Wondering which Mac and iPad models support Sidecar? If you’re curious as to whether or not a Mac and iPad is compatible with Sidecar, you’ll find the list of supported devices below to be helpful. Not all Mac and iPad models support the feature, but most new models do.
Sidecar is the helpful new feature introduced in MacOS Catalina 10.15 and iPadOS 13 that allows an iPad to function as an external display for a Mac, with full touch screen support on the iPad as well as the ability you use Apple Pencil. Some MacOS Catalina users have attempted to use Sidecar but found it’s not working on their Mac and iPad combination, perhaps thinking it’s a problem with MacOS Catalinawhen in fact it’s just a matter of system compatibility. So let’s review which devices Sidecar works for.
Sidecar System Requirements for Mac & iPad
Sidecar is only compatible with some of the latest models of iPad and Mac hardware.
iPad Models with Sidecar Support
iPad must be running iPadOS 13 or later, and must be one of the following devices:
iPad Pro (all models, including 9.7″ iPad Pro, 10.5″ iPad Pro, 11″ iPad Pro, 12.9″ iPad Pro, all generations)
iPad Air (3rd generation and newer)
iPad (7th generation and newer)
iPad (6th generation and newer)
iPad mini 5 (and newer)
You might notice that only the iPad models with Apple Pencil support will also support Sidecar (and yes, you can use Sidecar without having an Apple Pencil, just use touch interaction instead).
Macs with Sidecar Compatibility
The Mac must be running MacOS Catalina 10.15 or later, and must be one of the following computers:
MacBook Pro (2016) or newer
MacBook Air (2018) or newer
MacBook (Early 2016) or newer
Mac Mini (2018) or newer
Mac Pro (2019)
iMac Pro (2017) or newer
iMac 27″ (Late 2015) or newer
For Mac, you can confirm that Sidecar is enabled and available on the Mac by going to the System Preferences and checking the Sidecar preferences.
Assuming you meet the system requirements for using Sidecar on Mac and iPad, you must have the two devices with Handoff enabled and within range of one another, and the feature should work and be available.
As you can see, there are various other iPad and Mac models that do not support Sidecar, even if they otherwise compatible with MacOS Catalina and compatible with iPadOS 13. So if you have recently updated your devices to the latest operating systems but find the feature is not available or is not working, perhaps it’s because of a compatibility issue with the hardware not being supported, rather than a problem with the Sidecar feature itself.
Some Mac users have reported a variety of problems with MacOS Catalina, ranging from installations getting stuck or taking abnormally long, to problems with some apps not working, to issues with certain printers or accessories no longer working, App Store difficulties, iCloud and Apple ID issues, amongst other nuisances.
While installing and using MacOS Catalina goes fine for most users, that is no solace if you are experiencing problems with a particular Mac and the new MacOS 10.15 release. Below we will discuss a variety of reported issues and problems with MacOS Catalina, and offer various troubleshooting methods to attempt to resolve those difficulties.
Before perusing this guide or attempting any troubleshooting method, be sure to back up your Mac and all data first. Failure to backup data can result in permanent data loss.
MacOS Catalina Won’t Download or Shows “An error occurred while running scripts from the package “RecoveryHDMetaDmg.pkg”
If you are attempting to download MacOS Catalina and it fails with a “An error occurred while running scripts from the package “RecoveryHDMetaDmg.pkg” error message, it may be related to third party firewall, anti-virus, or anti-malware software running on the Mac.
Temporarily disable the third party software that is a firewall, anti-virus, or anti-malware protection, and then relaunch System Preferences to check for the download again and MacOS Catalina should arrive as expected.
Note that some Macs may need to be restarted after third party protection software is disabled, depending on the software and how it works. In that case, after rebooting the Mac return to System Preferences in the Software Update section to download MacOS Catalina as expected.
MacOS Catalina won’t install because “There is not enough free space on Macintosh HD to install”
If you do not have sufficient free disk space available on the Mac hard drive, you will not be able to install MacOS Catalina.
Aim to have at least 15GB freely available to complete the installation of MacOS Catalina.
MacOS Catalina Installation Stalls on “Estimating time remaining…”
A fair number of people have reported that MacOS Catalina installation takes longer to install than they were expecting, or longer to install than prior MacOS installations. A common symptom of this is the Mac is apparently stuck on “Estimating time remaining…” when trying to install MacOS Catalina.
