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How to Fix macOS High Sierra Problems

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You’re here to fix macOS High Sierra problems and we have solutions that will solve many bugs, issues and even frustrating features in the latest version of macOS. If you are experiencing problems, you should consider upgrading to macOS 10.13.2 which includes a number of bug fixes and security fixes.

Instead of making an appointment with an Apple Genius, you can use this guide to fix common macOS High Sierra problems on your MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Mini.

One of the first things you should do if you have problems is check for updates. Apple released two updates to macOS High Sierra that fix a lot of problems. This can help you solve the issues on your own and it is one of the first things that Apple will ask you to do.

Apple delivers many macOS High Sierra features worth upgrading for, but this update isn’t perfect. We’re seeing some reports of install problems and other issues that can prevent you from using your computer.

If you experience any of these macOS High Sierra problems, you should install macOS 10.13.2. This includes the following new fixes as well as the fixes from 10.13.1 also listed below.

  • Improves compatibility with certain third-party USB audio devices
  • Improves VoiceOver navigation when viewing PDF documents in Preview
  • Improves compatibility of Braille displays with Mail
  • Fixes a bug where Bluetooth was unavailable during an Apple Pay transaction.
  • Improves Reliability of Microsoft Exchange message sync in Mail.
  • Fixes an issue where Spotlight may not accept keyboard input.

The 10.13.1 update and higher also includes a fix for WiFi security problems, which will help keep you protected while using public WiFi.

Here’s what you can do to figure out what’s wrong with your Mac and fix common macOS High Sierra problems on your own.

What to Do if macOS High Sierra Won’t Download

We experienced a slow macOS High Sierra download and a failed download during the first day of the release. If this happens to you, you will need to restart the download in the App Store.

We saw this error due to a macOS High Sierra download problem.

We saw this error due to a macOS High Sierra download problem.

We had to go to the Applications folder in Finder and delete the Install macOS High Sierra app to be able to re-download the file correctly. This is a good first step if you have download problems.

You my need to Force Quit the App Store to restart your download. To do this,

  1. Click the Apple logo in the upper left.
  2. Click Force Quit
  3. Click on App Store
  4. Click Force Quit
  5. Click Force Quit Again
  6. Restart the App Store and try again.

If you can move closer to your Router or plug in your laptop to the Internet you should also see faster download speeds.

What to Do if macOS High Sierra Won’t Install

Common macOS High Sierra installation problems include not having enough space, crashes or freezing and errors at the end of the installation.

It's easy to free up space for the macOS High Sierra installation.

It’s easy to free up space for the macOS High Sierra installation.

If you see a message that you don’t have enough space you should use this guide to free up space on your Mac in just a few minutes. After you get enough free space you can retry the install.

If the macOS High Sierra installer crashes, you may need to try installing macOS High Sierra in Safe Mode. To do this, hold the Shift key while starting your Mac.

For users who see a problem at the end of installing High Sierra, you can try booting into Recovery Mode using Command+Option+R while the mac boots up. From here you can retry the installation.

How to Fix a Mac that Won’t Start After Installing macOS High Sierra

Although rare, if your Mac won’t start right after you install macOS High Sierra, you should try to reset the NVRAM.

Run disk utility to fix a Mac that won't boot after installing macOS High Sierra.

Run disk utility to fix a Mac that won’t boot after installing macOS High Sierra.

To do this restart your Mac and hold Command+Option+P+R while the computer is booting up. On some macs you will hear two chimes to let you know that this is done.

You can also boot into Recovery Mode by holding Command+R while the computer boots. Once in there, open Disk Utility, click on your hard drive that has macOS on it and then choose Repair Disk to check to see if it finds any errors that could fix your boot problems.

How to Fix macOS High Sierra Display Problems

Fix macOS High Sierra display problems on your MacBook or MacBook Pro.

Fix macOS High Sierra display problems on your MacBook or MacBook Pro.

If your MAc is having problems waking from sleep or you have display problems including gray screens, blue screens or flickering images on webpages you need to take the following actions.

