Macs are very stable, but not every Mac application is. Every once in a while, something you’re using is going to crash. Sometimes this means the spinning beach ball of death, sometimes this means clicking an open window doesn’t do anything, no matter what you try. Sometimes the Dock indicates an application is open, but you can’t seem to find or open any windows.

While checking out Activity Monitor, you noticed a couple of processes you don’t recognize: mds and mdworker. Neither have an icon, and they seem to be running constantly. Don’t worry, they’re harmless.

You settle in to do some work, but first, you check email for a second. Okay, now work. Wait: let’s check Facebook. Work now? In a bit: first Twitter, then back to email, then Facebook one more time in case anyone responded.

Some of the coolest new features in the upcoming macOS 10.13 High Sierra are in Safari, and you can try them out now without upgrading your entire operating system.

You recognize most of the processes you see while browsing Activity Monitor, but not hidd. The name is cryptic, and there’s no icon for you to recognize. Should you be worried?

If you share your Mac with someone else, it’s a good idea to create a different user account for each of you. That way, you don’t see your husband’s email notifications, or have to sift through his bookmarks.. Here’s how to add a new account to your Mac.

Ever wish you could switch users instantly by pressing a button? Thanks to TouchID on the MacBook Pro, all it takes is the correct fingerprints.

Two-sided printing is great in theory, because it uses less paper for multi-page documents. It’s also frustrating when you forget to turn the option off when you don’t need it.

If you spend any time at all poking through Activity Monitor, you know that loads of processes run on any macOS system. But what do they do? Is it safe to force them to quit? We’ve got some answers for you.

So you found something called “kernel_task” in Activity Monitor, and you want to know what it is. Good news: it’s nothing nefarious. It’s actually your operating system.

It’s the most famous number on the internet: 140. That’s how many characters you can use in a tweet, and it’s as core to Twitter’s brand as #hashtags, Trending Topics, and ignoring harassment victims.

You’re closing a Terminal window, only to be told that doing so will terminate a running process. Which is confusing, because you didn’t know anything was still running at all.

What’s up with ZIP files on macOS? Anyone coming from Windows, which opens ZIP files as though they were a folder, might feel confused about the way their new Mac handles things. When you open a ZIP file on macOS, the contents are automatically unarchived to a new folder.

Enjoy the Touch Bar, but wish you could get more out of it? There are all sorts of ways you can customize and better utilize this thin touch screen; here are five we recommend.

The next version of macOS is coming this fall, with improvements to Safari, Mail, Photos, and a lot under the hood. Here are the best features you’ll see in macOS 10.13 “High Sierra”.

Ever wish Kodi looked…different? Maybe you’re not a big fan of how the home page is laid out, or you wish the typography and color choices were more (or less!) subtle. However you wish Kodi looked, there’s probably a skin that’s right for you, and many of them can be customized to your liking. Best of all, installing them isn’t hard at all.

If you’re like me, you connect your Time Machine backup disk every time you’re at your desk. You know you should unmount that drive when it’s time to hit the road, but opening the Finder just to hit “Eject” feels like a waste of time.

You open your MacBook to take notes in class or during a meeting, and your music starts playing. Loudly. Not only did you disrupt everyone, you also revealed your passion for 90’s boy bands to a room full of people who once respected you.

DON’T YOU HATE IT WHEN YOU ACCIDENTALLY HIT CAPS LOCK?

Do you open a lot of windows on your Mac? Do you ever have trouble keeping track of them all? Then you need to know about Mission Control, which shows you all of your currently open windows, then gives you ways to organize them.

If your Mac has multiple monitors, and you run Windows inside macOS using Parallels, you know how great a full-screen virtual machine on the second display can be. It’s almost like you’ve got two computers using the same mouse and keyboard: one running Windows, the other running macOS.

Do you like the idea of Mail, the default email client in macOS, but find yourself unable to actually use it because of how much you love Gmail’s keyboard shortcuts? Me too. I’ve used Macs for years, but I’ve never given the default email program a chance, even though it’s lightweight, speedy, and nicely integrated into the OS. I want to press “e” to archive an email, or “#” to delete one, and j or k to browse emails.

Is there a button, or piece of information, you wish you could add to the Touch Bar on your MacBook Pro? You can, and we’ll show you how to do it.

If you’re like me, you watch hockey, and…basically no other sports. You also, like me, would like to skip the cable subscription. So what’s the cheapest way to watch NHL hockey online so you can cut the cord?

Apple put a touch screen on their keyboard, but they don’t want developers using it as a display. No sir.