If you see the “Estimating time remaining…” screen when trying to install MacOS Catalina, be patient. It’s unlikely the installer is actually stuck, so just let it sit, and if it’s a MacBook Pro or Air make sure it is connected to a power source.
Let the Mac sit for however long it takes to complete the installation of Catalina, it may take several hours. The Mac will automatically boot into MacOS Catalina when finished installing.
There are mixed reports that the MacOS Catalina installation has taken anywhere from 45 minutes to over 12 hours to complete, how long it takes on a particular machine likely depends on many factors, including computer speed, internet connection speed, the Mac OS version being updated from, and more, thus it’s best to initiate the installation when there is plenty of time available to allow the Mac to complete installation.
MacOS Catalina Installation Stuck on “Less than one minute remaining”
Some users report that installing MacOS Catalina gets stuck on a black screen with an Apple logo and progress bar, stating there is less than a minute remaining to complete the installation.
If you see this screen, let the Mac sit and wait for a substantial amount of time before attempting to intervene.
If the Mac is still stuck on “Less than one minute remaining” after many hours (let it sit overnight if you can), and you have a full backup of your data, try powering down the Mac and then turning it back on again. It may boot directly into the MacOS Catalina setup screen. It also may fail to boot entirely, in which case you’ll need to reinstall MacOS system software with Internet Recovery (you can also try to reinstall MacOS Mojave through regular recovery too), or restore the Mac from a previously made Time Machine backup.
MacOS Catalina Installation Stuck or Fails with “The operation couldn’t be completed. (PKDownloadError error 8.)”
This error has been reported to occur during installation of MacOS Catalina if the internet connection is disrupted or disconnected.
Insure that the Mac has an active wi-fi or ethernet connection and that the internet works as expected, and then try installing MacOS Catalina again.
MacOS Catalina Stuck on “Setting Up Your Mac” Screen After Install
Let it sit for at least several hours, it may resolve itself.
If a after hours pass, force reboot the Mac by turning the computer off, then turning it back on again
Mac Running MacOS Catalina Randomly Crashes & Restarts
Some Mac users are reporting their Mac is crashing and restarting itself, particular when the Mac is left unattended for a period of time.
This random crash/freezing/restarting issue appears to happen more often on newer Macs with T2 security chips, or with Macs with a Radeon Pro Vega GPU, but it has been reported on other Mac models as well.
There are various discussion threads on Apple Support Forums here about this, but there is not yet any clear explanation or solution to this problem.
Reinstalling MacOS Catalina may help.
If any updates come available to MacOS Catalina, be sure to install those right way (ie: MacOS Catalina 10.15.1, 10.15.2, etc), as they may resolve the problem.
Downgrading to MacOS Mojave may also be a workaround to some users, though that is obviously not desirable or practical for many users.
Frequent “Update Apple ID Settings” Requests
Some users have reported a frequent “Update Apple ID Settings” pop-up message, informing them that some services will not be available until they sign-in again. Then after signing in again, the popup returns.
If you encounter frequent “Update Apple ID Settings” alerts, first try restarting the Mac.
If the “Update Apple ID Settings” alert message continues still, back up the Mac (if you haven’t done so already), then go to System Preferences and logging out of the Apple ID, rebooting the Mac, then logging back in again.
Be aware that signing out of an Apple ID may cause issues with synced data over iCloud, including iCloud Documents, iCloud Files, iCloud Photos, and other iCloud syncing.
Persistent iCloud Password Requests
Some users have reported issues with persistent Apple ID and iCloud password requests.
Open System Preferences > go to iCloud settings > and login to iCloud directly.
You may also need to log out and then log back into iCloud via System Preferences, but be aware that doing so can cause issues with iCloud Documents, iCloud Files, and other iCloud syncing.
Some Mac Apps Don’t Work, “App Needs to be Updated” Error Message
Any 32-bit app that has not been updated to 64-bit will not work in MacOS Catalina.
When attempting to launch an app that does not work in MacOS Catalina, you will see an error message stating “(Name) needs to be updated”
This includes many older versions of popular apps like Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc), Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and many smaller third party tools and utilities.
Additionally, many popular older Mac games are 32-bit and thus will not work on MacOS Catalina (unless they are updated for 64-bit support, which some developers have already stated will not happen with older software).
