macOS — the essentials

Mac fixes, same standard.

49 tested fixes for every kind of Mac trouble — frozen apps, trackpad & mouse, microphone, slow Wi-Fi, no sound, external displays, Bluetooth pairing, battery health, backups, encryption and the resets that fix weird glitches. Intel and Apple Silicon both covered, timed to the minute.

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  • Tested fixes 49
  • Coverage Intel + Apple Silicon
  • Jargon None. Ever.
49 fixes · 4 groups

The full list

Grouped by what they fix. Search, jump to a category, or open any fix for the full steps — no sign-up, no jargon.

Speed & performance Everyday fixes Everyday how-tos Security & backups

Speed & performance6 fixes

  • Free up disk space with Storage Management

    macOS hides how full your drive really is. Storage Management shows the big offenders and can clean them automatically.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time5 min
    • RiskLow

  • Speed up a sluggish MacBook

    Old MacBooks slow down for boring reasons: background apps and effects. Both are easy to tame.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • Stop apps from launching at login

    Every app that starts with your Mac steals seconds from boot and RAM all day long. Most of them don't need to be there.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time5 min
    • RiskLow

  • Keep 10% of your disk free

    macOS needs headroom for swap and caches. Under about 10% free space, everything — including Time Machine — starts to crawl.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • Tame Spotlight indexing on extra drives

    Spotlight re-indexes every drive it can see. On an older Mac with a big external HDD, that background work is often your whole 'slowness'.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time5 min
    • RiskLow

  • Give Safari a proper clean-out

    Safari accumulates website data, extensions and cache that quietly slow every page down. A five-minute pass brings back the speed you had in January.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time5 min
    • RiskLow

Everyday fixes29 fixes

  • Reset NVRAM when things misbehave

    NVRAM stores display resolution, sound and boot preferences. A reset fixes a surprising number of weird glitches.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time3 min
    • RiskLow
    • Works onIntel Macs

  • Force-quit a frozen app

    A spinning beachball means the app is stuck, not your Mac. Kill it cleanly without restarting everything.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time1 min
    • RiskLow

  • Fix a Mac that won't start up

    A black screen at boot is scary, but macOS has a recovery mode that fixes most of it without erasing anything.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time30 min
    • RiskHigh
    • Works onAll Macs

  • Run First Aid on external drives

    External drives fail quietly — files vanish, copies stall. Disk Utility's First Aid catches most problems while they're still fixable.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • Keep your Mac battery healthy

    Lithium batteries age from heat and from sitting at full charge. macOS has one setting that quietly slows both down.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time5 min
    • RiskLow

  • Open apps blocked by Gatekeeper

    'Cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified' usually means a small indie app, not malware. Here's the safe way past it.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time2 min
    • RiskLow

  • Fix slow Wi-Fi on your Mac

    Before you blame the router or the ISP, rule out the Mac side of the connection in ten minutes.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • Connected but no internet on your Mac? The safe network reset

    Wi-Fi connected, little globe with a slash — the link is up but the path to the internet isn't. A safe, fully reversible reset of the lease and DNS cache fixes most of it.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time10 min
    • RiskMedium

  • No sound on your Mac? Check the output device first

    Most 'my Mac has no sound' problems are a muted app, or audio going to headphones, a Bluetooth speaker or an external display instead of the speakers. Apple's fix is a settings check, not a reset.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • External monitor not detected on your Mac?

    A second screen macOS refuses to see is usually the cable, the adapter or a hub — or a Mac asked to drive more displays than it supports. Check the path in order and make macOS look again before suspecting the display.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • Bluetooth won't pair on your Mac? Reset it properly

    Pairing failures are usually a stale pairing record, a device stuck in the wrong mode, or another device stealing the connection. A clean re-pair fixes most of it.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time5 min
    • RiskLow

  • Trackpad or mouse not working on your Mac? The safe restart pass

    A dead trackpad or mouse is usually a stuck process, a bad port or cable, or the device itself — not a broken Mac. A clean restart plus simple isolation finds which one it is.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time5 min
    • RiskLow

  • No microphone on your Mac? Check the input device first

    Most 'my Mac can't hear me' problems are the wrong input device after a headset or display was connected, a slider at zero, or one app without permission. The input level meter shows which before you touch anything else.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • Microphone permission on your Mac? Let the app use it

    macOS blocks each app from the microphone until you allow it — one denied prompt and that app is silent forever, even though every other app hears you fine. The switch lives in Privacy & Security.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time5 min
    • RiskLow

  • MacBook running hot with loud fans: cool it down

    A MacBook that is hot to the touch with fans running flat out is almost always one process working too hard, or airflow blocked by whatever the machine is sitting on. Activity Monitor names the process, and both fixes take minutes.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time15 min
    • RiskLow

