Occasionally the (electric) power goes off for some reason. Sometimes I am away from my office and have to restart the Mac when I get back.
Where in the system can I find an (automatic?) log of power cuts, if this exists.
iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 11.5
In Catalina and maybe is Big Sur - Console "" Log Reports " and look for " Shutdown Monitor Log " ??
Sorry to say - if the log file is empty - nothing was captured. And, do not know except the Power Outage happened so fast - there was no time to capture this.
Since this is happening often, worth investing in a UPS, Uninterrupted Power Supply. Would need to spec them out to suit your needs and Power Requirements for this computer and any other devices to attach to same unit. It will supply reliable power for a limited period of time to the computer. Better ones will allow you to connect the computer to the unit and additional cable between the two configure the UPS to communicate to computer. On the computer itself, on Power Setting can be configured to shut down computer when the UPS is below a set battery level. All this without additional Software to be installed.
Personally, have two UPS - one for Desktop and one for Smart TV and ISP Router. Has never failed for short power outages and or power Spikes or Drops.
I found the report as indicated by your solution, shutdown_monitor.log.
When I open it with TextEdit it is empty. I tried in Notes, same thing, empty!
Is there a setting in the System somewhere that enables logging of power cuts?
Why would the log file be empty?
Thank you so much for sharing this information. I will certainly look into this.
If I go away for a while, I usually power down my Mac and remove all electric plugs from the wall socket. The reason is we have had much load shedding in South Africa because the electric network is under pressure (years of neglect!)
I always try and anticipate problems that is why I remove the plugs should there be a surge when the power comes back.
If I am in the office and the power suddenly goes off (not per load shedding schedule) I immediately go to the wall socket to remove everything to avoid potential damage due to a surge when the power comes back.
Do UPS's prevent a power surge (or absorb it) so that it does not strike the Mac or the router?
Good ones ( UPS ) do exactly that. Spikes and degraded power from Source - wall socket - are caught and do not hit the computer or other devices connected to the UPS.
On personal note: understand the Load Shedding issue. One travels to South Asia from a month 2x times, the power shedding was experienced. Even here is Canada, from time to time the Power is off but usually short periods and unannounced. Usually during Heavy Winter Storms and very high winds.
Thank you very much for your great contributions to this thread. I appreciate it.
Very Welcome and Thank you too :-))
It was a pleasure assisting another fellow Apple User. That is what theses ASC Forums are here for.
Log of Power Cuts in MacOS 11.5
