OS X, Mavericks: 5 steps to a faster Mac

Spotlight Search

Mavericks installers complained Spotlight slowed their systems when they
upgraded. Spotlight indexes drive contents, but automatically reindexes following
an OS install. You may also see performance degradation if Spotlight tries to
index an external drive.

Check if Spotlight's slowing your system by clicking on the Spotlight menu: If you
see an indexing status bar then your Mac is indexing, which can take time.

Too much stuff

OS X swaps data between RAM and hard drive during normal use. It will ,cache,
data between the two when you use applications. That's fine when you have plenty of space, but a problem when you don,t.

Check available drive space by opening a Finder window. Now access the View
menu and select Show Status Bar -- the amount of free space you have available
appears at the bottom of the Finder window.

Try to ensure around 10 percent of your drive is empty -- if it,s not then archive or
delete old files (empty the Downloads folder for a start).

Apps like Gemini will search for and delete duplicate files.

Reboot the Mac once you've deleted files. Has performance improved?

Processor pigs

Some apps use every ounce of your system's processing power. These demands may be temporary as your app tries to complete a process, but you will see general system performance degrade while the process takes place.

(Safari tip: If it's running slow click Reset Safari in the main menu and select
Clear history and Empty the Cache and then Reset).

Check for processor pigs using Activity Monitor. Select the CPU tab and observe
how much of your processor is idle. If that number is consistently under 60 then
it is likely an app is to blame. Check which one(s) by clicking CPU at the top of
the Activity Monitor interface to list apps by processor usage. If you aren't using the
top-listed app(s), quit them to free CPU.

Quit all apps you aren't actively using.

Dirty desks

Do you have hundreds of files on your Desktop? The consider this: your Mac will
draw each as a separate window, complete with preview. Each one uses up
system resources -- it adds up. What should you do? File everything, or create a
new folder ("Stuff") on the Desktop and place those files inside.

Further reading

If none of these steps seems to make much difference take a look at this
excellent guide for more advanced troubleshooting tips. Thanks for reading!