Finder slow? Here are 4 ways to fix it

Is your Mac Finder slow or becoming unresponsive? There could be a few reasons why, from insufficient disk space to corrupt permissions, so let's troubleshoot Finder back to health.

Quick Recap

Here are top fixes to try (one by one):

• Relaunch Finder
• Reduce space usage — make sure you have 10-15% of your Mac's storage free
• Run maintenance tasks (especially, free up memory) 
• Reset Finder as a last resort

Now, let's proceed with more detailed fixes.

How to fix Finder slow

1. Restart Finder

Finder could be operating unknowingly in the background, so it's always wise to complete a restart, aka Relaunch.

How to Force Relaunch Finder:

• Select the Apple icon, top left on your MacBook.

• Choose Force Quit and locate Finder.

• Select Relaunch and use your Finder again to see if the problem persists.

Tip: Next time your Finder gets slow, click on Finder > Window in the top menu. From there, click Merge All Windows to combine all open tabs into one. Now you can close them all down and save your Finder some precious memory.

2. Check your Storage

Running low on disk space can cause various performance issues, like Mac Finder running slow. Take a quick look and clean up your Mac if you're running low on space to improve your system performance.

How to check your disk space:

• Go to System Settings > General > Storage.

• Wait for the info to get an overview of your storage space.

If your storage is approaching full, you can click an i next to each category below and remove unneeded items.

Besides, see our easy guide on how to free up space. Also, you can check some tips on how to reclaim disk space from Apple.

3. Run maintenance on your Mac

If it's been a while since you ran some essential maintenance, and issues like a slow Finder could indicate that it's time for action. 

You can use a tool that’s trusted by millions of users in over 150 countries. It’s called CleanMyMac, and it has a handful of controls that address popular Mac issues, like slow Finder.

For example, there’s a tool to free up RAM memory. It might help you unfreeze your Finder. It is the Menu App, and it lives in the menu bar. Just click Memory > Free Up. You can test this app for 7 days without any limitations — get your free trial here.

Also, run maintenance tasks and see if it makes your Mac snappier in general:

1. Open CleanMyMac, then select Performance from the left sidebar.

2. Click Scan > View All Tasks.

3. Choose Maintenance Tasks from the list and click Run.

As you see, in the same window, you can quickly run different maintenance tasks, like Repair Disk Permissions, reindex Spotlight, or Flush DNS Cache. All of them are useful items that can improve performance and solve application bugs. 

4. Reset Finder’s related files 

If the above tips haven't helped your slow Finder, the last step is to reset Finder's related files that could have become corrupt. Do this easily and safely with CleanMyMac. By the way, this app is notarized by Apple, meaning it’s malware-free and safe to use.

But before you do that, we’ll need to allow CleanMyMac to reset your Finder. This takes one extra preparation step.

If you already have CleanMyMac on your Mac, launch it.

• Click CleanMyMac in the upper menu. Choose Settings.

• Click the Ignore list > Uninstaller.

• Now, deselect the checkbox next to “Ignore system applications.”

Okay, finally, we are ready to reset your Finder.

How to use CleanMyMac to reset Finder's related files:

1. Open CleanMyMac and from the left sidebar, select Applications.
2. Click Scan > Manage My Applications.
3. Choose Uninstaller and find Finder in the list of apps.
4. In the small dropdown next to Finder select all items in the list except Binaries.
5. Press Remove.

This way, you can reset any misbehaving app, not only the Finder.

The described method only resets Finder’s settings to their default state; it doesn’t affect your user data. This should fix potential issues related to slowness. 

There you have it. You now know how to fix it if Finder is slow. You can repeat the same steps for any macOS version — they are virtually universal. Depending on your preferences, you can choose either built-in tools or a third-party Mac cleaner like CleanMyMac. Built-in features will help you with fixing the glitch, but CleanMyMac automates the process and lets you run some extra maintenance.