Apps on a Mac, fixed in plain English.
34 fixes for macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27 Golden Gate.
Where to find Control Panel on a Mac: it's System SettingsSystem Settings holds all of the Mac's settings.Where's the Start menu on a MacOn a Mac, Spotlight and the Dock open apps; the Apple menu has sleep, restart and shut down.How to refresh a web page on a Mac (the F5 equivalent)Command-R reloads the page in any browser on a Mac.Where to find crash reports and system logs on a MacThe Console app shows system logs and app crash reports.Open Terminal, the Mac's command lineTerminal is an app in the Utilities folder; it's the Mac's command line.Mail won't send or receive email on your MacThe account's password or server settings changed, or Mail lost its connection to the account after an update.Make Chrome, Firefox or Safari your Mac's default browserLinks open in whichever app is chosen as the default web browser.Find the app that's slowing down your Mac with Activity MonitorOne app or process may be using most of the processor or memory.Messages not working on your MacThe Mac is offline, the date and time are wrong, iMessage has an outage, or text forwarding from your iPhone isn't set up.Safari won't open a page or load websitesA Safari extension, saved website data, a VPN or a proxy is getting in the way.Safari is slow, freezes or keeps crashingAn extension, a bad website's saved data or an out-of-date macOS usually makes Safari slow or crash.Get rid of spam events and junk calendars on your MacYou were subscribed to a spam calendar, often by clicking a link on a website.FaceTime won't connect or isn't available on your MacFaceTime needs to be signed in with your Apple Account, online, and allowed to use the camera and microphone.Make Mail check for new emails automaticallyMail can be set to check for new mail only when you click Get Mail.Make email text bigger in the Mail appMail uses its own font and size for reading and writing messages.Share my screen with someone from MessagesMessages can start screen sharing with someone you're chatting with; an audio call starts and Screen Sharing opens.Force quit an app that's frozen or won't quitThe app has stopped responding to normal quit commands.See who manages your Mac and what that meansA work, school or seller's device management profile is installed and can control settings.Stop the spinning beach ball on your MacThe app is busy or stuck, or the Mac is short of memory.Fix blurry photos in the Photos app on your MacWith Optimize Mac Storage, full-size originals stay in iCloud and download only when needed.Choose the app that opens PDF files on your MacThe default app for .pdf files is set to another program.A Mac app bounces in the Dock, then closes or never opensThe app is damaged, outdated or blocked, or its settings are corrupted.Draw on pictures and sketch on your Mac with built-in appsThere's no Paint, but Preview can draw and add text on pictures, and Freeform is a free drawing canvas.Make one kind of file always open in the app you wantEach file type has a default app that you can change in Get Info.Safari asks before every download on a site, or blocks itSafari can ask, block or allow downloads per website.Fix a Photos library that won't open with Repair LibraryThe Photos library has a problem that the built-in repair tool can fix.Turn a Safari extension or ad blocker back onExtensions are switched on and off in Safari's settings.See your iPhone notes in Notes on your MacThe Notes app shows your iPhone notes when iCloud Notes is on for both devices with the same Apple Account.Get a reminder before every meeting in Calendar on your MacNew events only get an alert if a default alert time is set.Change the hours Calendar shows in Day and Week viewDay and Week view show a fixed range of hours.Turn off Mail categories and get one plain inbox backMail sorts new messages into Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions.Word, Excel and PowerPoint on a Mac: use Pages, Numbers and KeynoteMacs come with Apple's free Pages, Numbers and Keynote, which open and save Word, Excel and PowerPoint files; Microsoft Office is a separate download.Turn on Inspect Element and the Develop menu in SafariSafari hides its web developer tools until you turn them on.Sign a PDF on your Mac with Preview, no printer neededPreview, the built-in PDF app, can add your signature.