Use Mac Console App To Track Spikes Rating: 5,5/10 702 reviews

The average person doesn't really need to look at their Mac's logs or status messages, but more advanced users and tech troubleshooters turn to Console to glean important information on what's going on under the hood. Thanks to a redesign in macOS Sierra, if you're looking for more information on what your Mac is up, it's much easier to find and read the information than ever before.

All Content: Store software updates and apps downloaded from Apple, and iCloud content on this Mac. Only Shared Content: Store only software updates and apps downloaded from Apple on this Mac. Only iCloud Content: Store only iCloud content, such as photos and documents, on this Mac. Restart the client devices that will use the content cache. Accessing the Console app is as easy as opening it from the Applications Utilities folder. Alternatively, you could use your Command+Space shortcut to call up Spotlight and begin typing ‘Console' to access it. However you call it up, the Console will open to a bewildering list of messages. Made for Your Mac. Lightkey was engineered from the ground up as a native Mac app, so it’s finally goodbye to the Windows emulation. It perfectly matches your Mac’s look and feel and comes with all the familiar features like Dark Mode, full screen view, autosaving, copy and paste, unlimited undo, or automatic updates.

Feb 25, 2012  Find Out If Someone Was Using Your Mac with Console. This works best if you put a Mac to sleep while away, since what we’re looking for are system wake events. If you aren’t sleeping a Mac while gone from the computer, start doing so now to track this wake data. Use Spotlight (Command+Spacebar) to search for and open “Console”. Dec 12, 2015  However, recently I have been getting random lag spike every so often in 5-10 second intervals. This cause tons of issues from iTunes music pausing and playing to really simple task like google chrome, using finder etc to lag as well. This happened randomly will using Yosemite therefore, I upgraded to El capitan but still had the issue.

Console gets a new look

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Previously, data in the Console app looked like run-on sentences. Distinguishing the process from the event was difficult, at best. Now, these lines of text are separated by columns, which can also be filtered by errors and faults. You can customize the columns to specify what data you are most interested in.

When you search for a term, you'll be given a secondary search option to look for the queried term under a specific category, like Process, Library Path, Message Type, and more. When you find the term and category you are looking for, you can save the filtered information in your tab bar, so you can click on it to check data at any time.

There is a new Now button that will immediately zoom you to the end of the data stream, looking at the most current threads. Even as new data appears, your window will remain at the bottom, so you can always see the newest incoming information.

You can also view data by Activities to see what actions are taking place by different processes. This is helpful for developers working on debugs for their apps, but is also a quick way to look for issues you may come across.

When you select a line, something that is causing an error or fault, for example, you can view additional detailed information about the problem. You can also share that information to someone else via email, text, and social media. Or, you can save it to your Notes or Reminders app, or another third-party note-saving app.

Unfortunately, Console has also been redesigned to only show you data from the time you open the app. That means, if your Mac crashed and you want to find out why, opening console after the fact may not yield you any useful information. You can browse Console's log archives, but it is an arduous process that involves creating a system diagnostic report first.

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Why should I care?

When you first look at the Console app, it might look like a bunch of confusing tech jargon that only engineers and computer scientists would give a crap about. But, even the everyday Mac user could, potentially, benefit from using Console.

Let's say your Mac is starting to act up – maybe you keep getting error messages when trying to empty the trash, or a particular app doesn't load properly.

You've tried all of the general troubleshooting options, turning it off and on, deleting and reinstalling software, etc., but you can't seem to fix this one problem.

You can launch Console, filter the data by Errors and Faults (or search for the app), find the line that seems to refer to your problem, and do a quick search on the internet for a solution. Oftentimes, Console will provide an error code, which is very useful when troubleshooting a problem on your own.

Even if you can't diagnose the issue yourself, you can send the error details to your IT support, so they can better understand the problem and help fix it remotely.

Track

Console isn't a go-to app for the average Mac user, but for those that do use it, it's invaluable. And, thanks to a complete redesign in macOS Sierra, it's even easier to find and track the data you need. Question mark over app on mac.

What do you think?

Are you a regular Console app user? Let us know your best practices and what you think about the redesign.

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What Is Console On Mac

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