The only solution to this is to update the apps to 64-bit versions, or to find alternative applications. Or, more extreme, would be to downgrade from MacOS Catalina, but that’s a sizable hassle.
Printers, Scanners, Accessories Incompatible or Don’t Work with MacOS Catalina
Some users have found that printers, scanners, and other hardware accessories are no longer working after updating to MacOS Catalina.
This may be related to the loss of 32-bit application support, as some older printers and drivers are not updated to 64-bit.
Numerous reports exist of various Brother, Epson, HP, and other printers and accessories are incompatible with MacOS Catalina currently.
A good first step would be to reach out to the manufacturer of the printer, scanner, or hardware accessory and see if new drivers or related software are available with MacOS Catalina compatibility.
If new Catalina compatible drivers are available, install them to regain access to the printer, scanner, or hardware accessory.
Loss of iTunes Causing Issues with Music Playlists
Some users have reported that music playlists created from iTunes are not being imported or included in the new Music app of MacOS Catalina.
This may be a bug, or it could be an issue with the Music app not finding the playlist files from iTunes.
Some users have reported that simply quitting Music app and restarting the Mac has allowed their old iTunes playlists to surface in Music app as expected.
iTunes Removal Causing Issues with XML File Support & Third Party Music Apps
Some users of various music apps have reported that MacOS Catalina does not work with various music production and DJ apps.
This is apparently due to an issue with XML file support being removed from the new Music app.
If you rely on an application which requires iTunes or iTunes XML file support, consider avoiding MacOS Catalina for the time being, or until the apps you rely on are updated to support MacOS Catalina.
You can read more about this specific issue at The Verge if interested.
Mac App Store Showing “No Purchases”
Some Mac users are discovering that MacOS Catalina is not showing their purchased app history.
Sometimes simply rebooting the Mac can resolve this problem.
Otherwise, try logging out of the Mac App Store, quitting the App Store application, relaunching the App Store, then logging back into the Mac App Store again, to regain access to purchases.
Mac App Store Showing “No Updates”
Some users have reported that the Mac App Store is erroneously showing a “No Updates” available message, despite having older versions of apps like iMovie installed that are not working without an update for full 64-bit compatibility.
Quitting the Mac App Store, then rebooting the Mac and relaunching the Mac App Store appears to resolve this problem.
Mac is Hot and Running Slow After Installing MacOS Catalina
This is likely due to the system reindexing files on the drive, and the system toll it takes to perform maintenance tasks that are necessary after reinstalling or updating MacOS system software.
Let this process complete, it may take a while, but the Mac should perform as expected when that background activity has finished.
Safari Can’t Connect to Websites, But Internet Works
Some third party firewall software and anti-virus apps may be causing issues with Safari and other apps accessing websites and the internet in general.
Try disabling those third party firewall and virus tools, then rebooting the Mac to see if the issue is resolved.
Additional MacOS Catalina Troubleshooting Ideas
Depending on the issue, you may want to try a few additional troubleshooting steps like:
Try re-installing MacOS Catalina by rebooting the Mac and holding down Command+R and choosing to “Reinstall MacOS” – this will reinstall the core operating system without changing user files. Be sure to have a full backup fo your Mac before attempting this.
Try resetting SMC
Reset the PRAM on the Mac
MacOS Catalina is Unusable for Me, Help!
If you find MacOS Catalina totally unusable for whatever reason, you have a few options:
Restore the Mac from a previously made Time Machine backup, which is perhaps the easiest and best method of reverting from MacOS Catalina
Reinstalling MacOS via Internet Recovery, which will attempt to reinstall the version of MacOS that came with the Mac
Erase the Mac and restore from Time Machine or a prior backup method to effectively downgrade from MacOS Catalina to the prior version of MacOS you had backed up
Contact official Apple Support for further assistance – Apple support techs and engineers may be able to resolve a problem for you that unaffiliated third party fan sites like this are not able to address
Are all of these problems common?
No, these are not commonly encountered issues with MacOS Catalina.
Perhaps the most common issue that may be experienced by users with MacOS Catalina is that some older apps will not work, because of the loss of 32-bit app support. The other issues discussed here are fairly rare.
