How to use the Console on Mac
Have you heard of the Mac Console? It is a little application founder under the Utilities folder – you might not have tried running it all. Don't worry, though, there is nothing strange about this. Users often confuse the Console with the Terminal, but these two are entirely different. While the Terminal allows you to execute all sorts of commands to manipulate your system, the Console serves an entirely different purpose – it gives you data about the way all processes on your system are performing. It is similar to the Windows Event Log – the Console on Mac also keeps logs. You can browse them to see records about the behavior of different processes, as well as the exact timestamp when something noteworthy happened (e.g. an app crashed.)
When do you need the Console?
Most users would never end up needing to use the Console. It can be helpful when you want to see the behavior of a specific app, or if you are trying to troubleshoot an issue that has turned out to be more complicated than you anticipated. For example, if an app is crashing regularly, then learning how to use the console on Mac can help you identify the cause of the problem
It is worth pointing out that the Mac Console updates in real time – this means that you can view it continuously to see if there is anything out of the ordinary happening in the background.
How to Use the Console on Mac?
Using it is simple – just go to Applications -> Utilities and launch it. But how do you process the information you are given? The answer is simple – all messages are color-coded:
- Red signals a fault.
- Yellow signals an error.
- Dark gray signals a debugging message.
- Light gray signals a log message.
Clearly, red and yellow logs are the ones you need to be worried about. If you want to review a log, just double-click it to open more information.
If you have checked the console app on your Mac, then you might have noticed that there are thousands of entries. While these do not take much space at the start, they might end up eating up some of your disk space. If you wish to free up some space, you can learn How to Clean Log Files on Mac.
