It is well known that pressing the f5 key on windows pc helps to refresh a web browser or a web page. however, when you press f5 on a mac computer, instead of refreshing your mac, it will typically decrease the brightness of your keyboard. So, you may be wondering what is the equivalent of the f5 key on macbook.
Fortunately, our post explains where is the refresh button on a mac and how to update all major browsers on mac including safari, google chrome and firefox. read on.
index:
- 1. what it means to upgrade on a mac
- 2. how do you update on a mac?
- 3. what to do if the update doesn’t work
- 4. frequently asked questions about how to update on mac
what does it mean to upgrade on a mac?
When talking about refresh on mac, it usually means reloading the page you are viewing without clearing cookies on mac or deleting any temporary internet files. This action may be required in a web browser like safari or chrome, but also in other apps like the app store, music, and podcasts.
In addition to the normal update, there is another update option known as a hard update. full update will force the web browser to clear its cache on mac and download the latest page from the site server. the refresh action is commonly used when the web page content gets stuck or nothing happens when you try to switch pages.
how do you update on a mac?
Depending on the application or web browser you use, the way to update on mac may vary. you can follow below steps to update on macbook pro/macbook air or imac.
how to refresh browser on mac
No matter what web browser you are using, it is quite frustrating and tedious if website pages do not load or update data. In this situation, you need to update your browser on mac.
as an update can be divided into two types: standard update and hard update, we will cover both of them in the next part. and you can choose anyone to refresh pages on a mac according to your needs.
safari
chrome
firefox
how to update mail app on mac
if your macos mail app is unable to download messages from the server or is having trouble syncing correctly to update mail. time to update mail on mac. simply click on the mailbox menu in the upper left corner of your mac screen and choose the receive new mail option. or you can press command + shift + n.
how to update messages on mac
sometimes imessage may not work on your mac and the most recent messages you have received or sent from your iphone or ipad may not appear. the solution is to update it by forcing the synchronization.
how to update mac desktop
On windows pc, right clicking on any empty area of the desktop will bring up a context menu offering you several options. click ‘refresh‘ option and then your windows desktop will be refreshed. however, if you right click on the mac desktop, the context menu will not show any refresh button. so how do you update your mac desktop?
Similar to the above, you can use the keyboard shortcut command + r to refresh most mac apps and browsers. but this shortcut is not a solution to refresh mac desktop.
the mac desktop is managed by the search application which does not have a direct update button. so if you want to refresh your mac desktop when finder doesn’t show the new files you just added, try force closing finder on mac. do one of the following to update the macos desktop:
what to do if the update doesn’t work
Although you have tried the above ways to update on macbook, the update may not work sometimes. The most likely reason why the update might not work on Mac computers is slow speed or disconnection of Wi-Fi or broadband network.
To fix update not working on macOS, try disconnecting and then reconnecting your network. if this doesn’t help, restart your mac and try updating again.