If you’re on the fence about whether or not to install MacOS Catalina then don’t assume you will experience any of the issues or problems discussed here. This is intended as a troubleshooting guide for problems that a small number of users are encountering, and by no means is representative of the wider MacOS Catalina user base or experience. You can use this guide to get ready and prepare for MacOS Catalina and download MacOS Catalina as soon as you’re ready for the software update. Or you can skip it for the time being, that’s OK too!
Want to clear and disable Significant Locations data stored on your Mac? For some quick background, your Mac will attempt to determine what locations are significant to you in order to provide you with location related information for Maps, Photos, Calendars, and with other apps too. These stored places are referred to as “Significant Locations” and can be very helpful for traffic and directions predictions, along with other location related assistance.
Some Mac users may prefer to disable the Significant Locations feature and clear any existing Significant Locations data from the Mac, and this tutorial will show you how to do that.
How to Clear & Disable Significant Locations on Mac
Go to the Apple menu and go to “System Preferences” and then go to the “Security & Privacy” preference panel
Choose the “Privacy” tab and then choose “Location Services”, then click the lock icon in the corner to authenticate and unlock the ability to make changes
Scroll down to find ‘System Services’ and click on “Details”
Locate the ‘Significant Locations’ settings and click on “Details” to see a list of any and all stored significant location data on the Mac
To clear all Significant Locations history, click on the “Clear History” button
Confirm that you want to clear significant locations from the Mac as well as from all other devices signed into the same Apple ID (for example, any other Macs, iPhones, iPads, etc)
Uncheck the box for “Significant Locations” then click on “Done” and exit out of System Preferences as usual
While you’re in the Location Services section of Mac system preferences, you might also decide to manage and control which apps can use location data on Mac. It can also be helpful to show the Location Usage icon in the Mac menu bar to be able to easily determine what an app or service is using your computers location data. If you never use any location specific data or services from the computer whatsoever, you can also completely disable all Location Services on Mac, but that is not recommended for most people.
It’s important to note that Apple says that Significant Locations are encrypted and cannot be read by Apple, so if you’re worried about the feature for any reason related to that, you probably shouldn’t be. Nonetheless there are many privacy and security conscious users out there who would rather minimize their location usage footprint, or even not have any type of location data kept or stored at all, regardless of its purpose.
As with all settings on the Mac, you can always reverse this decision and re-enable Significant Locations on the Mac again. Note that re-enabling significant locations will not bring back any cleared prior significant location data, however.
At some point in time you may have installed the popular Malwarebytes tool on a Mac to scan for malware, spyware, ransomware, junkware, and other garbage threats on a Mac, but at some point you may decide you want to uninstall Malwarebytes from the Mac and remove the utility from a computer.
Whether you’re using the free or paid version of Malwarebytes you’ll find that uninstalling it is fairly easy. We’ll cover two methods to remove Malwarebytes from a Mac.
How to Uninstall Malwarebytes from Mac OS the Easy Way
The simplest way to uninstall Malwarebytes from a Mac is to use the apps built-in uninstaller:
Open the Malwarebytes app on the Mac, found in the /Applications folder
Pull down the “Help” menu and choose “Uninstall Malwarebytes”
Choose “Yes” when asked if you want to completely remove Malwarebytes from the Mac
Authenticate with the admin password to uninstall Malwarebytes
How to Remove & Uninstall Malwarebytes by Script (if the Application is Missing, Doesn’t Work, etc)
If for some reason the above easy approach to uninstalling Malwarebytes does not work, or perhaps you already deleted the primary Malwarebytes application and so you no longer have the capability to use the built-in uninstaller function, another is available using a free removal script from Malwarebytes. Here’s how that works:
Launch the “Uninstall MWB” tool from the Downloads folder
Choose “Yes” when asked if you wish to remove all components of Malwarebytes from the Mac
This is the preferred method to remove Malwarebytes from a Mac. It’s easy and it’s relatively fast, and it should remove every component of Malwarebytes from the computer without having to do anything else.
Nonetheless there are other options which may be necessary if the primary application has already been removed, but other Malwarebytes components remain on the system.
When finished, Malwarebytes will have been deleted and all components uninstalled from the Mac.
Many of the components of the app remained which is often the case when simply dragging an app to the Trash does not uninstall everything related to the application. If you’re aiming to remove Malwarebytes from a Mac you can use either approach, but if the application is missing with the built-in uninstall tool then using the uninstaller script will still remove remaining Malwarebytes components from the Mac.
