Macos Mojave Messages App Unresponsive

Troubleshooting article on Mac Won’t start after macOS Mojave Update. App Crashes on macOS Mojave; The Apple has moved to bigger 64-Bit architecture, and as a result, some of the developers are not moved on to yet and hence due to compatibility issues the apps are crashing on macOS Mojave. Download macOS Catalina If you’re using macOS Mojave, choose Apple menu System Preferences, then click Software Update where you’ll find the upgrade. If you’re using an earlier macOS, use the App. I have this issue with Messages, FaceTime when it gets unresponsive on start. Same issue was with Contacts, but following some recommendations on the web i've reset the Contacts database and it works now. But with messages/facetime no luck, tried many solutions, resetting nvram/pram, deleting configs and databases, etc. Jan 13, 2019  Updated your Mac to the latest macOS and now the Mail App isn't working? Is your Mail App slow or not responding? Mac OS Mojave is chock-full of some. Quit option if the app is unresponsive. Even if it does run in Mojave, the next version of macOS will not run 32-bit apps at all, so it's soon going to be time to upgrade to a newer version of your old app, or find an alternative.

HomeHow ToMacsFix MacOS Mojave Unresponsive & Freezes

If you’ve had your Mac for some time, you may notice that it either keeps freezing or it becomes totally unresponsive. Mac Mojave has a lot of new features that are supposed to prevent this from happening and to give you a better experience, but your Mac can still deteriorate after using it for a long time.

When you’re Mac freezes, it usually happens when it’s booted up and you’re on the login screen. There are a few ways to fix an unresponsive Mac but there are a few things you’ll need to check out before.

If the drives on your Mac are full and you have a lot of systems operating at once, then you shouldn’t be surprised that your Mac is unresponsive. Your Mac needs some storage for performance, and if your storage is full, the performance of your Mac will be ruined.

The Reason your Mac is Unresponsive

The most common reason why your Mac freezes and becomes unresponsive is that there are too many apps running in the background. This causes the RAM to get full and your Mac needs RAM storage for performance. You’ll need to quit apps in the background to stop your Mac freezing.

1. Force Quite Apps

A common situation where your mac becomes unresponsive is when you’re trying to login. If this is the situation, you’re in, quitting all the apps running in the background might help.

To force quit apps:

  1. Press the Command + Option + Escape keys. Wait for the Force Quit Applications menu to show up.
  2. Select all of the apps.
  3. Click Force Quit.

Once you’ve force quit apps in the background, you can check if your Mac is performing better. If the performance is still slow and lags, you can delete cache files.

2. Reduce Startup Disk

Your Mac hard drive consists of several disks also known as partitions. Each disk stores different types and sizes of data on your Mac, which consists of your operating system, applications. Most When your startup disk is full, it can cause Mac to become unresponsive and constantly freeze.

Cache files on your Mac allow it to run smoothly. These files help you startup things like programs quickly because there’s a file stored about opening this programme. If the Cache is deleted, it can make your Mac slower, however, it will reduce your disk usage, therefore, stop your Mac from lagging.

To remove cache file:

  1. Open a Finder window.
  2. Click Go.
  3. Click on Go to Folder.
  4. Type in ~/Library/Caches.
  5. Delete the files that are using the most storage.
  6. Click Go to Folder.
  7. Type in /Library/Caches.
  8. Delete files that are using the most storage.
Macos Mojave Messages App Unresponsive

3. Reinstall Mac

Another reason that can cause your Mac to be unresponsive is a bug in the software. This is quite common and there’s no way to detect it without updating your software or reinstalling a new version of the OS you’re currently using.

Assuming that your software is already up-to-date, you’ll need to reinstall your current Mac OS. This will help remove any bugs that are causing your Mac to no response.

  1. Turn off your Mac.
  2. Turn on your Mac.
  3. Immediately after, hold the Command + R keys until you see the Apple logo. MacOS Utilities window will appear
  4. Select Reinstall macOS.
  5. Follow the instructions to reinstall the OS.

