At this point, a new ‘Any’ item will appear in the search bar clicking this item will open a dropdown where you can choose from a number of different search criteria, including date and time, process, and message ID.
To perform a search in the Console, type a word or phrase into the ‘Search’ bar and then press the ‘Enter’ key on your keyboard. If you have a rough idea of the kind of information you’re looking for, you can often zero in on that information, by entering a related search term.
You can temporarily freeze the Console, by clicking the ‘Now’ button, towards the Console’s upper-left corner. When you’re investigating a problem that’s recently occurred, all of this new data might just be burying the information that you’re really looking for.
Struggling to find what you’re looking for?Įvery time you launch the Console, you’re confronted with so much information that it can feel overwhelming! Plus, the Console is updating all the time, so you’ll always have new information to sift through.įinding the information you need can be a challenge, but you can often cut through the noise using the following techniques: This folder contains logs for low-level system services. The only way to view the /Library/Logs for another user, is to sign into that person’s account and then launch their ‘version’ of the Console application.
#Mac log files console mac#
If an application on your Mac isn’t behaving as expected, then this log can provide its developers with useful background information to help them diagnose the issue as quickly as possible. This section contains user-specific application logs. This is where you’ll find your system-wide application log. The easiest way to share a report or log, is to copy/paste its contents into a plain text document, which you can then share via all the usual channels. If you’re encountering issues with a particular application, then sharing these reports with the application’s developer can help them to diagnose what’s going wrong with their app. Once again, double-clicking any report will display more information about that report. This section contains the logs for crashes and freezes that have affected your applications. Selecting any of the reports in this section will launch a window displaying more information about that report. This section contains the logs for crashes and freezes. If you’re ever unsure about a process, then copy/pasting it into your favourite search engine can usually shed some light on which part of the system or application this process relates to. From left-to-right, each line displays a timestamp, the name of the process or application, and the related log message. This section contains information about system processes and applications. In the left-hand menu, you’ll find the following logs and information: The Console app is divided into an ‘All Messages’ tab, which displays all the available logs, and an ‘Errors and faults’ tab, which displays error messages only. You can view all of your Mac’s system logs in the Console application, which you’ll find in your ‘Applications > Utilities’ folder.
#Mac log files console how to#
Since these logs tend to contain an overwhelming amount of information, I’ll also be sharing tips on how to zero in on exactly the information you need, in order to diagnose what’s wrong with your Mac. In this article, I’ll show you how to access and view these logs using macOS’ built-in Console application. These logs are invaluable if you want to try and fix the problem yourself, but they can also help support staff get your Mac back up and running, as quickly and painlessly as possible. The good news is that behind the scenes, your Mac keeps a log of everything it does, and you can use these logs to figure out exactly what’s going wrong with macOS, or any of the applications you’ve installed. Regardless of whether you plan to fix the issue yourself, or pass your Mac along to technical support, the first step should always be gathering more information. When your Mac goes wrong, the first step to fixing the problem, is working out what caused that problem in the first place!