One of the scariest things a Mac user can experience is a kernel panic. Your Mac will suddenly shut down, the screen will go dark, and a message will appear: "You must restart your computer. Hold down the power button until your computer turns off."

If you see the kernel panic message, there is nothing you can do other than restart your Mac.

When you see the message that you need to restart, press and hold the power button until your Mac turns off.

Now it’s time to try to figure out what went wrong or at least get your Mac up and running again. Getting your Mac up and running again can be as simple as turning it back on. Many kernel panics will not recur and your Mac will work as expected.