64

I would like to ask you, where could I find my crash logs?

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48

Open the Console from the Application->Utilities, you will see the log files.

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    In Console, you will see directories that @TJ Luoma mentions too, but it may not list all the files in the UI. I'd recommend using Reveal in Finder right-click option once you locate the right folder from the console. – HuaTham Jun 1 '17 at 7:48
33

Console app has them neatly arranged depending on if a system level process has crashed or a user level process...

enter image description here

From there you can see if it's in ~/Library/Logs or /Library/Logs - you will get crashes and panics and hangs in separate files. Don't forget to look in /private/var/log as well.

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  • Is there a /private/var/log in Console app sidebar? I'd only see /var/log – Pacerier Dec 22 '17 at 3:35
18

~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ (where ~ refers to your Home directory).

~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice are the crashlogs for your iOS devices (if any).

~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter also has links to items in ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

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  • Why don't I have the folder ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter? – Pacerier Dec 22 '17 at 5:55
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    @Pacerier I only have it in /Library/Logs/CrashReporter... could the ~ have been added by mistake? Or wait... this answer is 6 years old... Upgrade? – Erk Jan 23 '18 at 15:28
6

To find the crash files, you can run Console app which will display all the system messages. If any specific application crashed, look in User Reports. If it's system crash, check in System Reports. Once you have found the crash file, you can Reveal in Finder (usually located in ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports).

If the crash resulted in reboot, in All Messages look line stating its Shutdown Cause and check the following list of Shutdown Causes for further information.

Alternatively you can also check the log files in /var/log (such as system.log), or in real-time by log stream.

You can also check where dumps are generated by monitoring system.log file, e.g.

tail -f /var/log/system.log | grep crash # Hit Control-C to stop.

To scan for the previous crash files, run:

grep crash /var/log/system.log

To generate the actual core dump files (in /cores), see: How to generate core dumps in macOS?

To make sure your macOS is healthy, perform the following tests:

If your system reboots often, you can also try to:

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  • 1
    Helluva an answer right there ☝️ – ipatch Aug 23 '18 at 17:41

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