Why Is My Mac Downloading So Slow

Why is My Macbook Pro so Slow? Whether you own an old 2012 MacBook Pro, or a shiny new 16-inch 2020 Touch Bar MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip, over time it can run slowly. There could be so many causes, but in general, they all fall into the following four categories. Personal Habits. If you keep your Mac running all the time, let too many. Why Chrome slow on Mac Catalina? The poor performance of Chrome is caused by a lot of factors. Fortunately, we have created this article to help you troubleshoot the most common problems of Google Chrome on Mac devices. Why is my download speed so slow even though my internet speed is fast?

Why Is My Mac Downloading So Slow Windows 10
Why Is My Mac Downloading So Slow For Kids
Why Is Apple Download So Slow

/Mac Cleaner /Why Is Chrome So Slow on Mac? Fixes with Common Problems

I have a MacBook Pro and I love to use it for different purposes. I use it to edit photos and videos. Also, I utilize it for watching videos and checking out images. But most importantly, I use it to surf the net. So why is my browser so slow? The browser I use is Google Chrome for Mac.
But I have recently noticed that I’m having problems surfing the net using Google Chrome on my Mac. The Google Chrome running slow on Mac. How do I fix this to speed up my Google Chrome Mac?

Article GuidePart 1. Why is My Chrome Browser So Slow?Part 2. How Do I Speed up Chrome on Mac?Part 3. Common Problems Cause Chrome Running Slow on Mac (Fixed)Part 4. How to Set up Chrome?Part 5. In Conclusion

Over time, Mac computers can slow down due to any number of reasons. Anything from a buggy program to an overloaded internet cache could be the culprit. Here are six common issues that could impact.

Part 1. Why is My Chrome Browser So Slow?

Google Chrome has the lion share of the market when it comes to browsers. However, it is still prone to problems. Some people experience that Chrome running slow on Mac. Sometimes, it even crashes, freezes, or refrains from loading altogether. Some people experience that pages do not load on Google Chrome anymore.

If you are having problems with Google Chrome slow on Mac, you might also have noticed that it's getting slower by the day. Why Chrome slow on Mac Catalina? The poor performance of Chrome is caused by a lot of factors. Fortunately, we have created this article to help you troubleshoot the most common problems of Google Chrome on Mac devices.

Why is my download speed so slow even though my internet speed is fast? I tried everything I could even the last case scenario, which is reinstalling Chrome and my download speed is still so slow. For some reason when I PAUSE the download, my CPU usage goes high. Even if your Mac mini is running smoothly, you can still practice all the above steps as precautionary steps that will always allow you to enjoy good performance from your Mac mini. If you are interested in more tips that will help you speed up and clean up your Mac mini or any other Mac, check out the Clean My Mac 3 resources! I had the same problem, and after reading this I deleted 'ExpressVPN' on my mac, and my speeds went from 100 Mbps to 400+ Mbps! This is kind of ridiculous. There's no reason that an app that's not even running should be slowing down your internet so much. – oxeimon Sep 5 '19 at 20:39.

So you may want to know why is Chrome so slow on Mac, here are some of the reasons:

Device Battery Drains Fast.
Chrome Eats up Too Much of Your CPU Resources.
Chrome Cache or Cookies Too Much.
Chrome’s Extensions Cause Crashing.
Update Of Chrome Failed.

Part 2. How Do I Speed up Chrome on Mac?

'Why is Chrome being so slow? Why is my Mac so slow after update? Why is my Mac running slow and hot? Is Chrome bad for Mac?' You may have lots of problems this time. Do you think that your Google Chrome makes MacBook hot? Before you actually fix the issue of Chrome running slow on Mac and slow MacBook, you have to make sure that the problem is not caused by your Mac device or operating system. For example, outdated system caches can result in Chrome plugins crashing altogether. This also is what causes Mac to run slow. Sometimes, It's your Mac that runs slowly and it just needs space to enhance its performance. If Mac Osx running slow is the case, you should use a tool called iMyMac’s Mac Cleaner to delete purgeable space on Mac to free your device for space so that can speed up a slow Mac.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use this tool to speed up Chrome:

Download and launch iMyMac Mac Cleaner from the official website.
Clicking Master Scan on the left column and scan junk file on your Mac to remove.
Review to select a category and select files to clean up.
Click Clean and wait for the cleaning process to complete.
Clean up is done.

