Mac mini randomly and frequently freezing up for short periods of time.

James Brown23 wrote:

My Mac Mini keeps freezing up for short periods of time; 30 seconds to a minute. The mouse does not work during that time. Then it will work fine for a few minutes and freeze up again. Sometimes with a revolving beachball. I have run programs to try to clean my Mac up, but nothing seems to stop this. I have updated to the latest version of Tahoe, version 26.2. It is a Mac mini with an M2 Pro chip and 16 GB of RAM.M

The Bold text in your above maybe worrisome

A machine with these specification would normally just be flying along under Tahoe 26.2.

I would not what to rush to any conclusions yet without seeing more details of this computer

To Drill Down further and to avoid a session of Q&A, Q&A  and Q&A  

Download the Application Etrecheck  ( External Link ) directly from the Developer.

The Application is Not a " Silver Bullet "  and is  only a tool to examine the Hardware / Software used on this computer 

This is a Diagnostic Tool that makes no changes to the computer Hardware / Software used on this computer 

The application is free or paid from added features. 

The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information. 

Post back the Full Report - Share Report >> Copy report , then  paste  >>>> using the Additional Text Icon  <<<<

James Brown23 wrote:

I have run programs to try to clean my Mac up

"[Running] CleanMyMac_5_HealthMonitor"

Among experienced users here, CleanMyMac is often referred to as BrickMyMac. It often causes problems of exactly the sort you describe (and others). My colleague, Owl-53, will likely recommend drastic steps to expunge that software, and I would concur.

Uninstall CMM by following the developer's instructions. Afterwards you will need to run EtreCheck again to make sure there is no mention of CMM or "macpaw" in the report. We have seen multiple users still have active components of CMM after attempting to uninstall CMM. FYI, deleting the CMM app is not how this app is uninstalled as it won't remove the tendrils placed within the bowels of macOS. CMM should have an actual uninstall option or uninstaller, or perhaps instructions for manually removing all of the hidden components.

Except for installing CMM, you have a very clean system so the most likely source of the freezing problem was your Logitech drivers for your Logitech mouse. Make sure to check for a software update for the Logitech software that is compatible with Tahoe.

WebKit:

Top Processes Snapshot by Memory:

Process (count) RAM usage (Source - Location)

com.apple.WebKit.WebContent (13) 3.30 GB (Apple) ⬅️

is related to Safari and may be piggish due to one of these:

Safari extensions:

[Loaded] Day One - /Applications/Day One.app

[Loaded] safari-extension - /Applications/Capital One Shopping.app

[Loaded] Evernote Web Clipper - /Applications/Evernote Web Clipper.app

[Loaded] Capital One Shopping - /Applications/Capital One Shopping.app

Note that you have two Capital One shopping Helpers. Intended?

Test by turning off all extensions ( Safari settings > Extensions tab). If symptoms go away, one of them is suspect. Turn them on one at a time and test. If symptoms return, the last one reactivated is suspect.

One thing I like to do in diagnosing symptoms like yours is to test with any external drives disconnected, especially USB drives. Sometimes a drive or its cable can drag down performance. Easy enough to test. I seldom expect issue with an external SSD but would try disconnecting it anyway.

Your storage "read" speed is about 2/3 of what i expect. Even M1 Macs in 2020 could do 3200 MB/sec both ways. I've seen BrickMyMac slow drive performance, so the storage speeds may increase once you fully show the aftermarket dreck the door. Macs—catlike—need no outside help to clean themselves.

Caveat - once CMM has been installed and used, the computer will almost never work properly 

Atomic Option 

For Apple Silicon computers, use Disk Utility to erase a Mac.

The existing Operating System remains Un-Touched

Much like when one does a Full Rest on an iOS device

Always make a Time Machine backup before proceeding.

Migrate only the user account, not the entire system.

Reinstall only the necessary applications from the Apple App Store or directly from the developers.

Hail Mary option 

Predicated all ALL aspects of CMM have been totally removed 

Some Contributors suggest restarting in Recovery Mode and choosing to Reinstall the Operating System over the existing installation. 

This may or may not replace elements of the  Home Folder ( User Account )  and replace any corrupted or removed elements and make things right

Am away from computer right now

But a quick look and see the infamous CleanMyMac aka BrickMyMac installed

Search - Apple Community

Will get back to you once back to computer

To both of my fellow contributors

Run this thread for reasoned mentioned to OP

Thank you both for this

Once back to computer

Have some additional thoughts for remedial actions.

Yes, one is the Atomic option and the other is a Hail Mary approach

Should have said, without a full Erase all contents and settings