These uninstall methods should work on any semi-modern Mac running any modern version of Mac OS or Mac OS X, though the uninstaller script is valid for 10.10 and later only.
Technically speaking you could also manually remove Malwarebytes but that process is much more cumbersome than simply using the uninstaller tool offered in the application itself, or the uninstaller script available as a download from Malwarebytes. If you do want to manually remove the Malwarebytes app, you’ll be digging around in various user and system folders and searching system files for a variety of plists, extensions, and other components of the app, and other stuff. That’s really only appropriate for very advanced users, and there is little purpose to do so when there are easier uninstall methods.
To be clear, this is not a suggestion, this is simply a tutorial demonstrating how to uninstall Malwarebytes from MacOS. If you use Malwarebytes and find it useful, there’s no reason to stop using it or to remove it from a Mac. And remember that if you remove it because you’re finished using it for now, you can always install Malwarebytes again later if you want to.
As we mentioned before, Malwarebytes is a popular Mac utility and even the free download version will work for scanning and removing malware and junkware from a Mac, but whether or not you use it, or want to remove it, is entirely up to you. It’s generally well regarded and doesn’t carry some of the baggage (and bad headlines) that some other scanning and cleaning utilities out there, so if you’re interested in an malware scanner and removal tool on the Mac it’s a good choice even at the free level. If you are going to install a malware removal tool on the Mac, it’s best to pick just one and don’t overlap them to avoid any issues.
Malwarebytes for Mac is a popular and respected anti-malware tool for Mac that can help to clear a Mac of malware, ransomware, and viruses. While users can follow some simple tips to protect a Mac from viruses and trojans, and MacOS is fairly secure as-is from malware, junk ware, and adware, many Mac users often ask how they can scan their Mac for adware or for viruses. For those who have some concerns about malware on a Mac, using the Malwarebytes app to scan and clear a Mac can offer some additional peace of mind.
This article will show you how to install Malwarebytes on a Mac, and how to use the free version to scan and clean a Mac of any threats.
Note this tutorial will use the free level of the Malwarebytes app, which has the ability to scan and clean any discovered infections from a Mac. If you feel like you want or need enhanced security to proactively protect a Mac from further threats, then you’re welcome to try the paid version on your own.
How to Install Malwarebytes Malware Scanner on Mac to Clean Malware, Viruses, Adware, etc
Go to the user Downloads folder and open the “Malwarebytes” package installer
At the Malwarebytes installer screen, choose Continue and read through the release notes and license terms
Select the drive you wish to install Malwarebytes onto, this is likely the primary boot drive named “Macintosh HD”
Authenticate the installer to let Malwarebytes complete installation
In a moment you’ll be presented with a screen asking where you’re installing Malwarebytes, either Personal / Home or Work
At the next screen, choose “No thanks, I just want to scan” (or sign up for the 14 day free trial if you want to try out the full paid version)
At the Malwarebytes application screen, choose “Scan” to scan the Mac right away for any threats
If any threats or junk is found, Malwarebytes will report it to you on the next screen, otherwise you’ll see a screen saying the Mac is clean and clear
As mentioned before, we’re using the free version here to simply scan and clean a Mac (assuming any malware, bad junk, or unwanted stuff is found), but you’re certainly free to try out the 14 day full protection trial, or sign-up for the complete paid service and unlock the other features of the Malwarebytes app.
If you’re satisfied with the Mac being cleaned and scanned, you can quickly uninstall Malwarebytes from the Mac just by opening the app and pulling down the “Help” menu and choosing to “Uninstall Malwarebytes” and following the steps on screen.
To be perfectly clear, this is not any particular recommendation and we do not have any relationship with Malwarebytes, we just use the tool ourselves to scan Macs for scanning for junkware if the need arises either on our own hardware or someone elses (even back when the app was called AdwareMedic).
“how can I scan my Mac for viruses and malware?” and “how can I clean my Mac from adware or a virus?”,
so these questions are common. Generally speaking, a well secured Mac that has regularly updated system software and apps, and some savviness from the user like not downloading sketchy stuff from untrustworthy dubious websites and not installing browser plugins – is enough to prevent Macs from finding any malware, junkware, adware, ransomeware, or any other nefarious stuff on their Mac, but nonetheless infections can still happen.
