How to Fix an App That Keeps Crashing on Mac

One app crashing is an app problem. Every app crashing is a Mac problem. Telling those apart saves hours, and the fixes below are ordered from harmless to drastic.

Find your path#

Which kind of crash is it?

How many apps misbehave?

Only one appSeveral apps, or the whole Mac feels unstable

The fix ladder#

Start at the top. Each rung removes more of the app's state.

From gentle to drastic

• 1. Force quit and relaunch

  Press ⌘ ⌥ Esc, select the app, choose Force Quit.

  Safe

• 2. Update the app and macOS

  Crashes are often fixed in the next release.

  Safe

• 3. Restart the Mac

  Clears memory and hung background helpers.

  Safe

• 4. Clear the app's cache

  Rebuilt on next launch.

  Low risk

• 5. Reset the app's preferences

  You may lose custom settings.

  Medium

• 6. Remove and reinstall

  Back up the app's data first.

  Medium

Step 1: Force quit, update and relaunch#

1. Press ⌘ ⌥ Esc, choose the app and click Force Quit.
2. Open the App Store → Updates, or the app's own Check for Updates menu, and install anything pending.
3. Open System Settings → General → Software Update for macOS updates.
4. Restart the Mac and relaunch the app.

Step 2: Is it only this app?#

Open two or three other apps and use them for a few minutes. Apps that behave on their own point to a problem in the crashing app. If many fail, check memory and disk. A nearly full disk is a common cause; see why System Data grows and how to clear caches safely.

Reset or reinstall one app#

Make a backup of any data the app stores, such as libraries or projects, before you remove anything.

1. Quit the app.
2. In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder, and open ~/Library/Preferences.
3. Find the file named after the app, such as com.company.AppName.plist. Drag it to the Desktop. Do not delete it yet.
4. Open ~/Library/Caches and move that app's folder to the Desktop too.
5. Relaunch. If it works, you can delete the files you moved. If nothing changes, put them back.

If the app still crashes, uninstall it fully and reinstall:

1. Drag the app from Applications to the Trash.
2. Remove leftovers in ~/Library/Application Support for that app, if you do not need its data.
3. Download a fresh copy from the developer's own site or the App Store.

A tool such as AppCleaner finds an app's leftover files for you. Only download apps from sources you trust; here is how to vet a Mac app.

Read the crash report#

Crash reports tell you which part of the app failed. You do not need to understand them fully. You need three things.

1. Open Console (in Applications → Utilities).
2. In the sidebar, open Crash Reports (or Log Reports on some versions) and find the entry with your app's name and the crash time.
3. Look at the top of the report for Exception Type and the line starting Termination Reason. Look further down for the thread marked as crashed.

1. 1Find the report for the right time

   ↓

2. 2Read the Exception Type

   Memory problems, bad access and abort signals each point at different causes.

   ↓

3. 3Spot the crashed thread

   Look for a plugin, framework or extension name in the lines.

   ↓

4. 4Search the name with the app

   Developers' forums often have the answer.

If you see the same third-party plug-in or extension every time, disable or update it. If the same system framework appears across many apps, update macOS.

When to contact the developer#

Send them the app version, your macOS version and the crash report. Say what you tried. That one email usually gets a faster fix than a general forum post. Many developers also publish known issues for new macOS releases.

Frequently asked questions#

Why does an app crash right after a macOS update?#

It may not yet support the new macOS. Check for an app update, and look at the developer's site for compatibility notes.

Will deleting preferences lose my work?#

Preferences hold settings, and your documents live elsewhere. Back up the app's data folders anyway. Moving the file aside keeps an undo available.

Is it a virus?#

Rarely. Crashing is much more often a bug, a full disk or a damaged setting. If an unknown app is behaving strangely, see how to check whether an app is safe.

Should I reinstall macOS?#

Only after the app-level and system-level steps fail. Reinstalling from Recovery keeps your files, but back up first.