Mac Studio (Tahoe 26.5.1) requires hard restart

I shutdown my Mac Studio using Tahoe 26.5.1 every night and boot it up every morning. Almost every day, I almost immediately have to do a HARD restart to get anything to work, such as opening folders. Force quit does not work, and I have to just hold down the power button until it turns off. Why do I have to do this?

Mac Studio, macOS 26.5

Posted on Jul 9, 2026 11:35 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 9, 2026 11:50 AM

If a simple reboot of your Mac doesn’t fix things, see if the problem still happens in safe mode.  Safe mode will often correct weird software behavior by forcing the OS to clear caches, do disk repair and other self-maintenance and housekeeping and temporarily disables third-party mods.


How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support 

TIP - Use a wired USB keyboard for this. If you have the Magic Keyboard, plug that into the Mac with its charging cable.


Use your Mac in safe mode for a little while, say 30 minutes, and then exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and reevaluate the problem.


If the problem goes away in safe mode but returns after restarting normally, that may indicate a conflict with some installed software. To help diagnose that, download and run the free version of EtreCheckPro EtreCheck Pro.


Then post back here with your report as instructed here: How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 9, 2026 11:50 AM in response to MABM

If a simple reboot of your Mac doesn’t fix things, see if the problem still happens in safe mode.  Safe mode will often correct weird software behavior by forcing the OS to clear caches, do disk repair and other self-maintenance and housekeeping and temporarily disables third-party mods.


How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support 

TIP - Use a wired USB keyboard for this. If you have the Magic Keyboard, plug that into the Mac with its charging cable.


Use your Mac in safe mode for a little while, say 30 minutes, and then exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and reevaluate the problem.


If the problem goes away in safe mode but returns after restarting normally, that may indicate a conflict with some installed software. To help diagnose that, download and run the free version of EtreCheckPro EtreCheck Pro.


Then post back here with your report as instructed here: How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community

Mac Studio (Tahoe 26.5.1) requires hard restart

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