Consistent slow-downs, startup bugs, device overheating, lost files, poor performance are some of the common Mac problems you may experience over time. If you are a Mac user, you might not experience any performance nuisances for a longer time, but as your computer starts aging, you might begin to notice application collapse, disk failures, or kernel panic events.
If anything similar happens to your device, you can perform simple workarounds to resolve the common issues. Let’s have a look at some of the common Mac problems and their resolutions.
Revolving Beach ball
You might have noticed your pointer turning into a colorful beach ball all of sudden and stays there for longer. This is sometimes annoying, particularly when an important task is in process and all you can do is keep your patience levels high.
To resolve this problem, press Command + . keys or open Finder to launch another app by pressing Option + Tab. You can also select to force quit an app by pressing and holding down the Command + Option + Esc keys.
To bring your Mac back to functional mode, try restarting your Mac. Hold down the power button to force your device to shut down and then restart the device.
Disappearing Files
While working on an important project, if you suddenly figure out that one of the files is missing, launch Spotlight Press Command + Space keys to access the search bar and type in the filename or the relevant keywords to search for the file.
If your file is being overwritten with a new version, you might find yourself in a problem as it’s hard to recover the file unless you have a backup. Time Machine users are in luck as they can recover and restore files that don’t currently exist on the drive but have been backed up.
If you have not set up Time Machine for backing up your data, you will have to use a third-party software application to restore deleted files. On identifying missing files, you should immediately stop using your computer as you will accidentally overwrite the deleted data, making it hard to recover the same.
Full Startup Disk
Startup disk full error is a common problem that Mac users experience, and in the newer Macs, this issue is usually displayed as “Your disk is almost full.” Before you initiate any action to get rid of this alert, you will have to find out the actual cause.
Click the Apple icon in the menu bar available at the top corner of the screen, select About This Mac, click the Storage tab, and take note of items that are consuming considerable space. Now, find the larger files and delete all of them if not required.
You can delete large RAR/ZIP archives from Downloads. Alternatively, remove heavy applications that are not in use and consuming space. You can also delete the screenshots from the desktop or any other outdated data, redundant files, temporary files, etc. Click here to find detailed information on startup disk errors and what you can do to get rid of them.
Slow Switching
When macOS runs out of RAM while using multiple files and programs simultaneously, it moves some of the data to the hidden temporary location on the hard drive. The shift is so seamless that users don’t notice any lags or technicalities.
But when you are working on multiple apps, this shift can take some time, making your system sluggish. Usually, when a number of heavy programs are on the go, the shift happens quite frequently, affecting the functionality, and you may experience slow performance, fan noise, overheating, and similar symptoms.
To resolve this issue, it is recommended to disable some login items that activate each time you start your computer. You might not use these apps, but they consume RAM when your system starts. Alternatively, you may try increasing the RAM on the MacBook.
Sluggish Safari
If the Safari browser is running slow, there might be an issue with your internet connection. If not, then you might need to clean your system cache, which includes the details of the websites that you have used in the recent past.
To delete cache, open Safari, go to History in the menu bar, choose Clear History, select the time span, and select the Clear History button. If you do not want to clear the browsing history, open Safari, click Safari in the menu bar, go to Preferences, click on Advanced tab, select the textbox that says Show Develop menu in the menu bar, click Develop in the menu bar, and select Empty cache option.
You may choose the Reset Safari option from the Safari menu and reset everything. Alternatively, deleting the preferences file may improve Safari’s performance. Close Safari, launch Finder, and press Command + Shift + G keys. Then type in ~/Library/Preferences/into the popup and hit Enter. Next, find the file saved as com.apple.Safari.plist and delete it. The browser will generate a new preference file.
