Diagnose system issues that are not explicitly visible with these built-in Mac OSX system tools.

Mac’s are famous for its stability. It won’t crash as often as Windows do. It doesn’t have a BSOD (Blue-Screen-Of-Death). But at times it might run into issues with the third-party software that you install. Most of the time Mac OSX tends to not bother you with pop-ups after pop-ups. But rather it writes to system logs and continues to do its job the best it can.

So, if you suspect your system of not performing as it used to or if you see a software or an operating system feature not working as expected there are tools that Mac OSX comes with that can help you get some understanding of the issue behind.

The first tool that you should turn to if you run into system issues is the Console tool. Console is a system tool that helps you view system and application logs in a more readable way. You can access Console from “Applications” > “Utilities”. Once launched Console shows you log files that are found in the system. You can view the messages that are directed to the Console, the System Log or any of the application/service related logs. If you suspect a program of causing the instability then you can choose to view only the application’s log which would be a lot simpler to look at than the full message list.

If you can’t find a log in the list on the left side you can also open a log file to view with Console by going into the “File” > “Open” menu. You’ll be shown the Log folder under your Library folder. Choose the log file that you’d like to diagnose.

Console would be the first tool that you should turn to if you see any instability with your Mac OSX. But at times, the system might not be really unstable but rather little sluggish or you notice a lot of disk activity and such and you suspect something going on. The quick way to find out would be to use the “Activity Monitor“.

Activity Monitor is kind of like the “Task Manager” in the Windows world. It tells you some information about the processes that are running in your system along with the overall CPU, memory and disk usage. The information the Activity Monitor provides would be sufficient enough for you to clarify some of the basic suspicions that you have about your Mac OSX. You can also use Activity Monitor to kill a process that you suspect is causing your system to use its CPU to the fullest. If killing a process is too dangerous to you then you can also suspend a Mac OSX process temporarily until you find the root cause.

Console and Activity Monitor are two great tools that should be in your arsenal when you are out in the field to diagnose your Mac OSX system issues on your own.