First reset your NVRAM. Turn off your Mac. Then turn it on and hold Command+Option+P+R while the computer is booting up. You will hear two chimes or on newer MacBook Pro models you will see the screen come on and go off twice.

Now, shut your computer down again and reset the SMC. With your Mac off, press Shift + Control + Option and then hold these keys while pressing and holding the power button for 10 seconds.

So far this has helped solve some of our most annoying macOS High Sierra problems.

 

What to do if Your Mac is Frozen on macOS High Sierra

Here’s what to do if your Mac freezes while using macOS High Sierra. Sometimes your Mac will lock up due to an app acting up or a problem with the OS.

If possible you should wait at least 10 to 15 minutes to see if the Mac is able to resolve the issue. If that doesn’t work, or if you can’t wait, you can hold the power button for about 10 seconds to force your Mac to restart.

In cases where this always happens with the same app, you should try uninstalling and re-installing the app. If it keeps happening while using macOS High Sierra across a variety of apps, you may need to troubleshoot further with Disk Utility in Safe Mode or try a clean install of macOS High Sierra.

How to Stop macOS High Sierra From Logging You Out

Stop your mac randomly logging you out on macOS High Sierra.

Stop your mac randomly logging you out on macOS High Sierra.

A common issue is that macOS High Sierra randomly logs users out of the Mac. This is part of a feature, but you can adjust it to change the settings so that it’s less annoying.

Go to Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Advanced and then uncheck the box that says, “Log out after — minuted of inactivity”.

While you can also turn off your password when the Mac goes to sleep or a screensaver activates, this is not a secure way to solve the problem.

Some users report that they are seeing the macOS High Sierra log out while using Chrome. If that is the case you can try turning off hardware acceleration. In Chrome, click on Settings and then click on Advanced and turn that off.

How to Fix Mac Running Slow on macOS High Sierra

It’s very common to see your Mac running slowly. This is expected for the first 24 hours as the computer must re-index a lot of files for Spotlight and things need to settle in so to speak.

We suggest waiting at least a day or two with your Mac on before worrying that your Mac is in major trouble. If the Mac is still slow after a day or so, try restarting it to see if that fixes it.

How to fix a slow Mac after upgrading to macOS High Sierra.

How to fix a slow Mac after upgrading to macOS High Sierra.

If that doesn’t solve your slow Mac problem, open up Activity Monitor and see if there is an app using a lot of RAM or processing power. If there is one, close it and check to see if there is an update to that app. You can also try re-installing that app.

You should also check for updates to macOS High Sierra in the App Store. We expect to see Apple issue a new update in the coming weeks and it could include performance fixes.

How to Fix Microsoft Office Not Working on macOS High Sierra

A very common issue is Microsoft Office not working on macOS High Sierra.

If you are using the older Office 2011 on macOS High Sierra, it is not supported at all. You may have some success using it, but you are likely going to run into apps crashing and other issues with this older software.

If you are using Office 2016 for Mac, you need to install the latest update form Microsoft and then it should work fine.

How to Fix macOS High Sierra WiFi Problems

If your WiFi is slow on your Mac after installing macOS High Sierra, you may need to simply reconnect, restart your computer and restart your router. It may not be an actual macOS High Sierra problem, but an issue with your router.

How to fix macOS High Sierra WiFi problems.

How to fix macOS High Sierra WiFi problems.

If restarting everything doesn’t work, you may need to forget the WiFi network on your Mac. To do this, click on the WiFi icon, then on Open Network Preferences. Click on Advanced and then on the name of the WiFi network you are having problems connecting to. Click the minus arrow to delete it.

If this fails, you can try deleting all of your WiFi connections. Go to the System Configuration folder – /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ to delete a group of files. You can copy that folder location and then press Command + Shift + G while in Finder, then paste that location in to go to the right folder.

  • com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
  • com.apple.network.identification.plist
  • com.apple.wifi.message-tracer.plist
  • NetworkInterfaces.plist
  • preferences.plist

Delete all of the files listed above, restart your computer and your router and then reconnect.

How to Fix macOS High Sierra Bluetooth Problems

Fix most macOS High Sierra Bluetooth problems by re-connecting.

