Fix your Mac with these simple troubleshooting tips
Is your Mac not behaving itself? Here are some simple things you can try before contacting Swarthmore ITS.
Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac
Sometimes your Mac’s Parameter RAM (PRAM) or Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM) becomes scrambled and needs to be reset. Settings stored in the PRAM or NVRAM include sound volume, display resolution, startup disk selection, time zone, and recent kernel panic information.
The settings stored in PRAM or NVRAM depend on your Mac and the devices that you're using with your Mac.
For details, go to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063.
Reset the SMC of your Mac
Resetting the system management controller (SMC) can resolve certain issues related to power, battery, fans, and other features.
For details, go to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295.
Optimize your Mac notebook battery
Learn how to optimize the life of the battery in your Mac notebook, fix battery issues, and get service.
For details, go to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204054.
Run Apple Diagnostics on your Mac
Run Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac for hardware issues and get suggested solutions.
Apple Diagnostics can help determine which hardware component might be causing the issue. It also suggests solutions and can help you contact Apple Support for assistance (for personal devices). For Swarthmore-owned devices, contact ITS.
For details, go to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731.
Further Options for Personally Owned Macs
About macOS Recovery
The utilities in macOS Recovery help you restore from Time Machine, reinstall macOS, get help online, repair or erase a hard disk, and more.
macOS Recovery is part of the built-in recovery system of your Mac. You can start up from macOS Recovery and use its utilities to recover from certain software issues or take other actions on your Mac.
For details, go to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314.
How to reinstall your macOS from macOS Recovery
Learn how to use macOS Recovery to reinstall the Mac operating system on your built-in drive or an external drive.
For details, go to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904.
How to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility
Disk Utility can find and repair errors related to the formatting and directory structure of a Mac disk. Errors can lead to unexpected behavior when using your Mac, and significant errors might even prevent your Mac from starting up completely.
For details, go to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210898.
Contact the Help Desk
If the troubleshooting tips outlined here do not help, please contact the Help Desk. Let us know which troubleshooting tips you tried and what the outcome was to help us better serve you.
Below is a list of all of the ways you can contact ITS or find information: ITS Service Portal: support.swarthmore.edu Phone: x4357 (HELP) or 610-328-8513 Email: support@swarthmore.edu Check out our remote resources at https://swatkb.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/remote/overview Check our homepage at swarthmore.edu/its