Why Do Mac Apps Keep Crashing or Freezing?
Mac app crashes fall into several categories: the app itself has a bug or compatibility issue, its preference files or cache have become corrupted, macOS doesn't have enough RAM or storage to run the app properly, or a recent macOS update introduced incompatibility. In 2026, some apps also crash due to conflicts with macOS Tahoe's new privacy and sandboxing rules.
This guide covers how to diagnose the specific cause and apply the right fix — from a quick force quit to a full cache clear and reinstall.
Fix 1: Force Quit the Frozen App
When an app stops responding, the fastest fix is to force quit it and relaunch.
Method A — Keyboard shortcut:
Press Option + Command + Esc. Select the frozen app in the list (it shows "not responding" in red) and click Force Quit.
Method B — Apple menu:
Hold the Option key and click the Apple menu — Force Quit appears directly, targeting the frontmost app.
Method C — Terminal (for completely unresponsive apps):
killall "App Name"Or find the process ID with ps aux | grep "App Name" and kill it with kill -9 PID.
After force quitting, relaunch the app normally. If it crashes again immediately, move to the next fix.
Fix 2: Restart Your Mac
If multiple apps are crashing or the system feels generally unstable, a restart clears memory leaks, resets daemon processes, and closes any lingering file locks from previously crashed apps.
Go to Apple menu → Restart. Uncheck "Reopen windows when logging back in" to start with a clean slate rather than re-launching all apps that were open.
Fix 3: Update the Crashing App
App updates frequently include crash fixes, compatibility patches for new macOS versions, and bug fixes for specific hardware configurations.
Step 1. Open the App Store and go to the Updates tab.
Step 2. If the crashing app has an update available, install it.
Step 3. For apps not from the App Store, open the app's own update mechanism (usually Help → Check for Updates) or download the latest version from the developer's website.
If an app started crashing immediately after a macOS update, check the developer's website for a compatibility statement — you may need to wait for an app update that supports the new macOS version.
Fix 4: Update macOS
Apple patches app crashes caused by macOS bugs through system updates. If multiple apps started crashing after a specific macOS version, an update to a newer point release often includes the fix.
Go to System Settings → General → Software Update and install any available updates.
Fix 5: Clear the App's Cache and Preferences
Corrupted preference files (.plist) and oversized caches are among the most common causes of persistent app crashes that survive reinstallation. These files are not removed when you delete an app from Applications.
Step 1. Quit the crashing app if it's running.
Step 2. In Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G and go to ~/Library/Preferences.
Step 3. Find and delete the .plist file for the crashing app. The filename usually contains the app name or its developer ID (e.g., com.apple.Safari.plist for Safari).
Step 4. Also clear the app's cache: go to ~/Library/Caches and delete the folder matching the app's name or bundle ID.
Step 5. Relaunch the app. It will recreate both files fresh. You may need to re-enter preferences and login credentials.
Fix 6: Check for Disk Space
When your startup disk is nearly full, apps crash because macOS cannot write the temporary files they need to operate. This is especially common with video editing apps, virtual machines, and browsers that aggressively use temporary storage.
Step 1. Go to Apple menu → System Settings → General → Storage.
Step 2. If you have less than 10–15% free (e.g., under 25 GB on a 256 GB Mac), free up space before debugging the app further.
Step 3. Quick space recovery: empty Trash, delete large files in ~/Downloads sorted by size, and remove apps you don't use.
Fix 7: Read the Crash Report
macOS generates a detailed crash report every time an app crashes. This report identifies the exact code that failed and often points directly to the cause — a missing file, a bad library, or a specific function crash.
Step 1. Open Console app (Spotlight → "Console").
Step 2. Click Crash Reports in the sidebar.
Step 3. Find the most recent crash report for your app (listed by name and timestamp).
Step 4. Look for the Exception Type line. Common types:
- EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) — memory access error, often a bug in the app or a corrupted library
- EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT) — the app deliberately aborted, often due to an assertion failure or missing required resource
- EXC_CRASH (SIGKILL) — macOS killed the app, usually due to memory pressure or watchdog timeout
Copy the crash report and search the exception type + app name online — developer forums often have targeted fixes for specific crash signatures.
Fix 8: Check and Repair Disk Permissions
Apps that rely on reading configuration files, writing logs, or accessing system frameworks can crash if file permissions are incorrect. This can happen after migration, Time Machine restore, or some third-party installers.
Step 1. Open Terminal.
Step 2. Run:
sudo diskutil repairPermissions /Note: On macOS Big Sur and later, the system volume is read-only by design — this command affects only writable volumes and user data. For deeper repair, boot into Recovery Mode (Cmd + R on startup) and run Disk Utility's First Aid on the startup disk.
Fix 9: Disable Conflicting Extensions and Plugins
System extensions (kernel extensions, security tools, VPN clients, cloud sync agents) can interfere with specific apps by intercepting file system calls, modifying network traffic, or injecting code into app processes.
Step 1. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Extensions and review installed extensions.
Step 2. Disable extensions from third-party tools (antivirus, VPN, backup software) one at a time and test whether the app crash persists.
Step 3. For browser crashes specifically, go to the browser's Extensions/Plugins settings and disable all extensions, then re-enable one by one to find the culprit.
Fix 10: Reinstall the Crashing App
If clearing preferences and caches doesn't resolve the crash, a full reinstall removes all application binaries and replaces them with fresh copies. Unlike Windows, macOS app removal is simple — but you need to also remove the support files for a truly clean reinstall.
Step 1. Drag the app from Applications to Trash and empty Trash.
Step 2. Remove leftover files in these locations (search for the app name):
~/Library/Application Support/~/Library/Preferences/~/Library/Caches//Library/Application Support/
Step 3. Redownload and reinstall from the App Store or developer's website.
Fix 11: Create a New User Account (Profile Test)
If an app crashes only on your account but works normally on a new test account, the problem is in your user profile rather than in the app itself — corrupted preferences, conflicting login items, or a damaged user library.
Step 1. Go to System Settings → Users & Groups → Add Account.
Step 2. Create a new Administrator account and sign into it.
Step 3. Launch the crashing app. If it works perfectly, the issue is in your original user profile — migrating your data to the new account is cleaner than trying to find which specific file is corrupted.
App Still Crashing? Get Expert Mac Help
Crash reports with EXC_BAD_ACCESS, kernel panics during app launches, and crashes tied to specific macOS framework versions require expert-level diagnosis. CloudHouse Technologies offers remote Mac support — our certified technicians read crash logs, identify root causes, and resolve the issue in one session.