Do you want to turn off the screenshot thumbnails that show up on the Mac screen? You may have noticed that if you take a screenshot on Mac a little screenshot thumbnail preview pops up in the bottom right corner of the display and floats there for a few seconds. You can interact with that little thumbnail to quickly markup a screenshot, but showing those screenshot thumbnails also appears too slow down how long it takes for the actual screen shot file to generate and be available to the file system.
If you want to disable the screenshot thumbnail preview in Mac OS, this article will show you how to do that.
How to Turn Off Screenshot Preview Thumbnails on Mac
From the Finder of Mac OS, go to the /Applications/ folder and then to /Utilities/ and open the “Screenshot.app” application
Click on the “Options” menu in the screenshot toolbar
Uncheck the option for “Show Floating Thumbnail” to disable the screenshot preview
Exit out of Screenshot app when finished
With ‘Show Floating Thumbnail’ disabled, the screenshot previews will no longer appear, and the screenshot that has been snapped will be created and appear almost instantly in the Finder, much like in earlier MacOS versions.
For those who are wondering, the Mac ‘Screenshot’ application takes the place of the “Grab” app in modern MacOS versions, and it has other handy features too that make it easy to change some screenshot options that used to require the Terminal and defaults commands. For example you no longer have to use a defaults write command to change the screenshot file save location, and you can also set a timer and mouse pointer option for screenshots too just like you could in the Grab app. You will still need to use a defaults write command to change the screenshot image file format or screenshot file names however.
How to Re-Enable Screenshot Thumbnail Previews on Mac
Open the “Screenshot.app” application from Spotlight or the Applications/Utilities/ folder
Click the “Options” menu and check the option for “Show Floating Thumbnail” to enable the screenshot preview
Exit out of Screenshot app
With the floating thumbnail option re-enabled, screenshot previews will show up again, and there will be a delay before screenshot files appear in the Finder and to the file system again.
You may have noticed a similar screenshot preview on iPhone and iPad as well, but in the iOS / iPadOS side of things there is currently no method to disable that screenshot preview, as this option remains only on the Mac. Instead on the iPhone and iPad you can simply swipe or push the thumbnail aside to dismiss it, a trick that also works to dismiss the screenshot floating preview on Mac as well.
Need to save a webpage as a PDF file on a Mac? Safari on the Mac makes saving webpages as a PDF very easy. Exporting a webpage in PDF format is useful for many purposes, whether you want to access an offline version of a webpage or article, to transmit information on a webpage as PDF format like a health record, call record, bill, or statement, for records keeping purposes, to send to someone else or a print shop, and so much more.
This tutorial will show you how to easily save a webpage as a PDF file using the Safari web browser on a Mac.
Note if you’re using an iPhone or iPad, you can save webpages as PDF on iPhone or iPad with these instructionsinstead.
How to Save Webpages as PDF on Mac with Safari
Open Safari on the Mac, then navigate to the webpage you want to save as a PDF file
Pull down the “File” menu in Safari
Choose “Export as PDF” from the File menu
Set the file name and choose a file destination and choose “Save” to save the webpage as a PDF
The PDF file of the saved webpage will be wherever you saved the file to, whether that was your user Documents folder, the Desktop, Downloads folder, or elsewhere.
The resulting webpage PDF can be used just like any other PDF file, you can email it, share it, upload it, or whatever else just like any other PDF document.
If for some reason this doesn’t work for you, or if you’re using a different web browser on a Mac that doesn’t support the direct ‘Export as PDF’ option, you can still easily save a webpage as a PDF by simply using Print to PDF on the Mac, which is available on every Mac OS release. If you find yourself using that feature often enough you can even set a “Save as PDF” keyboard shortcut for use on the Mac to be able to quickly perform that function.
Obviously this covers saving a webpage as a PDF file on Mac OS with Safari, but iPhone and iPad can save webpages as PDF too using an equally simple and direct feature.
Safari on the Mac can resume stopped downloads and restart failed downloads rather easily. For example, if you were downloading Xcode from Apple but your internet connection was interrupted and the download stopped, you can resume the download where it left off rather than restart the entire download over again. This is a great way to restart and resume incomplete downloads, regardless of the reason the file download failed, was interrupted or otherwise halted, and it’s available in the Safari download manager on Mac OS.
