home & small business IT support

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Quick Tech Reference

Find the section for the issue you are troubleshooting. Use the copy button on any code block, then provide it to the client.

System Info and Basics

sw_vers
Show macOS version and build — confirm update level.
sw_vers
system_profiler SPHardwareDataType
Summarize hardware: model identifier, RAM, serial number, etc.
system_profiler SPHardwareDataType
whoami
Confirm current user — useful when debugging permissions.
whoami
id
Confirm current user and effective groups.
id
man
Read the manual for any command (core troubleshooting skill).
man <command>

Process and Performance

top
Live CPU, memory, and process stats — good first look for runaway processes.
top
ps aux
Snapshot of all running processes with CPU, memory, and command line.
ps aux
Terminate process by PID
Stop a misbehaving process by its PID.
kill <PID>
Force-quit by name
Force-quit a process by name (e.g. restart Finder).
killall Finder

Disks, Filesystems and Storage

df -h
Disk space usage for all mounted volumes, human-readable.
df -h
du -sh *
Size of items in current directory — find large folders quickly.
du -sh *
diskutil list
Show all disks, APFS containers, and volumes with identifiers.
diskutil list
diskutil info
Detailed info about a specific disk or volume.
diskutil info diskXsY
diskutil verifyVolume
Verify a volume's filesystem (useful before deeper repair).
diskutil verifyVolume /
diskutil repairVolume
Attempt filesystem repair (usually run from Recovery).
diskutil repairVolume diskXsY
Filesystem check
Low-level filesystem check/repair — only on unmounted volumes in Single User or Recovery.
/sbin/fsck -fy /dev/diskXsY
Only run on unmounted volumes. Use from Recovery or Single User Mode.

Files and Permissions

ls -la
List files with permissions, ownership, and hidden files.
ls -la
Fix file mode bits
Fix mode bits when something isn't executable or readable.
chmod 755 <path>
Fix file ownership
Correct owner/group on problem files or directories.
chown user:group <path>
View extended attributes
View extended attributes (e.g. quarantine flag preventing app launch).
xattr -l <path>
Remove quarantine flag
Remove quarantine flag when appropriate.
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine <path>
Only remove quarantine from apps you trust. This bypasses Gatekeeper.

Network and DNS

ifconfig
Inspect interfaces, IP addresses, and link status.
ifconfig
networksetup -listallhardwareports
Map service names (Wi-Fi, Ethernet) to device names.
networksetup -listallhardwareports
ping
Basic connectivity and latency check.
ping <host>
traceroute
Identify routing or upstream network issues.
traceroute <host>
scutil --dns
Show DNS configuration and search domains.
scutil --dns
Port check (netcat)
Quick test of TCP reachability to a specific service/port.
nc -vz <host> <port>

Logs and Diagnostics (Unified Logging)

log show (last hour)
Recent system/app logs for the last hour.
log show --style syslog --last 1h
log show (errors only)
Filter for error messages in recent logs.
log show --predicate 'eventMessage contains "error"' --last 1h
log show (single process)
Focus logs on one process (replace Safari with target app).
log show --predicate 'process == "Safari"' --last 1h
log stream
Live log stream while reproducing an issue.
log stream --style syslog

Updates, Services and System Management

softwareupdate -l
List available macOS and Apple software updates.
softwareupdate -l
Install all updates
Install all available updates (often after remote diagnosis).
sudo softwareupdate -i -a
launchctl list
List launch daemons/agents to spot failing services.
launchctl list
Restart a service
Restart a specific launchd service.
sudo launchctl kickstart -k system/com.apple.some-service
Reboot from Terminal
Immediate reboot when GUI is unresponsive.
sudo shutdown -r now

User Accounts and Home Folders

dscl list users
List all local user accounts.
dscl . list /Users
dscl read user
Inspect user record fields (UID, home directory, shell).
dscl . read /Users/username
id
Check UID/GID and groups for a given user.
id username
ls /Users
Confirm ownership and presence of home directories.
ls -l /Users

Safe Mode, Recovery and Remote Helpers

nvram -p
Read NVRAM — helpful when debugging boot-args or custom flags.
nvram -p
nvram boot-args
Show current boot arguments for advanced troubleshooting.
nvram boot-args
csrutil status
Check SIP (System Integrity Protection) status — run from Recovery Terminal.
csrutil status
This command is typically run from Recovery Mode, not the normal desktop.
tmutil listbackups
Inspect Time Machine backups when the GUI is flaky.
tmutil listbackups

Quick Copy — Most Used

The commands Joe actually reaches for during client Zoom calls.

Check macOS version
Quick way to confirm the OS level.
sw_vers
Hardware summary (model, RAM, serial)
Get model identifier, memory, and serial number in one shot.
system_profiler SPHardwareDataType
Check for available updates
See what updates are pending.
softwareupdate -l
Clear app cache (swap container path per app)
Remove cached data for a misbehaving application.
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.OneDrive-mac/Data/Library/Caches
Swap the container path for the target app. Find container names with: ls ~/Library/Containers/