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I upgraded my 2020 iMac to Big Sur 11.6 and it has drastically slowed down responsiveness. Typing and clicking with no apps open is very laggy and sluggish. What's going on? Will there be a fix for this? It was not like this at all before the update.
I am on a 2020 27" iMac:
iMac Line (2012 and Later)
First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac. This user tip describes what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.
There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs. There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.
Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear. They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware. Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.
There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is desshoigned solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it. The free version is more than adequate for most users.
That being said you've installed what most of the contributors here in the ASC consider to be akin to malware: MacKeeper.
Uninstall it according to the developer's instructions. Then rerun Etrecheck and look in the report to see if any files with Mackeeper or macpaw in the file name remain. Let us know what you find and we'll go from there.
First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac. This user tip describes what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.
There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs. There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.
Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear. They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware. Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.
There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is desshoigned solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it. The free version is more than adequate for most users.
That being said you've installed what most of the contributors here in the ASC consider to be akin to malware: MacKeeper.
Uninstall it according to the developer's instructions. Then rerun Etrecheck and look in the report to see if any files with Mackeeper or macpaw in the file name remain. Let us know what you find and we'll go from there.
There is nothing wrong with Big Sur that would affect your performance so it is likely another problem.
Please navigate to www.Etrecheck.com and download the free version of EtreCheck. Once you have you downloaded the app and installed it, please run the report and save it. This report will help us get a good idea what has been installed on your system and help us be able to diagnose what may be wrong.
When you have your report, you can attach it when you reply to this message and we can then review it and help you determine what is needed to get your system running well again.
For instructions on how to download your EtreCheck report and attach it to your reply to this message please click https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250000211
The best antivirus, cleaning app, and overall maintenance app for Mac OS is Mac OS itself. All you need to do with Mac OS to keep it secure and running well is to keep it up-to-date and do periodic (about 1x per week) restarts. Other than that, leave it alone. Adding third party antivirus, cleaning, security and other types of maintenance apps to Mac OS adds no additional level of security. The only thing these apps do is have the opposite affect users want. They make Mac OS slow, unstable, generate odd behavior (much like you are experiencing) and make Mac OS appear buggy.
Please locate the developers uninstall instructions for CleanMyMac and follow to the letter. Then restart in Safe Mode per the directions in Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac and then restart normally.
Hi @rkaufmann87,
Updated. That makes sense. Thank you again. As I type this, the lag persists. I made sure to clean out and remove all CleanMyMac files (and some other stray apps I don't use) prior to the report.
Your report indicates CMM is NOT gone. There are many files showing in your report with CMM in it. I do not think you used the uninstall instructions from the developer however if you did it just shows you how lousy that software is.
Please download the free version of FindAnyFile and have it search for any files with:
in them and then move all of them into the Trash and empty the Trash. Once you have completed that chore it is important to restart in Safe Mode, then run another EtreCheck report and scan it carefully for any of those words. If any appear use FAF to find them and rinse and wash again.
Hi Old Toad,
Thanks for the input and suggestions. One thing though, I don't have MacKeeper installed. I have CleanMyMac X by MacPaw, which is commonly confused with MacKeeper. It is not an anti-virus app, but a system cleaning, app and extension remover and malware scanner.
That aside, even with CleanMyMac X running in the background before the update to Big Sur 11.6, my iMac was running very smoothly and efficiently.
gabe.enamorado wrote:
Hi Old Toad,
Thanks for the input and suggestions. One thing though, I don't have MacKeeper installed. I have CleanMyMac X by MacPaw, which is commonly confused with MacKeeper. It is not an anti-virus app, but a system cleaning, app and extension remover and malware scanner.
That aside, even with CleanMyMac X running in the background before the update to Big Sur 11.6, my iMac was running very smoothly and efficiently.
It doesn't matter if it's MacKeeper or CleanMyMac. They are both akin to malware and need to go.
Hi everyone,
I appreciate everyone's willingness to assist me in determining the cause of this issue. I do find it interesting that even though CleanMyMac was installed prior to the Big Sur 11.6 update, I did not experience the significant lag in typing an email or really, any lag whatsoever. I feel it important to mention that I've had Dropbox and Adobe CC installed and running for years as well, without this lag. I hope that Dropbox and Adobe CC do not become the next targets of this topic lol.
I went ahead and removed CleanMyMac, but it did not help at all. If you'd like, I could provide a video to demonstrate the lag I am talking about. Moving around Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, Dropbox, Notes and Reminders used to be a breeze, switching between apps seamlessly and without hiccup – especially with 64gb of RAM. Now, all of my clicking and typing is about .5 to 2 seconds behind after installing Big Sur 11.6
Could it be possible that it is a Big Sur issue? Or is that simply not an option in these forums...
Please submit a fresh EtreCheck report so we can review it.
BigSur is very stable however when users install third party "maintenance" apps such as antivirus, cleaning and other types of apps those tend to interfere with Mac OS. They can make Mac OS appear buggy, slow and unstable much like you are experiencing.
We want to review a fresh EtreCheck report in order to verify all of CMM is gone as it is wise to have multiple sets of eyes review the report and to look for other possible causes.
If you get messages saying that the files can't be deleted because they are in use boot into Safe Mode and run Find Any File from there. Then reboot normally.
Hi @rkaufmann87, noted. I will say that the iMac was very snappy (especially with the 64gb of RAM) prior to the update. I've attached the report, hopefully there is a fix. Thanks!
I also noticed your SSD speeds are rather slow. Please use DriveDx to check the health of your drive and upload the report.
Hi @Jack-19,
DriveDX report attached. Thanks!
Your SSD is in perfect health. The only thing slowing down your Mac is CleanMyMac.
My mistake. Got you confused with another topic.
CMM is just as bad. Get rid of it as everyone here has mentioned.
Mac OS Big Sur 11.6 very slow
