How to Check Your Mac’s Uptime, Reboot and Shutdown History

Ever wonder how long your Mac has been running without a reboot? Or when it was last shut down or restarted? Whether you’re troubleshooting crashes, checking system reliability, or just curious, macOS makes it easy to dig up your system’s uptime and power history.

Here’s how to find that info quickly—no third-party apps required.

1. Check Your Mac’s Uptime

Option A: Use Terminal

1. Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal).
2. Type the following command and hit Enter: uptime You’ll see something like: 14:36 up 3 days, 4:17, 4 users, load averages: 1.43 1.38 1.36
   • “up 3 days, 4:17” = how long your Mac’s been on since the last reboot.
   • Load averages show system load, but unless you’re debugging performance, you can ignore that.

Option B: Use System Information

1. Click the Apple menu  and choose About This Mac.
2. Click System Report.
3. In the left sidebar, go to Software.
4. Look for Time since boot.

2. View Reboot and Shutdown History

You can check the full log of restarts, shutdowns, and startups using Terminal.

Command:

log show --predicate 'eventMessage contains "Previous shutdown cause"' --last 7d

• This shows shutdown causes for the last 7 days. You can change the timeframe (e.g., --last 30d for 30 days).
• You’ll see entries like: Previous shutdown cause: -5 These numbers map to different reasons—some normal, some not. For example:
  • -5: Clean shutdown
  • 3: Hard shutdown (power button or crash)
  • 0: Power loss

To See Full Reboot History:

last reboot

This command shows every system reboot, including timestamps. Want to go deeper? Run:

last shutdown

This lists shutdowns with timestamps. These logs are pulled from system logs stored in /var/log/.

3. Why This Info Matters

• Uptime helps identify whether you need a restart for stability.
• Shutdown causes can uncover hardware issues, power failures, or crashes.
• Reboot logs are useful for IT admins, developers, and anyone monitoring system reliability.

Quick Tip: Schedule Regular Restarts

Macs are stable, but even the best systems need a reset now and then. A regular reboot can improve performance and keep things smooth—especially after updates.

Go to System Settings > General > Software Update and enable “Automatically keep my Mac up to date” to make sure updates are applied and reboots happen when needed.

Final Thoughts

macOS keeps detailed logs that are easy to access if you know where to look. With just a few Terminal commands, you can find out exactly how long your Mac has been running and why it shut down or restarted. It’s a simple habit that can help you catch problems early and keep your system running like a champ.

Need a cheat sheet of these commands? Let me know and I’ll create a downloadable version for your readers.

Mark Vincent

Tech enthusiast and content creator passionate about making technology simple for everyone. I share practical tips, guides, and reviews on the latest in computers, software, and gadgets. Let’s explore the digital world together!