7 Ultimate Solutions to Fix iMac keeps crashing after Catalina Upgrade

Many iMac users are reporting crashing of Catalina after upgrade in the Apple forum. The issue had never occurred in other macOS. If you have ever noticed the error properly, then it redirects to the error coming from com.apple.windowserver. Alternatively, the error message can differ from one PC to another, but the solution is collectively one. If restarting, clearing background applications, and cache didn’t help to resolve, we have the proper solution. Here are the 7 ultimate solutions to fix the iMac keeps crashing after the Catalina upgrade.

Snapshots of error messages reported in social media:

We have divided the possible fixes into two parts: GENERAL FIX and ADVANCE FIX.

Part 1: General Fix

The general fixes have some temporary solution until Apple solves bugs in Catalina.

Solution 1: Manage Energy Saver

Keeping the display turned off for a longer time can crash macOS, thus here is a stepwise guide to turning off the display to never.



Step 1: Go to your Apple icon at the right-top corner and click on it, also click on “System preferences” from the option.

Step 2: On the System preferences, you will find the “Energy Saver” tab, click on it.

Step 3: Now, on the display settings, look after the “Turn display off after” slider. Now, slide it through the end of the line to ensure hitting the “never” mark.

Solution 2: Turn ON screensaver

Step 1: Locate yourself to the Apple icon and then to “System Preferences.”

Step 2: Now, click on the “Display and Screen Saver” tab.

Step 3: Now, choose a screen saver from the available blocks.

Part 2: Advance Fix

The advance fixes somehow have a permanent solution to the problem until Apple solves bugs in Catalina.

Solution 3: Run First Aid on Disk Utility

If the problem with your device is caused by heavy disk usage, then running the First Aid cure on Disk Utility will solve it.

Step 1: Restart your iMac, when restart begins quickly press the Command + R keys.

Step 2: Keep pressing the keys until you see the Apple logo on the screen. After that, release your fingers.

Step 3: Once you are into the macOS utilities, go ahead and click on “Disk Utility.”

Step 4: After that, click on the drive and run “First Aid.”

Now, restart your iMac normally; it should resolve the crashing issue.

Solution 4: Reset NVRAM and SMC

If you are experiencing the issue while your iMac goes to sleep, then resetting NVRAM and SMC helps to fix it.

Reset NVRAM

Step 1: Restart your MacBook from the lock screen.

Step 2: Now, as soon Mac opens, press and hold CMD + P + R key at once.

Step 3:  Finally, press and hold the keys until you see the Apple logo glowing on the screen.

PC will automatically boot normally now.

Reset SMC

Step 1: Restart your MacBook from the lock screen.

Step 2: Now, as soon Mac starts to lit, press and hold the Shift + Option + Control + R key at once.

Step 3: Finally, press and hold the keys until you see the Apple logo glowing on the screen.

Solution 5: Uninstall the 32-bit application and remove background processes

The unnecessary applications running in the background may crash Catalina. The 32-bit applications that are outdated also cause conflict between the processes; thus, removing them entirely from the system helps to resolve an issue.

The Powersuite applications help to uninstall the 32-bit applications as well removes background processes.

Step 1: Launch the application and go to the “Startup” tab. There, toggle the unwanted applications to OFF to ensure they do not run in the background.

Step 2: Also, on the left panel, click on “App uninstaller,” there checkmark the unnecessary application, and hit delete.

Solution 6: Reinstall macOS

In this solution guide, we are guiding you through the steps to reinstall macOS using Mac recovery.

Step 1: Step 1: Restart your iMac, when restart begins quickly press the Command + R keys.

Step 2: Keep pressing the keys until you see the Apple logo on the screen. After that, release your fingers.

Step 3: Once you are into the macOS utilities, go ahead and click on “reinstall macOS.”

Step 4: Now, hit continue and follow through the guideline steps on the screen.

Solution 7: Downgrade macOS Catalina to macOS Mojave

If the issue still persists in your iMac, downgrading will be the definitive solution you would need to try. It’s certain after downgrading the Catalina to Mojave, the iMac crashing after Catalina upgrade fixes.

Step 1: Step 1: Restart your iMac, when restart begins quickly press the Command + R keys.

Step 2: Keep pressing the keys until you see the Apple logo on the screen. After that, release your fingers.

Step 3: Once you are into the macOS utilities, go ahead and click on “Restore from Time Machine Backup.” In order to back up Mojave, you should have backed up your data using the Time machine.

Step 4: Now, select the Mojave backup that you have previously created. Hit “Continue” and follow along with the available options and processes.

There are many bug threats related to Catalina in Apple Forum, let’s hope they fix all the issues as soon as possible. The above fixes are tried, and the tested method that helped to solve the issue with 7 ultimate solutions to fix iMac keeps crashing after the Catalina upgrade.



You might be interested in How to Fix Catalina Display Issue – Horizontal lines in application windows.