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Internet download speed was 200x slower than other Mac (1-2Mbps). Then I emptied the trash and it went back to 300Mbps. Why ?

I was trying everything, updating the OS, shutting down all apps, restarting router, wifi and mac. Nothing helped. My personal Mac was 200x slower than my work Mac. Only download speed was affected (1-2Mbps), not upload, which was still at about 30Mbps. It was very puzzling why download was affected but not upload.


At a loss I checked disk stats and noticed there was about 2G of space in the trash (many files). After I emptied the trash, my download speed went back to a normal 300Mbps.


Why is the trash on an a flash disk Mac affecting my network download speed ? Does emptying the trash force some flash memory directory cleanup ? This is so puzzling to me. Please provide some answers.


MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Sep 17, 2023 11:47 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 18, 2023 4:16 AM

The sudden improvement in your internet download speed after emptying the trash on your Mac might not be directly related to emptying the trash but could be coincidental or indirectly related due to a few possible reasons:

  1. Disk Space: When your computer is running low on disk space, it can affect its overall performance, including internet speed. Emptying the trash frees up storage space, which could alleviate any performance issues caused by low disk space.
  2. System Optimization: Emptying the trash can be part of regular system maintenance. It's possible that other maintenance tasks were also performed, which could have contributed to improved performance.
  3. Background Processes: Sometimes, background processes or apps can consume system resources and slow down internet speed. Emptying the trash might have temporarily halted or reduced the impact of these processes, resulting in improved speed.
  4. Temporary Files: Deleting items from the trash can remove temporary files associated with those items. If these files were somehow affecting your internet speed, their removal could lead to a speed increase.
  5. Network Conditions: Internet speed can fluctuate due to various external factors, such as network congestion or the time of day. It's possible that your internet service provider's network conditions improved coincidentally around the time you emptied the trash.

Network Adapter Issues: In some cases, network adapter drivers or configurations can cause slow internet speeds. Restarting your Mac, which often happens after performing maintenance tasks like emptying the trash, can help resolve these issues temporarily.

While emptying the trash itself shouldn't directly impact internet speed, it's possible that the actions you took during or after emptying the trash indirectly contributed to the speed improvement. If you continue to experience slow internet speeds, it's advisable to monitor your network performance, check for any background processes or apps consuming resources, and consider other troubleshooting steps like checking your network hardware and contacting your internet service provider if the issue persists.

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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 18, 2023 4:16 AM in response to VesalianPrime

The sudden improvement in your internet download speed after emptying the trash on your Mac might not be directly related to emptying the trash but could be coincidental or indirectly related due to a few possible reasons:

  1. Disk Space: When your computer is running low on disk space, it can affect its overall performance, including internet speed. Emptying the trash frees up storage space, which could alleviate any performance issues caused by low disk space.
  2. System Optimization: Emptying the trash can be part of regular system maintenance. It's possible that other maintenance tasks were also performed, which could have contributed to improved performance.
  3. Background Processes: Sometimes, background processes or apps can consume system resources and slow down internet speed. Emptying the trash might have temporarily halted or reduced the impact of these processes, resulting in improved speed.
  4. Temporary Files: Deleting items from the trash can remove temporary files associated with those items. If these files were somehow affecting your internet speed, their removal could lead to a speed increase.
  5. Network Conditions: Internet speed can fluctuate due to various external factors, such as network congestion or the time of day. It's possible that your internet service provider's network conditions improved coincidentally around the time you emptied the trash.

Network Adapter Issues: In some cases, network adapter drivers or configurations can cause slow internet speeds. Restarting your Mac, which often happens after performing maintenance tasks like emptying the trash, can help resolve these issues temporarily.

While emptying the trash itself shouldn't directly impact internet speed, it's possible that the actions you took during or after emptying the trash indirectly contributed to the speed improvement. If you continue to experience slow internet speeds, it's advisable to monitor your network performance, check for any background processes or apps consuming resources, and consider other troubleshooting steps like checking your network hardware and contacting your internet service provider if the issue persists.

Internet download speed was 200x slower than other Mac (1-2Mbps). Then I emptied the trash and it went back to 300Mbps. Why ?

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