How to Fix Mac Running Slow After Update

macOS updates can temporarily slow your Mac due to background processes, compatibility issues, or indexing operations. These steps will identify and resolve the most common causes of post-update slowdowns.

1. Wait for Spotlight indexing to complete. Click the Spotlight search icon in the menu bar. If you see a pulsing dot or 'Indexing' text, wait for this process to finish. Spotlight reindexes your entire drive after major updates, which can take several hours depending on your storage size.
2. Check Activity Monitor for resource-heavy processes. Open Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor. Click the CPU tab and look for processes using high CPU percentages consistently. Common culprits include mdworker, mds_stores, or third-party apps that haven't updated for the new macOS version.
3. Reset SMC and PRAM. Shut down your Mac completely. For Intel Macs, hold Shift-Control-Option on the left side plus the power button for 10 seconds, then release. For M1/M2 Macs, simply restart twice. After restarting, hold Command-Option-P-R during startup until you hear two startup chimes.
4. Clear system and application caches. Open Finder and press Command-Shift-G. Type ~/Library/Caches and delete contents of folders (not the folders themselves). Then navigate to /Library/Caches and repeat. Restart your Mac after clearing caches.
5. Update all applications and drivers. Open App Store and click Updates to install any pending app updates. Check manufacturer websites for driver updates, especially for external devices, printers, and graphics cards. Outdated software often conflicts with new macOS versions.
6. Check available storage space. Click Apple menu > About This Mac > Storage. Ensure you have at least 15-20GB of free space. If storage is low, use Storage Management recommendations or manually delete large files, old downloads, and unused applications.
7. Disable visual effects and reduce transparency. Open System Preferences > Accessibility > Display and check 'Reduce motion' and 'Reduce transparency'. These settings decrease the GPU workload and can improve performance on older Macs or systems with limited graphics capabilities.