. Look for the “Hyper-V” option. The box should be empty, not checked, or shaded. If you want to be absolutely sure that Hyper-v is gone then open an administrator command console and type “bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off”. Make sure to fully power down and reboot the host after changing the Hyper-v setting.

#3. On some Windows hosts with an EFI BIOS, DeviceGuard or CredentialGuard may be activated by default and interferes with OS-level virtualization apps in the same way that Hyper-v does. These features need to be disabled. On Pro versions of Windows, you can do this using gpedit.msc. Set Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Guard. Turn on Virtualization Based Security to Disabled. CredentialGuard is a subset of DeviceGuard, so disabling the former should be enough. If you cannot use gpedit for some reason then the equivalent registry hack is to find the key HKLM SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Control DeviceGuard EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity Enabled and set it to 0.

#4. On Win10 hosts, check Windows Defender > Device Security > Core Isolation Details and make sure settings in this panel are turned off. Reboot the host from power down if you needed to make changes. “Core isolation [includes] security features available on your device that use virtualization-based security” which is why they can interfere with VirtualBox.

Mac Mini Slow Startup

Summary

In this post, I’ve covered some best tips and tricks to speed up slow macOS performance. I’ve covered the following tips.

• Check Compatibility Issue
• Update your macOS to the Latest Version
• Quit Starting Applications
• Stop Background Running Apps
• Uninstall Unused Apps
• Remove Outdated Cached Files
• Clean your macOS with CleanMyMac X
• Fix macOS slow performance on VMware or VirtualBox on Windows

Mac Slow Startup

If you have any better solution rather than the one outlined above, feel free to share in the comment section below this post.