Wait for the cleaning process to be complete. After it is done, it will show Zero KB for folders you have deleted. Some folders will not be marked as such because these are auto-recreated folders. It not only speeds up your Mac but also helps Chrome run fastly.

Part 3. Common Problems Cause Chrome Running Slow on Mac (Fixed)

Why is Chrome not working on my Mac? There should be some common problems you may encounter when Google Chrome too slow. You can check the solutions to Chrome running slow on Mac first:

Close sites or extensions within Chrome to extend the battery life.
Delete your Chrome cache.
Disable or remove Chrome extensions.
Checking the Internet connection.
Updating Chrome.
Restarting the Mac device.

Learn the detailed Chrome (Mac) problems and solutions to fix slow Chrome on Mac (Google Chrome not working on Mac) now.

Problem 1. Device Battery Drains Fast

Chrome is famous for having fast performance. And fast performance means it gets to use a lot of Mac’s CPU resources compared to other browsers. The higher the CPU usage, the faster the battery drains. Chrome draining battery on Mac can be a problem for most users. Good performance becomes nothing if you cannot turn your Mac on because its battery is already drained.

If the battery life of your Mac is very important to you, there’s a way to help you extend it. Usually, there are tabs or extensions that are eating too much of your resources and this leads to the burning of your battery life.

You can use the steps below to find the said extension or site:

Launch Chrome.
Press Settings icon.
Press More Tools.
Go to Task Manager.
Inside the Task Manager, sort the list by Memory.

Now, you are able to determine which site or extensions eat up most of your memory within Chrome. These sites can still be visited, although you don’t need to keep them open in a specific tab if you’re not going to use them. Also, even though some sites don’t use up too much memory, having too many tabs open can still eat up your resources. This can lead to battery drain.

Problem 2. Browser Responsiveness Tend to Be Slow

Does browser responsiveness tend to be slow? Or even Why Google Chrome is slow and unresponsive? Why do you think is causing Chrome slow to respond and Chrome running slow on Mac? Actually, because Chrome eats up too much of your CPU resources, it tends to slow down when there is not enough resource available.

One fix for Chrome not responding Mac you can do is to involve the cache. Chrome stores your data and history with regards to web browsing in the cache. This can help speed up the surfing experience. However, when your Mac begins to wane in memory or space, it can lead to Mac slowing down and this may cause Google Chrome keeps saying page unresponsive.

Mac cleaning tools can be an easier way to clear up your browser and fix common problems associated with it. You can use the Privacy feature of iMyMac Mac Cleaner.

Here's how to use it to fix Chrome running slow on Mac step-by-step:

Launch iMyMac Mac Cleaner click on Privacy from the left column.
Click the Scan button to comprehensively scan browser data.
Preview and choose the desired browser (in this case, Chrome). And choose the various categories you want to delete on the right-hand side of the screen.
Press Clean and wait for the cleanup process to be complete.

Problem 3. Chrome Browser Keeps Freezing

What if your Chrome browser keeps freezing? The spinning rainbow circle appears on your device for a long time. This issuse is common especially when you continuously use your browser. What you have to do is to delete your browser cache. To fix this, you can follow the steps below.

Here's how to manually delete your Chrome cache to fix Chrome running slow on Mac issue:

Launch Chrome.
Visit Settings.
Go to More Tools.
Go to Clear Browsing Data and choose Clear Browsing Data.
Check the following: history, cookie, cache, and other browser data types you might want to clean up.
Hit Clear Browsing Data.

Problem 4. Chrome Browser Keeps Crashing

Your Google Chrome will not open on Mac? When your browser keeps crashing all the time, it’s a very big issue and it states that something must be broken. But what should we do with it? Of course, we fix it. One of the common causes of crashes is Chrome’s extensions. These extensions actually make our browsing experience faster or more productive. However, they can sometimes be corrupted and introduce bugs into Chrome’s system thus leading to its crash.

But what should you do with problematic Chrome extensions?

