How to restart a MacBook if it's frozen. Alternative methods to boot and shutdown your iMac. How to Restart Any Frozen Mac Using the Power Button

If your MacBook freezes, don’t be scared or panic. Almost every owner of an Apple laptop experiences a similar situation at least once in their life. It manifests itself in the fact that the software does not respond, and instead of a cursor, a spinning wheel is displayed. In this case, the laptop does not respond to key presses.

All these troubles are corrected by rebooting. How to perform this operation without harming files and the operating system - read this instruction.

1 The procedure is implemented using an analogue of the “Start” element. It pops up when you click on the Apple symbol in the top left. If you don’t find one, most likely the full screen mode is active. Place the courses at the very top of the display - a menu bar will appear. At the top left you will see the Apple company's logo. As soon as the cursor is removed from the menu line, the line itself will be removed - only the window will be saved. 2 If you find this method unsuitable for yourself, exit full screen mode. Place the cursor at the top of the display and click on the 2nd arrow at the top. The open window will curl up and become smaller. A line with Apple symbols will again appear at the top. 3 Next, place the cursor on the Apple company icon and click on the left mouse element. If you use a touchpad, a single click anywhere will be enough. A menu will pop up with sections for sleep mode, reboot and other elements. Of course, select reboot and click on the left mouse element. The device will reboot. Keep in mind that not all files will be lost - the corresponding window will notify you about this. 4 Do not rush to reboot if any software is frozen. Wait a while for the cursor to turn into a spinning ball. This usually happens within 2-3 minutes. If the software still does not respond in any way, use the Finder’s force termination option (it is also activated in the menu at the top). A window will appear where you can select the “frozen” software and close it with the appropriate element. 5 It happens that the device itself freezes. At the same time, he does not react in any way to any actions of his “master”. The cursor does not move, keyboard shortcuts do not help. The only way out of this situation is to force the operation. To do this, you need to click on the MacBook's power button and hold it for several seconds until the display goes dark. After this, you can turn on the device again.

As you can see, rebooting a MacBook if it freezes is quite simple. You can restart your MacBook in the usual way or force it. The operation is performed forcibly if the keyboard keys of a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or any other device model do not respond to touch. In any case, a forced system restart is performed only in extreme cases.

If your MacBook is not functioning well: other reasons

When developing laptops, Apple undoubtedly tried to create a device that was comfortable to use. The company was concerned not only with broad functionality, but also with consumer convenience. When purchasing a new Mac Air (or any other line), you can rest assured that it will serve you for at least 3 years without any problems. But even if the load on the system is high and something goes wrong in the operation of the gadget, the problem can always be corrected.

If your MacBook freezes when running several types of software at the same time, there is probably a lack of RAM. Whether this is true or not is easily determined through the “System Monitoring” application (look for it in the memory item). The latter displays a message about the RAM used. And if there is almost no empty space, the trouble lies precisely in this.

To free up space for other software, close all unnecessary applications. This applies to browsers, instant messengers and the like. Restart the software you are using. The largest amount of RAM is stolen by browsers, as well as software for video and graphics. But if the device “slows down” precisely due to a lack of RAM, it is better to install larger RAM elements.

The performance of the MacBook may also be reduced due to problems with the hard drive or its slow functions. If the laptop freezes when opening files on a specific location on the hard drive or when copying, you need to check the status of the drive in the disk element (built-in). Here you can also perform disk recovery if the cause is a software problem.

The functioning of the device is successfully accelerated by clearing free space on the drive. Statistics show that even when it is 50% full, problems begin. The device begins to slowly freeze.

If the hard drive fails, it is better to replace it as quickly as possible. The best performance will be ensured when installing a solid-state drive as main or backup storage. This will not only remove any lag, but will also improve overall productivity.

If the MacBook is “buggy” after updating the operating system or the system performance has noticeably decreased after this operation, the source of the trouble may lie in Spotlight indexing. Because the disk search process is time-consuming, Spotlight indexes files to quickly identify them. But the indexing operation, as noted earlier, is very lengthy. And it will inevitably lead to decreased productivity. During the operation, a window with information about the current stage will pop up.

