Viewing Crash Logs on MacOS

macOS keeps crash logs to help diagnose and troubleshoot issues with applications and system services. These logs can provide valuable information when you’re experiencing problems or when an application unexpectedly quits. Here’s how to view crash logs on macOS:

Using the Finder:

1. Open Finder: Click on the Finder icon in the Dock or press Command + Space, then type “Finder” and hit Return.

2. Go to Folder: Click on “Go” in the menu bar at the top of the screen and select “Go to Folder…” or press Shift + Command + G.

3. Access the Crash Logs Directory: In the “Go to the folder” dialog that appears, enter ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ and click “Go.” This will take you to the directory where macOS stores crash logs.

4. View Crash Logs: In this folder, you’ll find crash log files with names like ApplicationName_date_time.crash. Double-click on a file to open it in the Console app, where you can view detailed information about the crash.

Terminal Commands:

You can also use Terminal to navigate to the crash log directory and view logs. Here are some useful commands:

• Viewing Crash Log Files: Open Terminal and use the cd (change directory) command to navigate to the crash log directory:

  1	cd ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

  Once you’re in the directory, you can use commands like ls to list the crash log files, and cat or less to view their contents:

  1 2	ls cat ApplicationName_date_time.crash

macOS Services and Launch Daemons/Agents:

macOS also uses services and launch daemons/agents to manage background processes. Here are the typical locations for these:

• System-wide Daemons (provided by macOS):

  • /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/

• Per-User Agents (provided by macOS):

  • /System/Library/LaunchAgents/ (system-wide)
  • ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ (per-user)

• Per-User Agents (provided by the Administrator):

  • /Library/LaunchAgents/ (system-wide)
  • /Library/LaunchDaemons/ (system-wide)

If you need to disable or unload a service or agent, you can use the launchctl command with sudo. For example:

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sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponderHelper.plist

These commands will stop and unload the specified daemons. Be cautious when modifying system services, as it can impact the stability and functionality of your macOS system.

Remember to replace com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist and com.apple.mDNSResponderHelper.plist with the actual names of the daemons you want to unload.