Fast fixes for Mac
Don’t let Mail, Safari, and Monterey’s other apps fox you
26 MAIL CAN’T SEND OUTGOING MESSAGES
Check your internet connection and mail service status, such as Apple’s at apple.co/2suZulx. In Mail > Preferences, select the affected service in Accounts, then show Server Settings. Ensure that the correct Outgoing Mail Account is selected. If that doesn’t have an impact on your outgoing messages, select Edit SMTP Server List… Review Server Settings there against recommendations. Sometimes that list gets damaged and may need to be cleared and started afresh, ensuring you have a record of settings first.
27 AN EMAIL SERVICE DOESN’T WORK
In Mail’s Window menu select Connection Doctor. This run checks on each of the active incoming and outgoing connections and warns of problems in the Details column. Use this again to check any changes you make to account settings to confirm that you’ve fixed them.
28 SAFARI SAYS A SITE ISN’T TRUSTED
If you’re sure you can trust it, click on Show Details, then view the certificate if you want to enable it. Safari shows the certificate chain so you can identify which has expired or failed checks. You can manually approve that site, or check the certificate provider’s website to download a new root or intermediate certificate. So just open the certificate in Keychain Access, add it to your login keychain, and there set it to be always trusted.
29 iCLOUD TABS ARE MISSING
Ensure your Mac and device are signed into the same iCloud account and Safari is enabled in device iCloud settings and the Apple ID pane. At the bottom of the Start page on your device, tap Edit and enable iCloud Tabs, with the
30 WHERE’S UNIVERSAL CONTROL?
This eye–catching feature in Monterey was postponed due to poor reliability. It reappeared in macOS 12.3 betas, and has finally reached us in 12.3. It has the same Wi–Fi, Bluetooth, and Apple ID requirements as Handoff, and is controlled in System Prefs > Displays. Unlike Sidecar and AirPlay Display, it doesn’t turn devices into external displays for your Mac, and you can’t drag windows across, but it unites their controls, letting you drag and drop files between devices. same Start page shared on all devices. Open a page on a device and it should be listed at the foot of your Start page. If not, a Safari icon should appear at the bottom or right end of the Dock, passing the page using Handoff.
31 CAN’T EJECT/UNMOUNT A VOLUME
This affects ejecting in the Finder and Disk Utility’s First Aid. Restart the Finder by bringing it to the front, holding Shift, and the Apple menu > Force Quit Finder (Opt+Shift+Cmd+Esc). Free Sloth from github.com/sveinbjornt/Sloth identifies which app or process is blocking unmounting. Click on the padlock in its window and authenticate first so it shows all system processes run as root as well as user processes.
32 CAN’T SYNC YOUR READING IN BOOKS
Prior to Monterey, this wasn’t possible. Your Mac and devices must be signed in with the same Apple ID. Open Preferences in
Books, and in the General tab checkmark both items in the Syncing section. On your devices, open Settings > [your name] > iCloud and enable iCloud Drive and Books, and in Settings > Books turn on Reading Now.
33 FOCUS MISSES NOTIFICATIONS
To allow time–sensitive notifications, click the Options button in System Prefs > Notifications & Focus > Focus. In the Notifications tab, enable them for supported apps including Messages, Calendar, Reminders, and Home. To add apps which aren’t allowed time–sensitive notifications, like FaceTime, in Focus select Apps at the top of the allow list, click the "+" and select it from the list. Also add people from Contacts who you want to bypass this Focus.
34 iCLOUD WON’T SYNC
Check your internet connection and router. Ensure System Status at apple.com/ support/systemstatus is green for services. Although you can sign out of iCloud in System Prefs > Apple ID, in Overview, or control services in iCloud there, it’s simplest to disconnect by logging out using the Apple menu > Log Out. Wait before logging back in again.
35 SPOTLIGHT CAN’T FIND FILES
First force Spotlight to re–index that volume. Select Privacy tab in System
Prefs > Spotlight, add that folder or volume by dropping it onto that list, or through the "+" button. Close the pane, reopen it, select that item, and delete it from the list. Metadata indexes will then be rebuilt, which you can watch in Activity Monitor’s CPU window, for processes starting with md. Once that’s complete, try your search again. In–app search is controlled in the Search Results tab, but can’t be forced separately.
36 TIME MACHINE BACKUPS ARE TAKING FOREVER
Download the free utility T2M2 from bit.ly/eclectict2m2 and use its Check Speed button during a backup to identify the app like Xcode or folder causing them to choke. Once you’ve identified the cause, add that app or folder to Time Machine’s exclusion list, accessed from the Options button in System Prefs > Time Machine. You should use something like Carbon Copy Cloner to save those as backups.