The loss of performance during indexing is most typical for hard drives, and the period of operation depends 100% on the amount of free space. When using an SSD, Spotlight indexing does not impact performance.

If it is not possible to wait for the operation to complete or you need to work on your laptop right now, you can disable Spotlight for a while and then resume its operation. To do this, you need to enter the characters “sudo mdutil -a -i off” in the terminal. Enabling is done with the symbols “sudo mdutil -a -i on”.

The presence of a huge number of files on the desktop can also cause a loss of performance. Since the MacBook operating system loads previews for all desktop elements from the very beginning and stores this information in memory, to prevent freezes, it is necessary to clear the desktop of “garbage” - unused documentation, pictures, and the like.

The most common cause of freezes is the accumulation of dust and small debris in the cooling system. If the laptop operates slowly and overheats greatly under normal loads, and it has not been cleaned for a long time, the problem definitely lies there. Accordingly, it will be easy to resolve - you only need to thoroughly clean the device from dust.

If the problem is still not resolved, go to a repair shop for diagnostics. Since the reason for the decrease in performance may be hardware problems, this can lead to even more dramatic problems. Few people can fix such breakdowns on their own; this requires the help of a specialist, because you will have to hide the MacBook case.

And if you know that nothing serious happened to your MacBook, and it just decided to freeze due to lack of free disk space, just try restarting it. Most likely, the problem will be resolved.

Many users, having purchased a Mac computer, ask the simplest question: “How does the Mac turn off and on?” To start your Mac, you need to activate the start button. For example, Mac laptops start as soon as you open the lid or plug it into the network. However, to turn off your Mac, you need to click the “On” function, which is located in the main menu.

Launch the main power button. As a rule, in a 15-inch or 13-inch MacBook Pro, the power button can be found near the Touch Bar, where it connected to the touchpad sensor. Therefore, just click on Touch ID to start your Mac computer.

Other Mac laptops are activated from the round-shaped power button located at the top left. For stationary computers, the activation button is located on the back of the PC panel.

For example, the later 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pros and 12-inch MacBook start immediately when you open it or, when it is discharged, you connect it to electricity. When the Mac turns on, programs are activated in it and a greeting appears.

How to turn off a MacBook?

The most natural way to exit is through the Computer Menu, which is located in the left corner. To make it appear, you need to click on the menu icon located. Wherein n There is no need to rush, since the computer does not turn off quickly: open work is completed, windows and running programs are closed, and the user accounting record is exited.

When for some reason the laptop does not turn off, and all actions to turn it off remain ineffective, you can, in exceptional cases, shut down its work in a non-standard way: in no other way than forcefully turn it off. To do this, hold down the power button until the Mac goes out completely. Do not use the forced method often or as a rule, as all unsaved documents, bookmarks and other information will be deleted.

Some features of the enabled Mac sleep mode

When your Mac is in sleep mode, you can wake it up by lightly pressing the power button once. In a similar way, you can put your Mac computer into sleep mode.

Sleep mode will not play a special wake-up sound if you have VoiceOver enabled.

Why did my Mac freeze?

Firstly, don’t be alarmed, nothing terrible happened, we’ll tell you how to easily solve this problem without unpleasant consequences and how to turn off your MacBook.

A Mac computer, as we described earlier, can simply be turned off forcibly by holding down the power button. However, this is an extreme case. For example, a failure occurred while working with a program or text, and you don’t want to lose the work you’ve done. Therefore, in this case, you can resort to a simple method: hold down the keys on the computer at the same time: Command and Q. This operation will close the current window forever. However, do not rush to close it immediately; it happens that after 5 minutes, shortly before turning off, the window will restore itself. This often happens if you pressed a command several times in a row and the processing process froze.

If the Menu button is functioning at the bottom right of the computer panel, then you can point the arrow with the mouse to the action “Restart” the laptop, then the computer itself will gradually close all windows, shut down and turn off, and after a few seconds it will start up again. Now you can turn on the program you were working in again, and the text you typed can be restored.

How not to restore your Mac

Firstly, it is not necessary and even dangerous to simply expect that the laptop will discharge itself and turn off, and then try to turn it on; you may not be able to do this at all, and then you will have to go to a service center.

You cannot disconnect the laptop battery to turn off the computer; this is very dangerous, as a software failure may occur and you will need to reinstall iOS.

