KERNEL PANIC!

WHEN I TRY TO START MY MAC, I GET A MESSAGE IN SEVERAL LANGUAGES SAYING I HAVE TO RESTART. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? It means that your Mac is experiencing the dreaded Kernel Panic, a system-wide crash that could have many different causes. If this happens frequently, then you’ll have to troubleshoot the exact cause. Here are some likely candidates.

SAFE BOOT

Restart in Safe Mode by holding down Shift until the login window appears. This temporarily disables some software and runs some cleanup processes.

CHECK PERIPHERALS

Shut down and disconnect all peripherals except for the keyboard and mouse. Remove any RAM you’ve added and restart.

UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE

Outdated software is often the cause; this may include macOS itself. In App Store, click “Updates” to see if your apps need updating.

CHECK YOUR DISK Make sure the startup disk has at least 10GB of free space. Launch Disk Utility, select your Macintosh HD, and click “First Aid” to scan and fix any problems.

UPDATE YOUR FIRMWARE In System Prefs > Software Update, check for Mac updates. Check firmware updates at support.apple.com/ en-us/HT201518.