Fix most macOS High Sierra Bluetooth problems by re-connecting.

So far there are no widespread macOS High Sierra Bluetooth problems, but if you are having issues, you should try unpairing the device and reconnecting it to your Mac.

Click on the Bluetooth icon in upper right area of your screen then on open Bluetooth preferences.

Hover over the device and disconnect it from your Mac by clicking on the X. From there, you can re-pair it and see if that works for you.

How to Fix Bad macOS High Sierra Battery Life

If you experience bad macOS High Sierra battery life after upgrading, you should take some steps to troubleshoot your battery life. This can fix general battery issues and those that are part of macOS High Sierra.

  • Reset PRAM & NVRAM
  • Lower Screen Brightness
  • Find Misbehaving Apps Using Too Much Battery Life

Use this guide to follow those steps, and learn how you can check the battery health of your MacBook.

How to Fix macOS High Sierra Apps Not Working

If you run into apps not working on macOS High Sierra with the error that the app is, “damaged and can’t be opened”, you need to check for updates or clear your cache.

First off check the App Store for updates or check the app website to see if there is a new version. If there is, you may need to upgrade to keep using it.

If that fails to fix the problem, you may need to clear the cache. To do this;

Open Finder and press Command + Shift + G and past in ~/Library/Caches and then delete everything inside the folders. You can also clear out the /Library/Caches folder

You may also need to re-install the app if neither of these options fixes the problem.

How to Fix USB Devices Not Recognized on macOS High Sierra

If you discover that your Mac doesn’t recognize USB devices, like hard drives, after upgrading to macOS High Sierra, you can try resetting the SMC.

Apple offers a good guide on how to reset the SMC on your Mac. This quick process can solve USB related issues.

If this doesn’t fix the problem you may need to try reinstalling macOS High Sierra, or checking with an Apple Store Genius for help.

What to Know about macOS High Sierra Password Problems

You may have heard that there is a password security issue with macOS High Sierra that could allow someone to get your passwords when you install an app from an unknown source.

While this is an issue that you should stay on top of, Apple promised an update that will fix this, and the researcher did not release how he is able to do it, which means you should be safe if you are cautious about which apps you install on your Mac.

How to Fix Annoying macOS High Sierra Problems

If you end up with a macOS High Sierra problem that you just can’t fix, you may need to start over with a clean macOS High Sierra install and see if that solves your problem.

14 New macOS High Sierra Features Worth Upgrading For

Upgrade for Messages in iCloud

Upgrade for Messages in iCloud

With macOS 10.13.5 your Mac can now sync messages from your iPhone and iPad even better than it could before. The new Messages in iCloud is in iOS 11.4 and macOS 10.13.5 and it can help save space on your iPhone and Mac as well as make sure your messages are always in sync.  

With Messages in iCloud turned on across all of your Apple devices any changes you make in a conversation will sync to the other devices. This will remove parts of the conversation you delete, or even a whole thread when you delete it. 

You This will also move all of your attachments to iCloud, which means you need less space on your Mac and iPhone. You'll need iCloud and you need two-factor authentication on your Apple ID. 

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Pingback: Don't Install macOS High Sierra Unless You Love Problems

  2. Pingback: macOS High Sierra Problems: 5 Things You Need to Know Now

  3. Pingback: How to Downgrade macOS High Sierra to macOS Sierra

  4. JeanM

    10/04/2017 at 9:54 am

    As always, I never jump on the newest update on any machine thats primarily used for work or intense day to day personal use. Will wait no less than 6 months before doing that. Will typically instal out of the gate on a test or play machine to see what changed and gauge what apps the update breaks, because it always breaks something.

  5. Akshay Sant

    10/19/2017 at 11:45 am

    Pictures folder is not responding on High Sierra. When I open Pictures folder it does not show any file.

  6. Daniel

    10/28/2017 at 12:03 am

    My install went fine, but the computer wouldn’t successfully boot. Rebooted into Safe Mode, but still no joy.
    But.
    Did the NVRAM reset, and then rebooted no problem.
    Thanks for the help!

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