There is no need to knock on the case, turn the computer over or shake it, open and close the lid, press all the buttons at once or hit the touchpad. Equipment, even such as a Mac computer, can react very poorly to such treatment and fail. Then you can’t do without opening the warranty laptop by a specialist.

Any computer has the ability to shut down or restart. These actions are carried out either by special commands, or by keys, or through menus and programs. Each operating system has a different set of such tools. Let's figure out how to restart a MacBook and what you need to do it.

In what cases is a reboot required?

Macbook or iMac users will only need to restart in a few cases:

• operating system updates installed;
• any program does not start or freezes;
• The computer completely froze.

In the first two cases, all reboot options are suitable, and in the last, only emergency. Let's look at each method in more detail.

How to restart Macbook Air or iMac?

You can also reboot from the profile login window.

How to restart MacBook from keyboard?

If the option of pressing buttons in the operating system menu does not suit you, then use the method with a key combination on the Macbook keyboard.

You can restart your iMac using the keyboard this way only if you are using an original Apple input device.

How to restart a MacBook if it's frozen?

In the event that the computer does not completely respond to your actions, not just one program is frozen, but the entire operating system and the key combination does not help, use the last option.

It is suggested to use this method only as a last resort, when nothing helps. It is highly not recommended to disconnect the all-in-one PC from the power supply or leave the laptop until the battery is completely discharged.

At first glance, the question “How to turn on an iMac” will seem rather trivial, but we are ready to help you in any situation, especially since even an experienced user can actually have problems turning on an iMac.

Why can't I turn on my iMac?

Let's say you were given an iMac or you just haven't turned off your all-in-one for a long time.

The situation is quite real: in the first case, you are not required to know the principles of working on a computer, which you are seeing for the first time in your life; in the second - you are just one of those people who really values ​​​​comfort, and we completely agree with you on this: it is not necessary to turn off the iMac at all, many people, in principle, turn on the iMac once, and then use sleep mode. They use it so long and successfully (on a Mac it practically doesn’t crash) that they manage to forget how the iMac turns on.

If power is not supplied to your iMac at all, just in case, check the contact of the power cable with the connector on the iMac itself. If everything is fine here. The iMac turns on by pressing the power button. It is located in the lower left corner of the case, on the reverse side.

• If you are unable to turn on your iMac, There may be a problem with the all-in-one. No matter the difficulty We will help you eliminate any malfunctions: quickly and with a quality guarantee

At the same time, you may be wondering how to turn on an iMac without a keyboard - in principle, if you don’t have a password to log in to the system, you don’t need it, just a mouse will be enough; for those who use a password, we still recommend creating at least 1 account record without it (for example, with limited rights), and after entering it you can already turn on the on-screen keyboard and use it temporarily

But the standard startup of an iMac does not often raise questions; the situation may be completely different after upgrading the system or replacing the disk (with an ssd or a new, clean HDD). If you have not prepared the disk for use on the iMac in advance, it will not be detected in the system.

In order to be able to work with the computer immediately after replacing the disk, you must install mac OS on the drive in advance, for example, by connecting it via USB to another Mac (any), but we do not recommend doing this, because although the OS is universal and, rather, In all, it will work; during installation, it is optimized in a special way for the device on which the installation is taking place, that is, it is better to install the system on your iMac after assembling the device.

How to turn on iMac if the hard drive is empty?

This can be done using any boot disk or flash drive; for older models, complete system recovery DVDs are also suitable. Creating media is a simple procedure and will not take much of your time, but for this you need a working Mac (you can create a flash drive on Windows, but you will need an already prepared image, it will be more convenient to do it on a Mac) - we recommend taking care of this in advance and putting the flash drive aside bottom drawer, “just in case”

Briefly, the process is as follows: You download the system image for update from the App Store, through a disk utility, terminal or special program (for example, Lion Disk Maker) create a working installer on a flash drive, reboot the iMac while holding down the Alt key - a boot device selection menu will appear - select the desired flash drive and start the installation.

How to turn on iMac from keyboard?

