Having a reputation for intelligent and responsive software, Macs sometimes can behave not the way you expect. Except for minor software issues that may happen when you use your Mac actively, Mac crashes may really interrupt your work and affect your performance. So, here we will explain why your Mac keeps crashing and how to 'cure' it of this disease.
Why your Mac keeps crashing
If your Mac crashed, you would probably see the 'Your computer was restarted because of a problem' message on your screen. Usually, Macs freeze from being unable to deal with software installed on it, or device connected to your machine. In these cases, your Mac may restart in order to eliminate the issue. But, if the Mac crashes on its startup, things may get serious as it can lead to complete shut down.
Here're the most common reasons why your Mac keeps restarting:
2, 2009 6:26 a.m. PT 0 The advent of the CrashReporter in Mac OS X was a boon for developers - suddenly, a capsule of what caused the problem with a given application could be instantly. The system crash can be the 'reaction' of your macOS to crashes of some app on your Mac. It often happens that the version of the application becomes incompatible with the current macOS version. It's a well-known rule that you need to update the apps as soon as a new version is released.
- Application incompatibility
The system crash can be the 'reaction' of your macOS to crashes of some app on your Mac. It often happens that the version of the application becomes incompatible with the current macOS version. It's a well-known rule that you need to update the apps as soon as a new version is released. But, sometimes even app developers fail to fix bugs and release an improved version of the software. That app's inability to meet system requirements and, at the same time, respond user's requests can put too much pressure on your Mac's OS, making it crash.
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One way to prevent Mac crash is to force-quit the app that has a spinning wheel icon, which means your machine can't handle the number of tasks in progress.
- Lack of system memory for software to run
If you are using apps that require a lot of free space to store data (like Photoshop), your computer may freeze or crash due to a lack of memory. You should consider freeing some space if the above-mentioned happens or try to switch this storage-hogging app to an alternative option. Space junk farmer mac os.
- Heavy usage of CPU
Some software may consume too much of your Mac's CPU. Try to remember what apps you used before the last system crash. Usually, games, graphic editors, developer tools, and similar apps that process a lot of information put some pressure on your CPU. You can also hear your Mac's fans working loudly when CPU is overly active. Such overperformance of your processor may be followed by a crash, especially when several such apps are in progress.
- Hardware incompatibilities
Certain MacBooks Pro have removable RAM. If you have recently done some fixes to your Mac and installed new memory, it can turn out to be the reason behind your Mac crashes. When installing hardware or RAM, it's essential to choose compatible parts and install them correctly. If possible, get back the original details and check whether your Mac crashes with them.
If your Mac has restarted because of unknown reasons, there is a quick solution to prevent further crashes. CleanMyMac X is a versatile tool for your Mac that is notarized by Apple. It cleans junk, terminates heavy processes that may result in Mac freezing and crashing. Using its Smart Scan feature regularly you can remove the junk that takes too much space and reduce CPU usage.
If you see Mac's crash screen, you will need to take a look at the Mac crash report for more information regarding what happened.
How to read Mac crash reports
After the restart, your Mac will show a notification about why the crash occurred. You can click the Report.. button to see the details.
Another place to find all reports is Console. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Console. As you open Console, choose Crash Reports from the list on the left.
The crash files should end in '.crash' and have a crash date in the name. Open the report. Here are the key details the crash reports include:
- Process
You will see the name of the application or particular process that is responsible for the crash.
- Date/Time
It tells you when exactly the crash occurred.
- Exception type
This part enlightens the user about what caused the crash.
- Thread
It is a chronological list of processes that were initiated before the crash.
Mac crash report is an important file, which can help developers investigate software imperfections and find out how to enhance both OS and computer programs.
On the other hand, crash reports are not that useful for users. So, if you can't understand the report, that's not your fault, because it's generated mainly for developers.
What to do if your Mac keeps crashing
Mac Os Crash Log
If you think the problem may be with current macOS and some apps, you can try reverting your system to the previous OS version. Here's how to do that:
- Choose Restart from the Apple menu.
- During restart, press and hold Command + R. The Apple logo should appear.
- In the Time Machine Backup, choose Restore and select your disk.
- Select the backup you want to roll back the system to.
- Follow the instructions to complete the process.
Another useful thing to do is to free up RAM. You can do that by touch of a button with CleanMyMac X. Using the Maintenance feature, you can run maintenance scripts to let CleanMyMac X remove temporary files and logs that may interfere with Mac's performance.
- Download your free copy of CleanMyMac X here.
- Launch the app and go to the Maintenance module.
- Check Free Up RAM and Run Maintenance Scripts.
- Click Run.
Now, your system memory is optimized. Additionally, you can clean some junk using the System Junk module to delete broken login items and cache that can be a cause of Mac's freezing.
If nothing helps and your Mac keeps crashing, try to contact Apple Support. Describe your problem, providing lots of details, so the agent can help you define the exact issue and solve the problem.
