Fast fixes for Mac
Fixing basic functions needn’t be difficult
1 YOU CAN’T INSTALL MACOS
If the App Store installer won’t work properly, make an external bootable installer from it on a USB flash drive or SSD using instructions at apple.co/3GSFhXi. To start a T2 Mac up from that, first start up in Recovery and enable it in Startup Security Utility. On an M1 Mac, start up in Recovery, select the USB drive there, and start up from it. If that fails, you can use the Install macOS feature in Recovery instead, although that only installs the latest version of macOS.
2 YOU CAN’T GET AN UPDATE
When Apple releases a macOS update, the Software Update pane may not show it immediately. If it doesn’t appear in an hour or two, open that pane to check again. Often opening SilentKnight (free, bit.ly/ ecelecticsk), can trigger its appearance. If that doesn’t work, start up in Safe mode (Shift key) and open Software Update there.
3 AN UPDATE FAILS TO INSTALL
Restart your Mac in Safe mode (Shift key) and try again. If that fails, download and use the full installer instead. Be sure to make a full backup before progressing in case you need to migrate from that. Start up in Recovery mode, on an Intel Mac press Cmd+R; on an M1 Mac hold the Power button during startup. Then use Install macOS there to install a fresh copy. That should hook up to your existing Data volume; if it doesn’t connect with your Data volume, then you will need to migrate from your backup to restore everything.
4 BLUETOOTH OR WI–FI GLITCHES
Shut down non–essential USB–C devices, which can cause radio interference, and clear the line of sight between devices to give strongest signals. Holding the Opt key down, click on the Wi–Fi item in the menu bar and Open Wireless Diagnostics to test that Mac’s Wi–Fi connection, and provide an expert opinion. Use its Performance feature to look for dropouts and other disturbances. To continue to monitor Bluetooth signal strength, try iStumbler’s Bluetooth view when it returns to the Mac App Store.
5 AN UPDATE MESSED UP YOUR MAC
Restart your Mac; most update problems then vanish. Next shut down and start up in Safe mode holding the Shift key on an Intel Mac, or on an M1 through Recovery (hold the Shift key over the startup disk and click the button to start up in Safe mode). Leave your Mac for a few minutes, then restart normally.
6 YOUR LOGIN PASSWORD IS REFUSED
Check the Caps Lock key isn’t active, the most common error. With a wireless keyboard press keys slowly, checking only one character is added for each key. If you or your Mac have forgotten your password, ensure it’s connected to the internet and click on the "?" at the right of the
password entry box. You’ll see the password hint, and instructions for resetting through your Apple ID. You might need to enter a few guesses before that button appears.
7 YOUR MAC IS GRINDING TO A HALT
Open Activity Monitor and use its CPU and Memory tabs to discover what’s in trouble. Click on column headers to show which is using most CPU %, and which is using most memory. If it’s kernel_task, your Mac’s too hot, so keep it cooler and leave that process alone. If it’s an app, save open documents and quit that app. If it’s the Finder, bring it to the front, hold Shift, and use the Apple menu > Force Quit Finder (Opt+Shift+Cmd+Esc) to restart it.
8 AN APP IS USING EXCESS MEMORY
Confirm which app in Activity Monitor’s Memory tab, sorting processes by the Memory used column. Try to discover what action or feature takes up that memory. Save open documents, then close all that app’s windows to see if that frees up memory. If it doesn’t, it’s probably a memory leak and only quitting the app, or in the case of the Finder forcing it to restart, will return it, and stop your Mac using virtual memory. Report this to the app’s developer so it can be fixed.
9 YOUR M1 MAC SEEMS TO BE BRICKED
With your Mac shut down and connected to a minimum of peripherals, press and hold its Power button. If it shows that it’s loading Options, keep holding the button until it has entered Recovery mode. Run First Aid on its startup disk in Disk Utility there, and consider reinstalling macOS. If it won’t enter Recovery and you have a second Mac, install Apple Configurator 2 from the App Store on that Mac, open that app, and refer to its Help to refresh and restore an M1 Mac in DFU mode. Follow those detailed instructions. If you can’t do that, contact your local Apple store or service provider for their help.