How to Resume Incomplete Downloads in Safari on Mac
From Safari on the Mac, click the Downloads button in the Safari toolbar, it looks like an arrow pointing downwards
Locate the stopped, stalled, or failed download, then click the orange circular arrow button to attempt to restart the download
The file should resume downloading where it was otherwise interrupted
Once the file, archive, image, or whatever else has completed downloading, it will appear in the Downloads folder on the Mac.
Note that Safari defaults to downloading things into the user Downloads folder, but you change the Safari download location on Mac if desired. Thus if you had previously changed the download location, you’d need to find the item there instead.
If you do need to start the download over from scratch, often an easy way to do that is to copy the downloaded files original direct download URL from Safari and simply paste that address back into the URL bar. Note that approach doesn’t always work with randomly generated CDN address downloads however. Similarly, you can find out where a file was downloaded from on the Mac by using Get Info in the Finder on the file, even if the file is only partially downloaded and incomplete.
Some other web browsers also support file download resuming as well, including Chrome, though how you go about resuming downloads in Chrome is different than what is discussed here in Safari.
You may have noticed that sometimes you can not power on and boot a MacBook Pro when it doesn’t have a battery installed. Let’s say you had to remove the battery of an older MacBook Pro because it was swelling, or the battery failed for some other reason, but when you go to power on the MacBook Pro, nothing happens. (To be clear, this article is aimed at older MacBook Pro model years, like a 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, back when replacing a battery, hard disk, RAM, was all fairly easy to do by opening the bottom case).
In this situation, if a battery is removed or totally dead and you attempt to start the MacBook Pro, nothing happens – there is no sound, no system boot, no startup chime, nothing. It turns out that some model year MacBook Pro computers will not boot with a simple power button press after the battery has been physically removed or disconnected.
Of course if you happen to have a replacement battery then you can typically just replace the missing battery with a working battery and the MacBook Pro will boot, but that is not always an option. So let’s discuss how to boot an older MacBook Pro when there is no battery present at all.
How to Boot MacBook Pro with No Battery Installed
We are assuming the MacBook Pro has no battery installed in the computer, meaning there physically is no battery installed. Then, when attempting to boot the Mac or pressing the start button, nothing happens. In this case, you can force the MacBook Pro to boot by following these steps:
Unplug the MagSafe power cable
Hold down the Power button for 10 seconds and continue to hold it down
While still holding the Power button, connect the MagSafe power cable to the MacBook Pro and continue to hold the Power button for another 10 seconds
Release the Power button, then press the Power button as usual to power on the computer and boot the Mac
When the MacBook Pro does boot, the fans will be blasting at full speed for the entire time you are using the Mac (resetting SMC or PRAM does not stop the fans running, only replacing the battery will).
Also it appears that the MacBook Pro will reduce its own clock speed in this situation, thereby reducing performance.
The only way to stop the fans from running at full speed and to return the clock speed to regular performance is to install a new battery into the MacBook Pro.
As some experienced this scenario on an old MacBook Pro 2010 model after removing a swollen battery. Once the battery was removed you can press the power button but nothing happens. However, the above method of disconnecting and reconnecting MagSafe while holding the Power button was successful in starting up the Mac – with fans running at full speed and at reduced clock speed however. Nonetheless, Snow Leopard still runs well!
As you can see in the screenshot below, the “No Battery” indicator is visible, but the MacBook Pro is booted and working.
And indeed, this particular MacBook Pro has no physical battery installed as you can see the internals in this picture:
Powering Up a MacBook Pro After Replacing Battery, Logic Board, Hard Drive, RAM, etc too
Apparently the same aforementioned scenario of the MacBook / MacBook Pro not starting up can also unfold when replacing other internal components on these older model year MacBook Pro (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, etc), including replaced logic boards, internal hard drives, RAM, battery, and perhaps other hardware components too.
With some other internal component replacements, sometimes simply plugging in the MagSafe adapter and holding the power button for 10 seconds is enough to cause the MacBook Pro to start.
Also, Check the Power Adapter Wattage
For what it’s worth, in some scenarios where the battery appears dead but is not actually (ie, the charge is long drained but the battery itself isn’t completely useless yet), then you may be able to successfully boot the MacBook Pro with a proper wattage MagSafe power adapter of 85W. These older model year MacBook Pro computers use 85W power adapters, whereas the MacBook and MacBook Air of the same generation used 60W power adapters. Sometimes simply plugging in the proper higher wattage power adapter will allow the MacBook Pro to boot.
