We love being the place you come to so as to discover answers to nagging issues. While the Mac 911 title predates iOS, iPadOS, and iCloud, we’re joyful to reply questions about all these matters in addition to macOS and any Apple {hardware}, software program, or service.
We may also help prevent some time for those who seek the advice of this record of probably the most generally requested questions we obtain. This tremendous FAQ supplies transient answers to points that symbolize a considerable portion of all the e-mail we obtain, together with hyperlinks to our full-length columns with extra particulars. Some of those columns date again a couple of years, however they continue to be up to date for the steps you want to take, even when the looks of some interface components has modified.
Focus on Photos and iCloud Photos
Ever since Apple launched Photos for macOS in 2015, we’ve seen an enormous variety of questions in regards to the Photos apps for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, in addition to iCloud Photos (previously iCloud Photo Library).
As a common tip, for those who’re on the lookout for assist in managing Photos for macOS libraries, I extremely advocate Fat Cat Software’s PowerPhotos, which I last reviewed in December 2015. Among different issues, it could actually migrate iPhoto and Aperture libraries. EnergyPhotos can be the one instrument that may merge Photos libraries, and works with Apple’s database format to discover and take away duplicates. For its $30 price ticket, you get each EnergyPhotos and a duplicate of iPhoto Library Manager, which may also help prep or handle iPhoto libraries.
Here are the questions requested most continuously about Photos and iCloud Photos.
macOS: Erase, revive, beta releases, and Wi-Fi
After Photos, we get loads of questions associated to macOS, notably coping with cleansing up a system on the market or restoring one which appears to have gone kaput.
Let’s begin with erasing a Mac, by chance or deliberately erasing information, or a Mac that received’t begin up macOS or boot in any respect:
- “I’m selling my Mac. How do I wipe it properly before sale?” I like to recommend making at the least one, if not two, full backups that you just confirm for accuracy, after which comply with our directions: “How to prepare a Mac for sale or a return to an employer.”
- “I can’t restart my new Mac into recovery mode.” Apple’s new M-series Macs, beginning with the Apple silicon M1 chip, have a wholly totally different approach to entry the particular restoration mode used for troubleshooting, sharing simply volmes on the startup and different connected drives with out beginning up in macOS, and making sure system safety settings. See “How to find every troubleshooting boot mode on an M1 Mac.”
- “I accidentally deleted all my files. How can I get them back?” If you don’t have any backups through Time Machine, a web-based hosted backup, or synced variations of your information, read this column for more ideas. The information could also be gone for good. (You ought to beginning backing up right this moment: learn “How to create a backup strategy with terabytes of files.”)
- “I can’t get macOS to start.” If the recoveryOS quantity in your drive stays energetic, you’ll be able to energy up with the appropriate mixture of keys for an Intel Mac or an Apple Silicon M-series Mac, and use macOS Recovery to reinstall macOS. If it’s lacking, on an Intel Mac, you can try internet Recovery. With an Apple Silicon M-series Mac, if the Mac is non-responsive, you may have to use both the “revive” or “restore” choices, which require entry to one other Mac, the right peripheral cable, and an web connection; learn “How to revive or restore an unresponsive Mac from another Mac.” You may attempt to reinstall macOS from an exterior USB drive: see “How to create a bootable macOS Big Sur installer drive. (We have articles on how to create installers for older versions of OS X and macOS, too.)
- “My Mac won’t show a drive or recovery options.” If you get a flashing query mark, your drive could have failed or turn into broken. You could give you the chance to use web restoration with an Intel Mac or the revive/restore choices for an Apple silicon Mac. Apple suggests several other options, too. If none of that works, search out assist from Apple Support or a restore store that works on Macs.
Here are a couple of different questions that generally come up round macOS.
- “My Mac says Wi-Fi not installed. Why?” This one is a poser, because it could possibly be a community configuration corruption drawback in macOS (or OS X), a {hardware} failure, or one thing else totally. I’ve some recommendation in “What to do when your Mac says Wi-Fi hardware isn’t installed.” Sadly, it’s usually a {hardware} failure that might require restore or alternative of the principle circuit board. As an alternate, you should buy a $25 USB-based Wi-Fi adapter, the Edimax AC1200, although it requires USB Type-A. As of April 2021, the required driver solely works via macOS 10.15 Catalina; a Big Sur driver replace is anticipated, nonetheless.
- “My keyboard won’t let me type certain keys.” Take a take a look at “Your Mac won’t type U, I, O, J, K, L, and M? Here’s why” and “What to do whe you caot type certai letters o your MacBook.”
- ”Where did All My Files disappear to within the Finder?” People beloved the Finder’s All My Files” search, which appeared by default within the sidebar and when opening new tabs or home windows. For unknown causes, Apple dropped it after macOS 10.13 High Sierra, changing it with a a lot worse Recents possibility, which is extra restricted in some ways. You can add a alternative for All My Files by following a couple of not-that-complicated steps in “How to use Spotlight’s query language to create an All My Files-like feature.”
