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Make Your Mac Restart Itself After a System Freeze

Enable automatic restart after a freeze so an unattended Mac recovers instead of hanging forever.

macOSsystemsetuptroubleshootingsettingsMedium risk
Run sudo systemsetup -setrestartfreeze on and confirm with -getrestartfreeze; turn it off again the same way.

01Command

Command
$ sudo systemsetup -setrestartfreeze on && sudo systemsetup -getrestartfreeze

02What it does

When the macOS kernel locks up, the hardware watchdog can force an automatic restart instead of leaving a frozen screen. systemsetup -setrestartfreeze on arms that behavior, which is exactly what you want for Macs nobody is watching — home servers, display signs, render machines. It is the scriptable equivalent of the 'Restart automatically if the computer freezes' checkbox.

03Risk

RiskMedium risk
RequirementsDesktop Macs only; requires an administrator password.
!Warning: This only handles kernel-level freezes — apps that hang still need Activity Monitor or killall — and a restart after a freeze can interrupt unsaved work.

04Undo

Undo
$ sudo systemsetup -setrestartfreeze off

05Sources

  • About systemsetup in Remote Desktop
    Apple · vendor-doc · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: Apple's official Remote Desktop guide lists systemsetup commands including -setrestartfreeze for restarting automatically after a system freeze.
  • systemsetup(8) man page
    manpagez.com · technical · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: The systemsetup man page documents -setrestartfreeze on|off (restart automatically after a system freeze) and -getrestartfreeze to display the setting.

Last verified: 2026-09-19 · Category: System & Settings

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