  • Mac battery draining fast: find the apps eating power

    A Mac that used to last all day and now dies by lunchtime is almost always one app burning power in the background. Activity Monitor's Energy tab names it in under a minute.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • Mac app crashes on launch after a macOS update

    An app that quits unexpectedly the moment you open it, right after a macOS update, is usually an old build that no longer matches the system. The order you try things in matters.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time15 min
    • RiskLow

  • Can't log in to your Mac: password and FileVault recovery

    A Mac that rejects your password is usually recoverable without erasing anything, but which route works depends on whether the account is linked to an Apple ID and whether FileVault is on.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time20 min
    • RiskLow

  • Printer won't print from your Mac: clear the queue and re-add it

    Nine times out of ten a Mac that will not print has a stuck job at the front of the queue or a printer that has quietly gone offline — not a broken printer.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskMedium

  • iCloud not syncing on your Mac: unstick it and free space

    iCloud stuck on 'Updating' forever, or files that never reach your other devices, is usually a full account or a stalled sync rather than lost data.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time15 min
    • RiskLow

  • AirDrop not working between your Mac and iPhone

    AirDrop showing no devices is almost always a visibility setting or one radio switched off. Both ends need Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, even though no network is involved.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • Mac keyboard keys not working: check before you replace it

    One or two dead keys on a Mac is sometimes debris and sometimes software, and the two are easy to tell apart in a couple of minutes before you book any repair.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time15 min
    • RiskLow

  • Take a screenshot or record your screen on your Mac

    macOS has one shortcut that does everything — capture the whole screen, a selection, a single window, or record video — and it has been there since Mojave.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time5 min
    • RiskLow

  • Mac camera not working in FaceTime or Zoom

    A Mac camera showing black is nearly always another app holding it or a permission that was declined. The hardware rarely fails, and there is no on/off switch to check.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • USB device not recognised on your Mac: find the fault

    A drive or keyboard the Mac ignores is usually the port, the cable or the hub. System Information tells you within seconds whether the Mac can see it at all.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time15 min
    • RiskLow

  • Move everything to a new Mac with Migration Assistant

    Migration Assistant moves your apps, files, accounts and settings across in one pass. It works best over a cable, and it is the job to do before you set anything up by hand.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time60 min
    • RiskMedium

  • Is your Mac too old for the latest macOS?

    Apple drops older Macs from each macOS release and the machine gives no warning it has been left behind. Checking takes two minutes, and the answer decides what you do next.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

  • macOS update won't install: unstick a stalled upgrade

    An update that sits on the progress bar for hours or quits with an error is usually short of space, working from a damaged installer, or tripping over something that loads at startup.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time30 min
    • RiskMedium

  • Mac won't wake from sleep: get the screen back

    A Mac that wakes to a black screen is usually awake already. It's the display, the brightness or a flat battery that didn't come back — and the power button is the wrong first move.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskLow

Everyday how-tos6 fixes

Security & backups8 fixes

  • Keep macOS updated the safe way

    Updates fix security holes and bugs — but back up first, so a bad update is never a disaster.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time10 min
    • RiskMedium

  • Set up Time Machine properly

    Time Machine is the closest thing macOS has to 'undo' for your whole computer. Twenty minutes now saves a disaster later.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time20 min + overnight first backup
    • RiskLow

  • Turn on FileVault full-disk encryption

    If your Mac is stolen or lost, FileVault is the difference between 'inconvenience' and 'identity theft'. It's one click.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time3 min
    • RiskMedium

  • Pop-ups and hijacked search on your Mac: remove the adware

    Pop-ups that won't go away, a search engine you never chose, or ads on sites that never had them: that's adware you installed by accident, and macOS clears most of it itself.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time20 min
    • RiskMedium

  • Fake virus pop-up or 'Apple' call? Mac tech support scams

    A pop-up that says your Mac has a virus and shows a phone number, or a caller who says they are from Apple, is a tech support scam rather than a real warning. Close it safely, and know what to do if you already called or let someone connect.

    • DifficultyEasy
    • Time15 min
    • RiskLow

  • Think someone got into your accounts? Lock them down on Mac

    If your Apple Account or email shows a sign-in you don't recognise, or friends get messages you never sent, secure things in this order.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time45 min
    • RiskMedium

  • Think your Mac has malware? What to check

    macOS checks for known malware by itself, so the useful work is making sure that protection is current and then looking in the four places unwanted software settles.

    • DifficultyMedium
    • Time20 min
    • RiskMedium

  • Erase and reinstall macOS: give your Mac a clean start

    When the malware checks have not settled it, a stranger had remote access, or nothing else has worked, erasing the Mac and setting it up again is the clean answer. It deletes everything on the Mac, so the backup comes first.

    • DifficultyAdvanced
    • Time2–3 hours
    • RiskHigh
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