Junk Yard · Privacy and performance
Does the Junk Yard slow down my Mac?
Short answer: It's built to stay light: spotting a copy is a tiny check, and reading text in images happens gradually in the background and is remembered, so it doesn't get in your way.
It's designed to stay light. Noticing a new copy is a tiny check, and the heavier work — reading text inside images and preparing search — happens gradually in the background, one scrap at a time, so it doesn't get in the way of your typing or other apps. Text read from an image is remembered, so it isn't redone every time Storage Studio opens.
Keeping the board smaller (a lower Keep up to cap or a shorter auto-clear time) keeps it lighter still. See performance and battery.