First, you have to update everything. You have to ensure Chrome is actually updated to its latest version. The same goes for ALL extensions. If this didn’t work or if everything is already updated to its latest version, one thing you can do is to manually turn off ALL extensions. Then, you can turn them one by one back on. In this way, you can determine which extensions are causing Chrome to crash.

Here’s how to disable and/ or remove Chrome extensions manually to fix Chrome running slow on Mac issue:

Launch Chrome.
Visit Settings then visit Extensions.
Uncheck all extensions to disable them.
Close Chrome and open it again.

Once you have disabled all extensions, turn each one (one at a time). Check out to see which extension causes the crash. If you have found the one causing trouble, you can simply delete this extension by clicking the Trashcan icon located next to it in Settings > Extensions.

Problem 5. Pages Not Loading When Using Chrome

Why does Google Chrome take so long to load or even fail to load? Chrome’s message when a page fails to load is: Aw snap! Why is chrome loading so slowly? There are a lot of reasons why a page fails to load in Chrome.

Here are a few fixes for Google Chrome slow to load pages, you can try to repair Chrome running slow on Mac issue:

Checking the Internet connection.
Updating Chrome.
Restarting the Mac device.
Removing Chrome Extensions (you can do this by following the steps stated in Problem #4).

When you have tried out every possible method of fixing Chrome takes too long to load and it still didn’t work, you may need to reinstall or reset your Chrome browser. Don’t know how to do this? Check out the next part of this guide.

Problem 6. Update Of Chrome Failed

Sometimes, Chrome just won’t update on a Mac device or Chrome will slow after update. First, you have to wait for a few days before the update begins to happen. However, if it’s been a week and the update still didn’t push through, you might need to reset or reinstall your Chrome browser.

Here’s how to manually reset your Chrome browser:

Open Chrome.
Go to Settings.
Scroll down and press Advanced Settings.
Scroll down and click Reset Settings.
Read the pop-up that appears and Reset.
Close Chrome and open it again.
Try the update again.

If the browser still doesn’t update after this, you may have to download a specific installation file located in Chrome’s official website and install it again. The installation file should be the latest.

Part 4. How to Set up Chrome?

After leaning the ways on how to fix Chrome running slow on Mac issue, there are still a few tweaks you can do to improve your browsing experience in Chrome. Let’s check them out:

1 - Activating Prefetch

Do you want web pages to actually load faster than before? You simply have to go to Settings. Then, go to Advanced Settings and then Privacy. Ensure that “prefetch” is activated or turned on. What happens is your resources will be kept on your system and it automatically loads a web page the next time it is visited.

Why Is My Mac Downloading So Slow Windows 10

2 - Utilizing Experimental Features

Chrome has hidden features---features that are currently under development. To access them, you can simply type chrome://flags. Put this in the address bar located at the top of the interface.

Press Enter afterward. Here are some of the things you can do/ have with this:

Look for enable-smooth-scrolling and activating it to get smooth scrolling on your browser.
Search for Number of Raster Threads. Then change it from default to 4. This will result in speeding up of image loading.
Activate Experimental Canvas Features in order to boost loading times of pages.

Take note that you have to restart Chrome in order for the feature changes to take place. If you want to undo these changes, hit “Reset to Default” on the page you have just entered (chrome://flags).

3 - Utilizing Shortcuts In The Browser

With just using shortcuts, your browsing experience will be faster. Learn these shortcuts on how to make Chrome faster on Mac and be amazed at how speedy your surfing experience can be:

New Tab: Command + T
Hide Chrome: Command + H
Reload Page: Command + R

Other commands can be found in the official support page of Google Chrome here.

Part 5. In Conclusion

Chrome can be a great browser to use when surfing the Internet. But it is not without flaws. You can simply use this guide to fix Chrome running slow on Mac issue and the common problems you find on Mac’s Chrome.

Also, you can use iMyMac Mac Cleaner to fix one common Chrome problem found on Mac. If you find yourself stuck, simply go back to this guide to help solve your Chrome problems on Mac. You can also check what is making your Mac slow and use it to clean up all the junk files on your Mac to free up space and this will make your Mac run faster.

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Why is My iMac so Slow?

