Repair Issues with Apps On Your Apple Mac Pro

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction: MacBook Pro: Repair Issues With Apps

This guide will take you through common steps to troubleshoot when apps won't open properly on your Apple MacPro.

2. MacOS: Quit and Restart Program

  1. To quit an application, click the application menu at top, then choose Quit Safari at the bottom.
Safari menu with quit safari highlighted


  1. Make sure the application leaves your Dock at the bottom or no longer has a dot underneath it.Running ApplicationClosed Application
Dock icon with black dot indicating it is running
Dock icon without black dot indicating it is closed
  1. If the program does not quit properly:
  2. Click on the Apple menu, then click Force Quit.
Apple menu with Force quit highlighted


  1. Select the app you want to force close, then click Force Quit.
Force quit dialog with application and force quit button highlighted


  1. Click Force Quit when prompted.
force quit confirm dialog with force quit button highlighted


  1. To restart the program, click its icon on the Dock or from the Applications folder.

3. MacOS: Power Cycle

  1. Select the Apple menu, then Shut Down...
Apple menu with shut down highlighted


  1. Wait for your computer to shut down, and turn off.
  2. Wait 10 seconds.
  3. Turn your Mac back on by pushing the Power button on the keyboard.
Mac Keyboard with Power button highlighted


4. macOS: Check Startup Programs

  1. Click on the Apple Menu, then click System Preferences.
Apple menu icon highlighted with menu beneath highlighting the system preferences option.
  1. Choose Users & Groups.
macOS system preferences window with users and groups icon highlighted.
  1. Choose Login Items at the top. Then, choose your username on the left. Then, click the Lock icon at the bottom. You may need to type in your Mac password to unlock this screen.
macOS users and groups window highlighting the login items tab, and the admin account selected.
  1. Look through the list on the right. If you see an item you don't recognize, or an item you don't use frequently, highlight it by clicking its name, then click the Remove – button below to remove it.
macOS users and groups window highlighting the minus button.

5. macOS: Check Drive Space

  1. Click the Apple menu, then click on App Store.
Apple menu with app store highlighted
  1. Click the Storage tab.
About storage with free space available highlighted
  1. Free space is the first number you see below the name of your hard drive.
  2. Disk space needs will vary depending on how you use your computer. In general, if you have over 15 GB of free space, you should be fine for updates and upgrades.
    Only proceed if you have less than 15 GB of free space.
  3. Click Manage... to the right of your hard drive.
  4. Under Recommendations on the left, you'll see some very easy-to-use tools to help optimize and clean up your disk space, such as optimizing the files already stored in iCloud, removing items from iTunes you've already watched or listened to, emptying the Trash automatically, and reviewing the files stored on your Mac to delete unused or old ones.
Manage storage recommendations

6. macOS: Check for Updates

  1. Click the Apple menu, then click onApp Store.
Apple menu with App Store highlighted.
  1. Select Updates on the bar at the top.
App store menu bar with Updates highlighted.
  1. Any pending updates for your Mac will be listed here. Select Update All to apply these updates.

MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air must have the power adapter plugged in to automatically download updates.

7. macOS: Disk Utility

Disk Utility is designed to be easy to run, and help fix many small issues with your Mac's storage disk. Keep in mind, though, it is also designed to do major repairs and has the capabilities to cause problems if not used correctly. This guide will walk you through the proper options to select to use it safely.

Running Disk Utility can take a long time, especially on larger hard drives. Please make sure you won't need your computer for at least 1 hour before beginning this step.

  1. From the menu bar across the top of the screen, select the Apple menu (1), then select Restart... (2).
Apple icon in the upper-left corner displaying a menu beneath with the restart option highlighted.
  1. Immediately after your Mac restarts (some Mac computers play a startup sound), press and hold the command ⌘ and R keys until the Apple logo appears, then release the keys.
Command key. Illustration.
Plus symbol.
R key. Illustration.

  1. Click Disk Utility, then Continue.
  2. In the bar on the left, highlight your hard disk.
  3. Click the First Aid button at the top.
Stethoscope icon.
  1.  
  2. Click Run.
  3. Disk Utility will scan your hard drive, and attempt to repair any issues it has.

If you are prompted to complete the repairs yourself, or get an error about disk failure, reach out to Apple Support immediately.

8. What's next?

9. macOS: Reboot to Safe Mode

  1. From the menu bar across the top of the screen, select the Apple menu (1), then select Restart... (2).
Apple icon in the upper-left corner displaying a menu beneath with the restart option highlighted.


  1. Immediately press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard.
  2. Release the Shift key when you see the login window.