This MagSafe power button pressing solution was found on iFixIt forums and it worked for me, so if you’re in a similar scenario with an older MacBook Pro then try it out yourself. If for some reason the above method does not work, the original forum poster does state the following possible workaround involving moving a RAM module to a different slot (if applicable):
“If that doesn’t work then try to remove one RAM memory [module] and switch places and [repeat] the method”
In my case this juggling of the RAM module was not necessary to boot the MacBook Pro (a 2010 model year) without a battery, but that additional tidbit may be valid to you.
This article is obviously aimed at older MacBook Pro hardware, but it may be relevant to other older MacBook models too, including similar model year (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) MacBook and MacBook Air, and perhaps even some newer MacBook Pro models too. By the way, if you’re rocking an older Mac and want to speed it up, check out these tips.
Of course newer model year MacBook (Pro & Air too) hardware does not have user serviceable batteries and in some cases the battery is glued to the top case, so in those situations the ability to end up in a situation where the computer doesn’t have a battery is much less likely, and any troubleshooting scenario is going to be much more extreme requiring a more thorough hardware repair that is far beyond the scope of this particular article. In those situations, take the Mac to a certified Apple Repair Specialist or an Apple Store instead.
Long live the old Macs! Does this qualify for retro status yet? Probably not… give it a bit longer.
Want to toggle Do Not Disturb mode on the Mac with a keyboard shortcut? You can easily enable a custom keyboard shortcut to turn on or off Do Not Disturb mode in MacOS, and we’ll show you how to set it up.
Do Not Disturb mode on the Mac is one of the best features you can use if you want to focus on a task, and not be distracted by the myriad endless notifications and alerts that pop up on the Mac. Enabling and disabling the feature with a keyboard shortcut offers a quick way to toggle the feature off or on as quick as possible and at any time.
How to Set a Do Not Disturb Keyboard Shortcut on Mac
To be able to toggle Do Not Disturb off or on by keyboard shortcut on Mac, you’ll need to enable a keyboard shortcut for it first. Here’s how to do that:
Go to the Apple menu and select “System Preferences”
Go to “Keyboard” and then choose the “Shortcuts” tab
Select “Mission Control” from the Shortcuts options
Locate “Turn Do Not Disturb On/Off” and make sure that is checked to be enabled
Click directly to the right of “Turn Do Not Disturb On/Off” and then press a keyboard shortcut combination to set as the Do Not Disturb keyboard shortcut
In the example here, the keystroke combination SHIFT FN F10 was set as the keyboard shortcut for enabling and disabling Do Not Disturb mode.
You can set any keyboard shortcut you want for this purpose, just make sure it’s unique and does not overlap with another keystroke combination or feature. Applying modifier keys like Shift, Option, Control, FN can be an easy way to avoid conflict with other keyboard shortcuts on the Mac. Whether FN SHIFT F10 works for your particular situation is going to depend on your individual Mac setup.
How to Toggle Do Not Disturb ON or OFF by Keyboard Shortcut on Mac
Once the keyboard shortcut for toggling Do Not Disturb mode is enabled, you can use it at anytime by pressing the keystroke combination you set in the above steps. In the example here, that would be pressing SHIFT FN F10, so therefore toggling the feature would be as so:
Press SHIFT FN F10 to enable Do Not Disturb mode instantly
Press SHIFT FN F10 to disable Do Not Disturb mode immediately
When Do Not Disturb mode is on, all notifications and alerts will not show up on the Mac, but they will still be contained within the Notification Center.
When Do not Disturb mode is off, all alerts and notifications will come through to the Mac as usual, showing up as pop-up alerts in the upper right corner of the screen.
Do Not Disturb mode is one of the most useful features available on the Mac and on the iOS side of things too, where using Do Not Disturb mode on iPhone and iPad can offer some peace and quiet when you’re on the go as well.
If you find yourself toggling this feature on frequently, you might want to set a schedule for Do Not Disturb on Mac to be automatically on at times of your choosing. And if you don’t like the annoying notifications at all then you can precent all notifications on the Mac by setting Do Not Disturb mode in perpetuity to be always enabled using a scheduling trick, which will make it so your Mac is never harangued by the alerts and notifications from everything under the sun.
