RELATED: How to Wipe Your Mac and Reinstall macOS from Scratch Diagnosing Hardware Issues However, the issue could also be hardware-related. If you still have a freezing issue, it might be time to reinstall macOS from scratch.
#MACDOWN FREEZE SOFTWARE#
Prune your login items to remove any software that launches at startup and might be causing the issue. If you still have the problem, make sure any external peripheral devices are unplugged, and then try again. It’s possible that by checking your disk for errors, the problem was fixed. If you no longer encounter the issue, try restarting and testing again. With your Mac booted in Safe mode, test again for the freezing issue. “Safe Boot” should appear at the top right. Release the key when you see the login window and log in. To boot into Safe mode, turn off (or restart) your Mac, and then press Shift as it boots. It also scans your hard drive for issues at boot, which might help fix the problem.
#MACDOWN FREEZE DRIVERS#
Safe mode starts your Mac with the bare minimum number of drivers required to run the system. If the problem is easily replicable, you can try booting your Mac in Safe mode to see if the issue persists. If you appear to have resolved the problem, consider also updating any software related to that peripheral. Unplug all external peripherals, including mice, keyboards, USB audio interfaces, storage devices, and webcams, and then test for the issue again. To rule this out, make sure your Mac is running the latest version of macOS, and that you’ve installed any required firmware updates under System Preferences > Software Updates. If your freezing issue is a regular occurrence, it could be caused by a hardware fault. Is Your Mac Freezing During or Shortly After Boot? You can do this by pressing and holding your Mac’s power button until it switches off.Įven if things do go wrong, you can rest easy knowing you’ve backed up your Mac with Time Machine.
If you’ve been patient and forced any problem apps to quit with no success, it might be time to admit defeat and shut down your Mac by force. RELATED: How to Troubleshoot Your Mac With Activity Monitor Force Your Mac to Shut Down If you have cursor control, you can also right-click (or Control+Click) an app icon in the dock, press and hold Option, and then click “Force Quit” to kill an app. You can launch Activity Monitor via Spotlight (or access it under Applications > Utilities) and look for any processes using more than their fair share of your available CPU. Many apps, like Safari or Chrome, use multiple processes that separate each tab into a separate process. You can also launch Activity Monitor to view a list of all running processes. Be aware that you might lose any unsaved data. Kill as many apps as you need to until your system feels stable again. Any unresponsive apps will be listed as such, and these should be killed, as they’re likely to require a restart to function normally.