Have You Tried Turning It Off and on Again Christmas

Every time I come home for the holidays, my folks ask me to ready something technology-related in their abode. They're very intelligent people and generally good with Macs, but somehow I always end upwards having to troubleshoot something (terminal twelvemonth: resetting their Ecobee3 thermostat to work with HomeKit).

Whether your family members are tech-savvy or not, everyone appreciates a fiddling holiday aid at present and then. In that spirit, hither are x of my favorite no-brainer tips to pass along this season. (I recommend press, framing, or otherwise stickying the start five.)

• ane. Have you tried turning it off and on once more?
• ii. Bank check your complimentary space
• three. Update your software
• four. Five Command shortcuts to get you whizzing around like a pro
• 5. Go a password manager
• six. Back up, support, back upward
• vii. Mac 101: Is Safari hogging upwards too much retentivity?
• 8. iOS 101: Use Siri Spotlight!
• nine. Manuals and how-to sites are your friends.
• 10. When in doubtfulness, visit the Apple tree Store

ane. Have you lot tried turning information technology off and on again?

Programme wearisome? App freeze? iPad misbehaving? When in doubt, quitting and restarting is your friend. About of the time, a elementary File > Quit on the Mac or closing the app on iOS volition do the trick, just hither are a few other ways to shut down apps if you're running into issues:

• Force Quit on the Mac: Command-Choice-Escape. This forcefully shuts down the app in question — even if that app doesn't necessarily want to quit.
• Forcefulness Quit on iOS: Open the multitasking bar past double-pressing the Habitation button, then swipe up on the app window in question.

• Strength Restart your Mac: Command-Control-Power button. Same idea as a forcefulness-quit for an app, only arrangement-wide.
• Force Restart your iOS device: Hold down the On/Off Switch and the Home button until yous come across the Apple logo.

2. Check your gratis space

If your iOS device or Mac is acting particularly sluggish, cheque and run into how much free space you lot accept left on your hard drive. On the Mac, go to the Apple menu > Most this Mac > Storage; on iOS, get to Settings > General > Storage and iCloud Usage.

If you take 5GB or fewer remaining, yous might want to consider freeing up some disk space. If yous aren't sure what to get rid of, here are two guides on freeing upwardly infinite on the Mac and on iOS, respectively.

3. Update your software

Do your parents and family members a solid this vacation and make sure their iOS devices and Macs are up to engagement. By doing and then, yous're not but keeping their devices secure, only also saving yourself a phone call when they can't use Continuity, or their app won't download.

You can besides encourage them to keep their own Macs upwardly to engagement past turning on automatic system updates for your Mac (Organization Preferences > App Store) and letting them know how to check for organisation updates on their iOS devices (Settings > General > Software Update).

iv. 5 Command shortcuts to get yous whizzing around like a pro

Despite the fact that they save time, it's easy to be wary of shortcuts. I heard "I don't want to press the incorrect thing!" many a fourth dimension when I was still working for Apple's retail stores, and I understand that fear. Just even if your family member isn't ready to bound on board with TextExpander, there are a few excellent shortcuts that are expressionless-simple to acquire and call back.

• Command-Tab: Switch between open up applications on your Mac.
• Control-C: Copy text.
• Command-V: Paste text.
• Command-S: Save your electric current certificate.
• Command-Q: Quit the currently open plan.

If your family members are more tech savvy, exist sure to wow them with these crawly keyboard shortcuts.

5. Become a password manager

I may not insist my family members pick upwards TextExpander, simply this Christmas I did brand my dad get 1Password. With all the hullaballoo about hackers, weak passwords, and the like in the news, it's silly at this signal not to accept a password managing director and utilise strong passwords. Two-cistron hallmark might be too much this Christmas, only you can go your family boarded on the countersign safety train with apps like 1Password or LastPass or another manager of your choice.

• Best password manager apps for iPhone
• Best password manager apps for Mac

half-dozen. Dorsum up, back up, support

Along those lines, if your family unit currently isn't bankroll up their data, they need to start. There are few things worse than a complete post-Christmas hard drive meltdown because Aunt Amy had a little also much bourbon in her drinking glass and her MacBook got soaked; as embarrassing as those digital holiday photos probably were, everyone will be deplorable if at that place aren't more copies floating around the deject.

Different people have different needs when information technology comes to backing up their data, so exist sure to bank check out which program is right for your family. Of form, the easiest method is with Apple'south built-in backup service, Time Machine.

7. Mac 101: Is Safari hogging up as well much retentivity?

Many a time when I've come across a wearisome machine, it's considering Safari has been chugging along in the background, slowly grinding the rest of the system to a halt. Quitting Safari can dump the terrible bleed on organisation resources known equally Safari Web Content in your Activity Monitor and free up memory to use on other, more than of import tasks.

8. iOS 101: Utilize Siri Spotlight!

If you lot're looking for a single great tip to impart to your iOS-wielding family unit this holiday, I recommend Siri Spotlight. It recommends apps based on previous activities, and you can search for any app (or web content) yous want. Yous can as well employ Siri on the Mac to search your difficult drive for documents and folders (and those great puppy pics).

9. Manuals and how-to sites are your friends.

If y'all want to avoid panicked January tech support calls, I suggest a few well-placed bookmarks in Safari to Apple's back up site, iMore.com, and any other tech help and how-to websites of selection. Of grade, the iMore forums are filled with supportive community members that are patient and agreement.

• How to troubleshoot your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch: The ultimate guide
• How to troubleshoot your Mac

(For the more tech-savvy family unit: Show them how to use "site:imore.com" in Google.)

10. When in doubtfulness, visit the Apple Shop

If they've meet a foreign hardware or software problem they can't diagnose and you desire to avoid trying to do it over the phone, the Apple Store is simply a car ride away for many folks across the U.South. and elsewhere. Their staff can suggest answers for simpler problems or get yous hooked up with a Genius Bar appointment for more than serious tech support.

Originally published December 2015. Updated December 2016.

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Source: https://www.imore.com/ten-technology-tips-your-family-members-holiday

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