To add to the frustration of seeing that spinning beachball, there are a number of different reasons why your Mac could be sluggish in performance, ranging from hardware issues to even simple user errors. Here are a few of the top offenders:

Not enough disk space: with too many files crammed onto your hard drive, your iMac doesn’t have much room to breathe even if you’re holding the latest iMac with Retina 5K display and 2TB in storage.
Too many programs open: sometimes, a slow Mac simply comes down to bad habits. If you have too many programs open, your computer won’t be able to multitask well enough to function without a reduction in speed. (Be honest, how many programs do you have running right now?)
Outdated software: when Apple releases a new software update, the upgrade often offers an improvement in speed. At the same time though, some updates have been known to cause speed issues, instead of fixing them, like many users are experiencing with macOS High Sierra and now Mojave.
Outdated hardware: old hardware can’t always keep up with the demands of new technology, including new operating systems, new applications and even simply new high-resolution graphics.
Adware or malware: while a Mac may not be subject to viruses to the extent of a PC, there are a few bugs that can affect your computer’s performance. Never install applications like MacDefender that promise to keep viruses at bay — they are actually bugs themselves. If you downloaded MacDefender, uninstall it immediately.
Bad computer habits: while habits are usually hard to break, this one is actually one of the simplest issues to fix. Bad habits like having too many start-up programs, using the wrong web browser, and leaving files and programs directly on the desktop can all slow down your computer.

Any of those issues sound familiar to you? Good — if you can pinpoint the cause, it’s a bit easier to discover how to fix it.

Still not sure? Don’t worry, there are some more hints below as to what solutions may work best for you.

1. Improve Overall Performance with Better Computer Habits

The first thing any Mac users should do when that spinning beach ball starts popping up too often is take a look at how the computer is being used. Ask yourself these questions:

How much hard drive space do I have left? Click on the Apple logo, then About This Mac and then navigate to the Storage tab to see how much free space you have on your iMac.
How many apps are you running currently? Always close out apps that you aren’t using.
What apps are causing the most issues? Open the Activity Monitor, then click the CPU column to arrange your applications by how much work your computer has to do to use them.

Sound familiar? Thankfully, there are a few easy fixes that improve your Mac’s overall performance.

First, clean up your hard drive.

Use an external drive to save files you don’t access very often, like older family photos or videos. Uninstall any applications that you don’t use any more. Even clearing out your bookmarks will help. If you prefer the easy way, you can use CleanMyMac, an app that automatically searches for system junk and unnecessary files and removes them with one click.

Second, look at the apps you are using.

Programs that essentially do the same thing can be drastically different in terms of speed. Firefox tends to be much slower than Safari. In general, third-party apps tend to run slower than native Apple programs. For example, using Microsoft Word instead of Pages may make your iMac run slower.

Then, clean out your desktop and dock.

This can also improve your computer’s performance. Instead of storing files and apps directly on the desktop, leave them on the hard drive and use a shortcut icon for the desktop.

Some slow issues can also be improved by resetting the non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), helping to free up some of the active memory your Mac machine uses. Apple has a detailed guide here. Clearing out the system management controller can help too — the process is as simple as turning the iMac off and also unplugging from the outlet.

2. Optimize iMac Startup Speed

Macs run fine most of the time, but acting more Tortoise than Hare when powering up? There are a number of issues that can cause your computer to start up slow even freeze to death. For example, when your computer is trying to start several programs at once, performance suffers. There are a few ways to fight off that start-up sluggishness.

The easiest way to manage Mac startup items is by using MacBooster (via the “Startup Optimization” feature, there you just select the items you don’t want to start up and click “Disable”, that’s it). By the way, the software does a number of things to keep your iMac in good shape.

If you’re a power user, it’s also relatively easy to get that done manually. First, reduce the number of programs that start automatically. These settings are available in System Preferences > Users & Groups. Don’t see some of the start-up programs there? Click on the app on the dock, then under options uncheck “Open at Login”. When shutting the computer down, make sure to also uncheck the box that says “Reopen windows when logging back in” or you’ll still have several programs running at startup.

Second, make sure that your computer isn’t working harder at the start by disconnecting any accessories. Leaving an external hard drive, SD card or even a printer plugged in at startup will slow down the process. Finally, make sure you are still using good computer habits. Keep your hard drive clean, and give your Mac a check up occasionally by looking at the system report.