4. Boot Mac in Safe Mode

Safe mode is a way to start up your Mac so that it performs certain checks and prevents some software from automatically loading or opening. When you start your Mac in safe mode, it verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues.

Booting your Mac in Safe mode is a common step to take when you’re trying to troubleshoot your Mac. This might help you fix the problem with your Mac.

  1. Start your Mac.
  2. Hold the Shift key immediately after you hear the startup sound.
  3. Release the Shift key when the Apple logo appears. Check if your Mac performs normally in safe mode.

Imagine this: you’re working happily on your Mac when the dreaded beach ball of death appears. A program stops responding or worse, the macOS (or OS X) itself refuses to do anything but stare at you, blankly. You have a frozen Mac app or an OS X freeze. Mac OS not responding can lead to lost productivity or even lost work. Let's go over why it happens, what to do when your Mac freezes or when an Mac OS app stops responding, as well as some tips for preventative maintenance.

We’ll go over frozen apps first, so if your whole Mac freezes, you can jump to the part about fixing a frozen Mac.

Fixing a frozen app: Why Mac OS apps freeze

There can be a few reasons why apps freeze on Mac. First, sometimes an app freezes on its own, and sometimes it takes down the whole Mac with it. Here's what could be happening:

  1. Apps freeze in the background.
    This could mean there are some apps running that you didn't open, they opened themselves. Probably, they're featured in your startup items, so they automatically launch when you start your Mac. If this happens repeatedly, you need to check what apps are running in the background and launch with the startup.
  2. Processes freeze in the background.
    This one is different from apps. One app may be running multiple processes, also system processes can be running on their own.
  3. Too many apps and processes running.
    Same logic as with the previous issue. But the question here is how many is too many? There is no definite answer to this, it very much depends on the hardware capacity of your Mac. You can read how to check it and fix it below.
  4. Mac system is too cluttered with junk to run even simple tasks.
    This is fixable, you can get a Mac optimizing app like CleanMyMac X for the job. Run a scan to find and remove the stuff you don't need, and there's a high change your apps will stop freezing after that.

What to do if an app freezes on your Mac

A frozen app becomes unresponsive and brings your work to a halt. In the worst case scenario, it can lead to lost work or a corrupted file. Fortunately, there are several options to try, and most are quite simple. Here’s what you can do when a program freezes on your Mac. First, you need to quit it. Then, if the app keeps freezing when you launch it, try the next options.

How to quit a frozen or unresponsive program

Macos mojave messages app unresponsive android

Quitting and then re-starting an app is a good way for Mac OS to handle a crash. You can do this from the OS X Dock or from the Force Quit window. To force-quit an app from the OS Dock, follow these simple steps:

  1. Click anywhere outside of the program
  2. Right-click (or Control-click) on the frozen app’s icon in the Dock. A menu appears.
  3. Hold down the Option key on your keyboard so that Quit in that menu changes to Force Quit.
  4. Select Force Quit.

That’s it. The app is instantly closed. Re-launch it and try again. If you prefer to work with the Dock hidden — or if the Dock itself is unresponsive — you can simply bring up the Force Quit dialog box to perform the same task.
Here’s how:

  1. On your Mac’s keyboard, hit the Option, Command and Escape keys simultaneously (alt + ? + esc).
  2. The Force Quit dialog box appears with a list of running programs.
  3. Select the frozen app and then click Force Quit.
  4. The software will stop running and you’re free to re-launch it at this point.

If you’re using a maintenance utility like CleanMyMac X, it has freezes covered. When CleanMyMac spots an unresponsive app, a notification window with a Quit button pops up, so you could force-quit the app without rummaging around in its menu.

CleanMyMac keeps an eye on other performance issues, too, so if you'd like to get alerts like this one when anything goes wrong, download CleanMyMac X for free and give it a try.

How to fix Mac apps that keep freezing

First, check what apps are running in the background and launch with the startup.
To do it go to Settings > Users and Groups > Login items.
Uncheck anything you think might be causing trouble. In fact, just to be sure, uncheck every app and restart your Mac.