- “I can’t find my FileVault Recovery Key!” No worries, until you want it to reset a login. Consult “How to find your FileVault recovery key in macOS” and in addition “Is your macOS FileVault Recovery Key current? Here’s how to check.”
- “I’m following your instructions to unenroll from macOS beta releases, and it’s not working.” While we’ve directions at “How to leave the macOS beta program,” a number of readers haven’t been in a position to get this to work.
Sorting out Apple ID points
While the Apple ID account has existed for a few years now, Apple nonetheless presents no approach to merge, break up, switch, or principally manipulate most of what’s related to an account. You can’t break up purchases amongst two accounts for individuals who shared one; you’ll be able to’t merge synced information, purchases, or different data from two or extra accounts into one. As a outcome, we get a lot of Apple ID questions on a regular basis. Here are the most typical.
“I have two Apple IDs (or my partner/spouse/etc. and I each have one).” Many individuals have wound up with two Apple IDs that handle totally different components of their Apple expertise due to how Apple launched totally different providers. I take advantage of one account that was registered first as an iTools account, for all of my synchronization, whereas one other, which began as my private e mail handle, for iTunes and App Store purchases.
Many individuals additionally write in as a result of two or extra individuals of their household grouping (whether or not a pair or together with youngsters or mother and father or others) have distinctive Apple IDs they usually need to share purchases or data amongst them, questioning if Family Sharing is an effective possibility.
There’s actually nothing you are able to do about any of those conditions, however individuals who have been informed this up to now by Apple and supposed gurus like yours actually proceed to ask, as a result of it’s so irritating and appears unreasonable.
I do have some common recommendation, nonetheless:
- If what you’re doing is working however annoying, it is best to be taught to settle for it, as a result of it appears unlikely Apple will ever change this. I’m typically annoyed in organising new gadgets or coping with surprising password requests for iCloud, the App Store, and different Apple properties due to my two-account scenario, however it does work reliably. I haven’t misplaced any information, and I can all the time entry my purchases.
- If you’re utilizing e mail through iCloud with one account, and have all of your purchases on one other, you’ll be able to transition all the things besides e mail to your buying account, and change to have all the things sync via that account for iCloud. You can tie iCloud in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS to the acquisition account, and arrange an email-only connection to your email-focused iCloud account. I counsel a plan in “Can you merge synced data from multiple Apple IDs?” and “How to merge two macOS accounts into one.”
- Family Sharing may match in some circumstances, although I don’t love the implementation. Chris Breen wrote up a transition suggestion in 2014 that also works, however not for everybody.
“I share an account with someone else; can we split it in two (because they are now an adult child of mine, I and the other person have split up, we now want separate accounts)?” This is definitely simpler than merging two accounts into one, with the exception that gadgets bought in a single account stay with that beginning account. However, different information may be migrated; learn “What to do when breaking up a shared Apple ID account.” And, if the particular person you’re separating out into one other account is a part of a Family Sharing group, they’ll retain entry to most or all the purchases within the Apple ID they have been previously a part of; see “How to split up an Apple ID among family members and forward their email.”
“I have an Apple ID in one country; how can I change the country for that Apple ID’s registration?” You can, however you lose access to all your purchases. You can preserve separate Apple IDs which might be registered in numerous international locations, however that may be problematic while you need to change amongst them to entry totally different purchases or information, as I clarify in “How to use different iTunes accounts for different languages.”
No, Siri, no!
Siri has limitations round accurately spelling stuff you converse and accurately announcing phrases and names. There are some workarounds.
- “Siri won’t spell something correctly.” Siri could transcribe a reputation or phrase incorrectly. You can add the accurately spelled model of the phrase or title to a contact title, and that may sort things. You may swipe down on the Siri display screen and sort to right misspelled phrases in its model. It’s supposed to get higher over time as you make these corrections, however Siri nonetheless transcribes “Offie” as an alternative of the app “Authy,” irrespective of what number of instances I right it.
- “Siri won’t pronounce my name or someone else’s name correctly.” You can inform Siri that it acquired it improper, and Siri provides alternative pronunciations from which you’ll choose, or you’ll be able to add a phrase or title to a contact and use a hidden phonetic discipline in Contacts to present the right approach to say it. Unfortunately, this doesn’t all the time work, both, to decide by reader stories.
Sorry, we will’t make it easier to with correcting Apple Maps
Because we’ve written about how to report errors in Apple Maps to Apple, many hasty and informal discoverers of Macworld’s website consider we both are Apple or have a magic conduit to that land of fruit and aluminium. We don’t.
However, we do have this column that explains how to file corrections your self—or, for those who don’t have an Apple gadget, how to get somebody with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to file a correction for you. Read “Apple Maps lists your location incorrectly? You can report it.”
