Constant Machine Restarts

Possible Symptoms

If your Mac is restarting by itself unexpectedly
If your Mac is freezing, becoming unresponsive
Your Mac goes black intermittently

Possible Solutions

Soft Checks

Look for any updates. Rouge software can cause your Mac to restart due to certain processes. Update any applications or the operating system if any are pending
Remove any peripherals. Any external devices might be shorting out or affecting your Mac. Test one by one if you suspect an external connection might be the cause.
Review applications you have open or are using when the issue occurs. These applications or processes might be causing your unit to restart.
Document any error messages sighted after unit restarts. Usually you will have an error message stating "Your Mac restarted for an unexpected reason". This is a vague standard message you will see, and usually requires some troubleshooting to find out exactly why. It is good practice to note down any errors sighted for later support.

Reset NVRAM

The NVRAM stores certain settings and access them quickly. Resetting the NVRAM may resolve issues around these settings.

Do this by:

1. Ensure your Mac is turned off.

2. Hold Command + Option + P + R and click the power button. You will notice it has worked by the backlight of the display flicking on then back off.

Note: If you are unable to see the backlight flicker, just remain holding the combination for 15 second, and click the power button once more and continue holding for another 10 seconds.

3. Use your Mac as usual to test if issue is resolved. If the issue reoccurs, move onto next step.

Note: For more information about NVRAM and how it is used for troubleshooting and what it does, please search for the "Reset NVRAM" guide in the search bar.

Reset SMC

The System Management Controller is responsible for things such as battery and thermal management, sensors and power function. Resetting this will restart these, so ensure your Mac is turned off before doing this reset.

Reset your SMC by:

Ensure your Mac is turned off.
Hold the left Option + Control + Shift and click and hold the power button for 10 seconds then release.
Wait a few seconds then turn your Mac back on as normal.
Use your Mac as usual to test if issue is resolved. If the issue reoccurs, move onto next step.

Note: If you have a 2018 Mac or newer, follow this combination instead.

Click and hold the left Option + Control + right SHIFT for 7 seconds before clicking the power button all together, holding all keys for another 7 seconds before releasing.
Wait a few seconds then turn your Mac back on.
Use your Mac as usual to test if issue is resolved. If the issue reoccurs, move onto next step.

Note: For more information about SMC and how it is used for troubleshooting and what it does, please search for the "Reset SMC" guide in the search bar.

Safe Boot

Try booting your machine up in a safe environment called Safe Boot. In this protected environment, certain processes may be limited to protect your Mac and help triage the affected process or application.

Do this by:

Ensure your Mac is turned off.
Power on your Mac while holding Shift.
When the login screen appears, you will notice Safe Boot in red in the top right corner after signing in.
Test usual processes and applications to verify if your Mac restarts in this environment.
If the issue is replicated in this mode, continue onto next step below.

Note: Safe boot will limit certain settings, graphics and processes. Accordingly, you may see graphical abnormalities, have limited settings and features in this safer OS environment.

Note: For more information about Safe Boot and how it is used for troubleshooting and what it does, please search for the "Safe Boot" guide in the search bar.

New User

Try creating a new user to test in to verify if it is an application or process which is causing the problem.

Create a new user by:

Opening System Preferences and clicking Users and Groups
Clicking the lock to make changes and input standard password
Click the + button on the left column. Complete user details and click Save.
Shut down or log out, and log into the new user.
If the issue is replicated in this seperate account, continue onto next step below.

Run First Aid

Boot into the recovery partition of your MacOS to attempt to repair the drive using the First Aid tool.

Do this by:

Ensure your Mac is turned off
Power on your Mac while Command (⌘) + R to boot to macOS Recovery. This may take a longer while to boot than usual, with multiple loading bars.
Click Disk Utility
From the left column, click on your hard drive. This is usually labelled 'Macintosh HD'
Click First Aid from the top bar. Click Okay.

Note: This step will not erase any information. This will show and potentially repair any errors with your hard drive.

Note: For more information on First Aid, please search for the "Running First Aid" guide in the search bar.

If none of these steps have resolved your issue, please contact support.