Sure, saving icons and items on the Desktop makes it handy for you to access without extra clicks. Even if you have clicked the red “X” button to close the windows of those you don’t need, they are still running in the background. Note: macOS leaves applications running in the dock. When too many applications are competing to use your system resources, your Mac will run slowly. Why? According to Lou Hattersley, former Editor of MacWorld, if you have multiple programs running, you may find memory (RAM) and CPU space being devoted to applications other than the one you want. Chances are, your Mac starts to respond slowly. You open a web browser, play Spotify in the background, and launch a few other applications so you can get your work done.

CNET claims that having overloaded login or startup items can both have detrimental effects on boot time.

$macdown figure$

Login items are applications and services that launch automatically every time you start up your Mac. Lesson learned: shutdown or restart your Mac on a regular basis to clear out defunct processes. While running, processes build up, causing your Mac to slow down, overheat, or even freeze as I experienced. The truth is even though your Mac is sleeping, the hard drive is still running. Every time I finished working, I simply closed the Mac, putting it in sleep mode. The reason: I hadn’t shut down my Mac for a few weeks! I was too lazy. After handing over the machine to a support geek, the Apple Genius returned it to me ten minutes later with the screen on. I had to line up at the Apple Genius Bar on Chestnut Street in San Francisco. Two years ago, my mid-2012 MacBook Pro was so slow I couldn’t turn it on (“black screen”). Failing Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or Solid State Drive (SSD)

Macdown figure