3. Fix iMac Frozen and Crash Issues

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Sometimes the issue isn’t that the machine itself is slow, but that it’s not running at all with frequent freezes and crashes. First, determine if the issue happens only when you are using a certain app or only when you have a certain accessory (like a hard drive or printer) plugged in, or if it happens universally across several different tasks.

If the issue seems to be an app, check the manufacturer for updates and install them, since many will include bug fixes that prevent crashes. If you are still having trouble, contact the application developer with specific details to try to resolve the issue.

Mac Is Running Slow

But, if the crashes aren’t happening when you are using a certain program, it’s likely an iMac issue. First, make sure you have enough space on your hard drive, once again you can use CleanMyMac to free up more disk space. If your iMac has stored a lot of duplicate files like copies of photos and backups, remove or transfer them by using this smart duplicates finder called Gemini.

Also, close any applications you aren’t using. If the issue persists, use Disk Utility to check for any errors from your start-up disk. You can also use Apple Diagnostics to help identify persistent errors.

4. Speed up Slow Internet Connection on iMac

Apps running fine, but internet crawling? First, run a speed test to see if it’s your network provider or the computer that’s causing the issues with a tool like Wi-Fi Explorer. Once you’re satisfied you are getting the speed you are paying for, make sure the router isn’t the issue — try moving it closer to your computer for a better connection. Use Wi-Fi Explorer again to see if your iMac picked up on any of the issues.

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Next, check if you’ve been caught up by some Adware, a new type of malware that does not do much harm but displays flash ads when you surf the Internet. That could slow down your browsing experience, even crash your web browser. How to fix it? You can try a lightweight security app like Norton Security for Mac to scan and remove any threats it would find.

A slow internet connection can also be caused, again, by bad computer habits. What web browser do you use? Safari is optimized to run on Mac, and you will likely have more issues with Firefox, Chrome and other browsers. If you already use Safari, do some spring cleaning by emptying the cache (Safari > Empty Cache) and refreshing the history (History > Clear History). Or, you can go into the Safari menu and choose reset to restore the factory defaults.

One more way to speed up your internet connection is to reduce the number of programs that are connected to the internet. Time Machine, for example, may be set up to automatically backup your computer via Wi-Fi and can slow your connection. Apps like Mail and anything connected with iCloud will also use up your connection, so close out all the un-essentials when you need more internet speed.

5. Fix It When Your iMac is Slow after macOS Update

A macOS update should improve system crashes and speed — but that’s not always the case. Many users have reported that their computer has slowed down after updating to latest macOS (i.e. 10.14 Mojave). Initially, the system may run a bit slow as the new system needs time to update library data in certain built-in apps and the performance issues should resolve on its own after 24-48 hours.

The new user interface in macOS Mojave may also be partially to blame — while that flushing effect you see when closing apps is cool, it’s not so great for performance. You can reduce the motion and transparency effects via System Preferences > Accessibility > Display, and check the “Reduce Motion” and “Reduce Transparency” options.

6. Boost Your Old iMac with Hardware Upgrades

Technology ages in dog years — or even double dog years. If your iMac is slow and none of the above suggestions fixed the issue, you may need to upgrade your computer’s physical components, or at least compare the cost of doing so with the price of a new machine.

Two of the biggest hardware updates that will enhance your speed are upgrading the RAM and switching to an SSD from an old HDD or Fusion Drive. The computer’s RAM is where all the active applications are stored — if your RAM isn’t big enough, you won’t be able to multitask without a significant slowdown. RAM standards have increased over the years to better meet the demands of new software. Most iMacs have removable memory slots so that upgrading RAM is a simple DIY job on these models.

Solid State Drives or SSDs are about five times faster than the hard drives inside even a three-year-old iMac. Because there are no moving parts, they’re more efficient for speed and performance and run between $100 and $500. You can replace your hard drive, or run a dual hard drive and keep the original for more file storage.

Here’s a video you may find useful:

Final Words

iMacs are well-built machines — time goes on, it’s not too surprising that your Mac gets older and tends to run a bit slower. Sometimes, that’s from bad computer habits, while other cases are simply from outdated hardware. We hope you find the above fixes useful. If you have any additional questions, leave a comment below.