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When computers are too busy, they Automatically Restart Frozen Mac. You might think that if you give a computer enough money, it should at least stop freezing, but that’s not how it works. If you run enough processes that use a lot of system resources, the system will eventually freeze. Even though a system with more powerful hardware will be able to handle more tasks, it can still be brought to its knees.
When a system freezes, the OS that is running will try to free up resources and get the system out of its frozen state. That doesn’t always work, so you have to hold down the power button to force the system to shut down. On a Mac, especially a MacBook, this might not work, or you might not want to shut down and start up again by hand. If that’s the case, you can set up your Mac to restart itself automatically if it freezes. This is how.
How to Automatically Restart frozen Mac
- Launch Terminal and enter the following command string, the systemsetup command requires sudo to access:
- Sudo systemsetup -getrestartfreeze
- You’ll either see one of two reports, indicating the status of the feature:
- Restart After Freeze: On
- Restart After Freeze: Off
- Again, the default Mac setting now is to be “On” – it is highly recommended to leave that setting enabled as is and not adjust it.
Why does my Mac keep freezing?
The obvious explanation is your Mac lacks memory. Or to put it another way, there are too many active processes running on your Mac. First off, go to Activity Monitor to check your memory usage.
- Go to Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor.
- Click the Memory tab.
Now, check to see how full your Memory is. Apps that use too much memory for no reason should be closed. This might work as a short-term fix, but it won’t keep your Mac from freezing up again. You can either force your Mac to restart every time, or you can try something more extreme. Here are a few more suggestions.
FAQs
Go to the Apple menu and click on System Preferences. Click on Energy Saver, then click on Schedule from the left-side menu. You will see two checkboxes. To schedule your Mac to shut down regularly, you can either set it to restart or you can set it to shut down.
However, in some cases—for example, if your Mac becomes unresponsive—you may need to use a different startup method. Press and hold the power button on your Mac until it shuts off. After a moment, press the power button again to start your Mac.
If your Mac is freezing, it could be that there’s an error with either the PRAM or NVRAM. Resetting them could help, and the process is the same for both. First, shut down your Mac, then turn it on and immediately press Opt+Cmd+P+R.