There can be plenty of reasons why your MacBook crashes. Note that crashing is a sign that your system is unable to handle some problem on your machine. So, if it occurs regularly, it's better to address Apple Support and ask for professional help with your Mac.
Crashes and freezes in OS X are mercifully rare, but they do occur. Fortunately, most of them can be resolved readily; and even though a crash or freeze may have any of numerous causes or symptoms, the same procedure works for troubleshooting most of them.
Crashing apps
Your first step should be to determine the scope of a problem. Is just one application having difficulties, or is the whole system affected?
Send a report, or not: If an app quits unexpectedly, you know that it's at least part of the problem. App crashes are usually accompanied by an error message. If you see one of these, click Reopen to send Apple a report with details about your system configuration and what went wrong, and then relaunch the app. Or click OK to send the report without relaunching the app.
If you don't want to send Apple information about crashes automatically, go to the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences, click the lock icon, and enter your username and password to unlock it. Then click Privacy, select Diagnostics & Usage, and uncheck Send diagnostic & usage data to Apple. After you do that, the options in the crash dialog box change to Ignore, Report, and Reopen; only if you click Report is information sent to Apple.
Skip reopening windows: If the app crashes again after you relaunch it, you'll see a message asking whether you want to reopen the windows that were open the last time. I suggest clicking Don't Reopen, on the theory that something in one of the open windows may have caused the crash. Either way, as long as the app functions correctly from then on, you can go about your business. (If it continues to crash, follow the steps below, beginning with 'Restart.')
Spinning beach balls and other bad signs
Sometimes, however, an app freezes but doesn't quit. If your symptom is an unresponsive Mac—perhaps featuring the dreaded spinning wait cursor, sometimes refered to as the 'spinning beach ball' or as I like to call it, the 'spinning pizza of death' (SPOD)—you'll need to narrow down the cause.
Switch to another app: Try switching to another app—for example, by clicking its Dock icon or pressing Command-Tab. If other apps respond, and especially if the SPOD appears only when you hover the pointer over a window or menu belonging to the app that was in the foreground when your Mac stopped responding, try force-quitting that app. One way to do this is to press Command-Option-Esc, select the app in the list that appears, and then click Force Quit. (Sometimes you may need to repeat this once or twice to get the app to quit.) If this force-quitting succeeds, try relaunching the app. More often than not, that will be enough to bring the app back to life.
If relaunching (or force-quitting and then relaunching) an app doesn't do the trick, if none of your apps respond, or if your mouse pointer is frozen, move on to the following steps—try each one, in order, until the problem goes away.
Restart: If you can choose Restart from the Apple menu, do so. If not, press Command-Control-Eject (the Eject key looks like an upwards-pointing arrow with a line underneath it) to force an immediate restart. If even that doesn't work, press and hold the Power button until your Mac shuts down, then press the Power button again to turn your Mac back on.
Check disk space: A startup disk that's extremely low on disk space (10GB or less) can lead to slowdowns and worse. Delete some files (or move them to another disk) to make more space. For help, see 'Seven ways to free up drive space.'
Try another document: If an app always misbehaves when a particular document is open, try closing it and opening a different document. A damaged or corrupted file could be the source of the problem.
Update your software: Make sure OS X itself, and any apps you use regularly, are up to date, because a software update may have fixed a crash-producing bug. Choose Software Update from the Apple menu to update Apple software and anything downloaded from the Mac App Store; for anything else, use the app's built-in software update feature or download the latest version.
Mac Os Crash
Disconnect peripherals: If you attached any new devices recently—especially USB devices—try disconnecting them. Restart and see if the problem recurs. If not, the device may be faulty or, more likely, it may require updated software or firmware. Contact the device's manufacturer for assistance.
Disable plug-ins: If the app that's crashing includes any extensions, plug-ins, or other extras, try disabling or removing them to rule out the possibility that the add-on software is the culprit.
Try a safe boot: To disable certain software that loads at startup and to run cleanup processes that may resolve random gremlins in your system, try a safe boot: Restart your Mac, and, immediately after you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Shift key until the gray Apple logo appears on the screen. If the problem goes away, restart again normally and try again.
Repair your disk: Disk errors can lead to all sorts of problems, crashes included. Try using OS X Recovery and using Disk Utility's Repair Disk feature to look for and fix common disk errors.
Run Apple Hardware Test: Apple Hardware Test is a special utility you can run to test your Mac's logic board, RAM, graphics board, and other components for errors that could lead to crashes and worse. Apple's support site has complete instructions for using this tool.
Add RAM: If your Mac has a small amount of RAM (say, 4GB or less) and has available slots to add more, try increasing your RAM. Extra RAM can speed up many operations on your Mac and can reduce the likelihood of crashes and hangs related to running out of memory.
If you try all those things and continue to have crashes or freezes, contact the app's developer (if it's a single app) or Apple (if the problem is system-wide) for further advice and assistance.
