Hi Cory,

A large number of MacBook Pro owners running OS X El Capitan are reporting widespread system freezes since installing the 10.11.4 update to Apple's Mac OS.

Follow the below methods to get your Mac unstuck, and working again.

Method 1. Mac OS X quitting, and restarting the app, is the best way for OS X to handle a crash. A rarer - but also more annoying - problem is if an app simply ceases to function.

Here's what to do if you encounter a frozen app:

1. Switch to another area of OS X. Click on another App window, or the desktop. Alternatively, press Command-Tab to switch to another app.
2. Control-click the app icon in the Dock.
3. Hold Option (Quit in the menu will change to Force Quit).
4. Select Force Quit.

The app will be instantly closed. There are other ways to force an app to quit. If the Dock is unresponsive, press Command-Option-Esc to open the Force Quit Applications window. Choose an app from the list, and click Force Quit.

Method 2. If you cannot force quit an app, or if OS X is completely unresponsive, then follow these steps in order:

1. Choose Apple Menu > Restart and click Restart.
2. If you cannot interact with the Apple Menu, press Command-Control-Eject. This instructs OS X to restart immediately.
3. If that doesn't work, press and hold the Power button on your Mac until it switches off. Press and release the power button to turn it back on again.

When you restart you may find the file you were working on is damaged or corrupted. You should try to recover what you can from it, and transfer any contents to a new file.

If still you are facing issues with frequent freezes, you need to check the following points:

• Check that you have enough free hard drive space in OS X.
• Make sure you have used Updates in the App Store app to make sure OS X and your installed apps are up to date.
• Update apps installed outside of the App Store manually. Each app usually has a check for updates feature.
• If you are encountering frequent crashes, or freezes, you should update your software and then disconnect all your peripherals. Re-attach them one at a time to see if one of them is causing the problem.
• Disable plug-ins. If you use apps with plug-ins, you should disable (or remove) them to discover if they are causing problems.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,
Lokesh