How to Speed Up the Internet on a Mac
When it comes to the speed of your Internet reception, you are often limited by the connection speeds you are given by your Internet service provider, how far you are located from your data center and other factors out of your control. However, there are certain actions you can take with your own computer to make sure you're making full use of the bandwidth and speed you are given.
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Instructions
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Close your browser completely by pressing "Command" and "Q" simultaneously, then re-open it. This can help your browser respond faster, and even load pages faster if your computer isn't bogged down with a large cache--a "cache" is where your browser stores information such as images you've already seen so they don't need to be loaded again every time you load a page. However, when this cache becomes too large, it can slow down your browser's speed. This is especially beneficial if you leave your browser open for long periods of time or keep plenty of tabs open.
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Reset your browser's cookies and cache. The process to do this will vary depending on your browser. In Safari, click "Safari" on the menu bar, then click "Empty Cache," or if you want to delete all of your browser's information, click "Reset Safari," check the appropriate boxes, then click "Reset." On Firefox, click "Tools," then "Clear Recent History." Select the boxes for what you want to remove, then click "Clear Now." This process helps clear a lot of stored information that can smooth and speed up your browser. Your browser may seem slower until it adds the sites' data back into the cache, but after that it should run smoother and faster.
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Check for any other applications using the Internet that could potentially be using up your bandwidth. This can include files that are uploading or downloading, applications checking for updates, or even third party applications that use the Internet, such as media players, games or instant messengers. View your Dock and menu bar to see what programs are currently running and could be potentially taking up bandwidth. For optimum speeds, close or disable these programs until you are finished browsing.
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Erase Safari's storage of favicon images. These are the small square images that appear next to website URLs and bookmarks. Open a new Finder window, and click on your username on the sidebar. Open the "Library" folder, then find and open the "Safari" folder. Delete the "WebpageIcons.db" file by clicking it and dragging it to the Trash.
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