Now, find out which process or program is causing the problem. How to see what programs are running on Mac in general? You need launch Activity monitor.
How to find Activity Monitor on Mac: You can do it via the Spotlight Search or just open Launchpad and type it in.
How to open Activity Monitor in Finder: launch it from Applications > Utilities folder > Activity Monitor.

When it opens, you'll probably see hundreds of processes in each tab, but the ones you need now are CPU and Memory tabs. Click on the % CPU sign to sort processes by their influence on your Mac's work. The heaviest ones will show up on the top. They could be your main issue, but don’t rush to deal with them. Some, like kernel, are important system processes and you shouldn’t mess with them.

How to kill a process on Mac OS

However, sometimes your problem does lie within a specific process, you can force quit it (Apple doesn't call it 'to kill a process on Mac', they make it sound fancy). But we're not at Apple HQ, so here's how to kill a Mac OS process:

  1. Open Activity Monitor.
  2. You see a list of processes. You can sort them by clicking on %CPU or % Memory in relevant tabs.
  3. Find the process you want to kill and choose it.
  4. Click on the octagon with an X sign.
  5. Done.

Occasionally the problem isn’t with the Mac app, but with the Mac OS itself. If you’re experiencing troubles regularly, it’s time to ask why your Mac keeps freezing. There are several possible reasons, so let’s start with the simplest potential solution.

First, the file you were working with at the time of the freeze may be the issue. To help determine if this is true, try opening a different file with that app and work with it for a while. If it behaves normally, quit and then go back to the file you were working with at the time of the crash. If the errant behavior persists, you may have found your problem. Salvage what you can into a new file.

Make sure that your software and OS X are up-to-date. This is easy to do with software purchased from the Mac App Store. The same goes for OS X. Launch the Mac App Store on your Mac, and you’ll see the list of pending updates, including any for the OS X itself. For third-party software purchased outside of the App Store, visit the manufacturer’s website.

What to do if Mac OS X freezes

If you cannot force-quit a program, or if the Mac OS is completely unresponsive, it’s time for the most obvious action — a reboot.
You can bring up the Restart/Sleep/Shutdown dialog box instantly by hitting Control plus the Power button. Option four, Shut Down, is selected by default.
Alternatively, you can press and hold the Power button for 1.5-2 seconds to bring up the same dialog box. If things aren’t hopelessly messed up, you’ll get a chance to save your work before your Mac shuts down. If that still doesn’t work, a more drastic option is available.

How to force reboot a frozen Mac

Macos Mojave Messages App Unresponsive Iphone

Press Command ?, Control and Power (on earlier MacBook models, use the Media Eject key instead of the Power button) to restart your Mac immediately. Note that you won’t have the option of saving anything in this scenario, but it will definitely reboot your icy Mac.

Once your Mac has restarted, you might find that the hard restart has corrupted the file you were working on. Salvage what you can from it and create a new file.

How to fix a frozen Mac

Macos Mojave Messages App Unresponsive Windows 10

After the reboot, ensure that your Mac has enough free hard drive space for the OS X, and enough free RAM to do what you want. CleanMyMac X can help you here, too. It removes all the useless files that take up space on your hard drive: app leftovers, mail attachments, cache files, and so on. That way, you can free up additional disk space for the OS X without deleting any of your own files. Plus, CleanMyMac X keeps tabs on how much RAM you’re using and lets you free some up with a tap.

Finally, if system cleanup also fails to fix the problem, you can try to run a clean install of your Mac OS. Just follow the instructions: How to clean install macOS Sierra 10.12

Macos Mojave Messages App Unresponsive Update

Note: If you don’t know which system your Mac runs, click the apple icon in the top left corner and choose About this Mac. You’ll see the name on the popup window.

Macos Mojave Messages App Unresponsive Android

That’s it, we hope this guide has helped you fix a frozen Mac. Remember, with day-to-day maintenance, your Mac can offer years of reliable work. On the rare occasion of a frozen program or even frozen OS X, these tips will help get you working and productive again. And software like CleanMyMac X can do some of the monitoring and maintenance for you, so you can focus on what needs to be done.

These might also interest you:

Comments are closed.