If power is not supplied to the all-in-one (it is turned off and not in sleep mode) - alas, you cannot turn it on only using the keyboard, since in the off state power is not supplied to USB and, moreover, bluetooth does not work, but if the computer is sleeping , you can turn on the screen either with the power button or by pressing any key on the keyboard. Moreover, if you activate the Wake-on-Lan option in the Power Options settings, you can wake up the computer over the network. Wi-Fi is also suitable for this; from your iPhone you can make a request to the aimak via Fing, Mocha WOL or Net Status

You can turn off the iMac from the keyboard using the Ctrl+Eject key combination, and select the required action from the dialog that appears.

If you have any questions, we will be happy to answer them by phone, by mail or on the pages of our website!

Absolutely everyone probably knows that computer equipment has a “habit” of freezing. However, not everyone knows what to do correctly when such a problem arises. For this reason, sometimes actions are taken that lead not to a positive result, but to aggravation of problems. To prevent this from happening, it is useful for beginners to familiarize themselves with the recommendations on how to turn on, turn off and restart a MacBook.

To successfully work with a MacBook, you need to know how to turn on, turn off and restart your MacBook.

Armed with such knowledge, the user will never panic in the event of a technical failure, but will calmly carry out all the simple steps to restore the successful functioning of your MacBook.

Basic ways to work with a MacBook

We are sincerely happy for you if you have become the owner of such a modern device as a MacBook, which is a product of the famous company Apple. To ensure that your acquaintance with a new device is always accompanied by positive moments, we recommend that you immediately familiarize yourself with the principles and methods of working with such a laptop.

Absolutely every owner will be able to turn on the device, since they can easily find the power button on the keyboard, accompanied by an icon identical to that found on the keyboard of other computer devices. Just press the power button and the device will start and delight you with its work.

ADVICE. This is not difficult to do, but we only recommend that you initially pay attention to the cursor. If at this moment he looks like a spinning multi-colored ball, then just step aside so as not to “heat up” your irritability with forced anticipation, not to bring it to the “boiling point” state. Know that a spinning multi-colored ball indicates that your MacBook is trying to fulfill the specific request you asked it.

If you do not see such a ball or you do not have time to wait for the processing of your request to complete, then we suggest that you forcefully close the program. This can be done in two ways. The first method involves holding down two keys at the same time: Command and Q. Entering such a combination directs the gadget to close the current software application.

You can also use the second method. To do this, pay attention to the menu bar. It is always located at the top of the screen. Don't be alarmed, if you don't see it, it means you opened the last window in full view mode. Just move your mouse cursor to the top edge of the screen and the menu bar will immediately appear. You can also move your mouse cursor to the upper right corner and click on the icon with two arrows. In this case, the window will go into normal mode and the menu bar will no longer be hidden. Now click on the second Finder option.

In the list that opens, you will find the “Force Quit Finder” option, click on it. After these actions, a new window will appear, which will list the processes running at that moment on your device. All you have to do is select the problematic software application, highlight it and click on the “Finish” button. In a few seconds the problem will be resolved. If you still need this program, you just need to re-enable it.

Shutdown rules

If your device is functioning successfully and there are no glitches, then the moment you need to turn off your MacBook, you should use a special function of the device.

To do this, click on the apple icon in the top menu bar. In the list that opens, select the “Shutdown” option, click on it, the operating system will do the rest automatically, you just have to wait. By the way, using this method, you can not only turn off your device, but also, if necessary, restart it and put it into sleep mode. It all depends on what tasks you need to complete.

However, unfortunately, it often happens that your “obedient” device suddenly refuses to perform the actions that you actively direct it to. Simply put, your MacBook begins to freeze, not responding to mouse movements or pressing certain keys. In this case, you have to perform actions that forcefully turn off the gadget.

Many experienced users have given this process a name such as “hard restart”. It involves pressing the power button and holding it for several seconds. There is no specific amount of time during which you need to definitely hold the button, it is important to do this until the screen turns black. If you still need to continue working, then you can turn your device back on.

So, the principles of turning a MacBook on and off are not at all complicated. It is only important to carry out exactly these actions, and not be guided by the advice of false experts who recommend removing the battery, leaving a frozen MacBook on, waiting for the battery to completely discharge. Such actions can provoke even more serious problems, so do not give in to amateurish calls.