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Office for Mac

My iMac (Tahoe) has been running Office for Mac for a very long time with a valid licence. I only use Word and Excel and the rest is rubbish! It is suddenly now not allowing me to save any files (greyed out). Microsoft say I have to buy an Office product at great expense as they no longer support Office for Mac! If I want to continue using it I have to active the product again. When I click on "Activate" it requests me to "Sign in" to my account. And surprise, surprise, it refuses my...

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Interesting Spam Post

19 July 2026 at 07:19
Thought I would share something funny/curious regarding forum management.

Member MacInWin (Jake) reported a Spam post today...turns out it was from a Mac-Forums member who joined all the way back in 2012...and after 14 years decided to post some spam. Lol

Hard to say if it was an actual "human" registration from 2012...or a registration via bot.

I'm leaning towards it being a Bot...since who in the world waits 14 years to post spam??:confused4

"Let's see (note to self)...put on to-do...

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Mail messages not being put in Junk folder

18 July 2026 at 18:17
I was expecting an email, and when it didn't appear in my Inbox, I naturally looked in the Junk folder. To my surprise, nothing has been put there for nearly 2 months, and the few messages that are there are really things that I manually put in Trash! What happened to my Junk folder?

permissions problem, external partition

18 July 2026 at 16:00
I have an external SSD with several partitions, one of which doesn't show in Path Finder's sidebar (though it does in Finder). I've narrowed it down to a permissions problem: in Disk Utility the other partitions show 'Ownership: Disabled', but this partition it says 'Enabled'.

So I tried to change permissions. The other partitions show:
(Me) Read & write
staff Read & write
everyone Read only

but this partition shows:
System Read & write
wheel Read only
everyone Read only

so I...

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Backlight irregularity/"lines" on screen; MacBookPro16,1 A2141, screen issue

18 July 2026 at 15:00
Hi all,
I bought a used Macbook Pro 2019 with a "screen issue", and am just trying to determine where the fault lies before doing any work.

Hardware Overview:
Here's the synopsis:
  • There is a visible erratum on part of the screen, that does not seem to cause issues with usage.
    It however is a nuisance, and does cause some readability issues...

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ChatGPT web browser

18 July 2026 at 10:01
I understand that there have been many post on web-browsers and search engines and everyone has their own personal favorite. The ChatGPT browser is a game changer! I have been using it for a few weeks now and it's like science fiction come true! You will find yourself in back and forth coversations with it! It has been a truly exciting experience and I recommend it to anyone looking for a new internet experience!

Is there a fast way to delete a bunch of text files from a folder that has lots of photos I want to keep?

18 July 2026 at 02:43
I downloaded all my photos from Google photos so I can move them to the Apple Photos app.. So now I have a bunch of folders that have 100 or more photos in them but they also have 100 or more text files that end in json.

Deleting the text files from each folder manually in the Finder is gonna take forever. Is there an easy way to get rid of these text files out of each folder while keeping the photos? Thanks.

Updating the OS on a MBA

The display on my 2024 M3 MacBook Air is no longer working properly (see attachment). I can still work using an external monitor but the interior display is completely on the fritz.

I want to take the machine into the Apple Store to see what a new video card or screen would cost, but I would want to format the main ssd first because I do online banking on this machine and have other relatively sensitive information and I did not have the drive encrypted. Because the drivers for the...

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Set up RAID 1 on Mac mini with M2

16 July 2026 at 21:26
I'm thinking about getting some SSDs & setting up a RAID1. A RAID1 with a hot spare would be extra nice to have. It's easy to do with Disk Utility. I have a 2023 mini with a M2 CPU. I'm limited to 2 USB-A & 2 USB-C. Do I need a NAS? I think that I use a Thunderbolt port, correct? I reckon that I need some kind of device to place the SSDs, correct? I've been thinking about getting a USB dock.

What do you suggest?

1Password app disappeared after latest update

16 July 2026 at 17:40
I updated the OS yesterday to Tahoe 26.5.2.

Today, I noticed that the 1Password app icon in the Dock has been replaced by an opaque "?", and that the app no longer shows in Finder > Application (although the Safari extension app is still there). In Safari, the 1Password extension is still there and still works! Also, everything is fine with 1Password on my iPhone and iPad.

Has anyone had this happen before?

A search suggests to download the app again from 1Password Releases. Does...

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Time Machine unable to complete backup

16 July 2026 at 14:05
Recently Time Machine takes forever to back to my 1TB external. There's still about 320GB of space, so I am not sure why this is happening.

I went ahead and deleted old backups that I can see in the TM folders. These are from ten years ago and not needed anymore. Even now, however, it seem to be taking too much time to backup.

The last backup said it needs 5 hours or more to complete, so I cancelled it when it was at 16 percent.

Do I need a new disk (this one seems fine but it is 8...

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Junk Mail problem

Every day I get an email from usps.com (telling me what mail is coming) and it ends up in my Junk folder. I have tried marking that e mail β€œNot Junk” and making a rule that email from usps.com be placed in the Inbox without success. Suggestions?



My real junk mail (Your cloud storage is expiring give me your credit card info etc) ends up in the junk folder as it should



Using a 2021 MacMini with the M-1 chip and Tahoe 21.5.2

Cannot Sync Calendars or Contacts.

I have a mac studio M 4 Max running Sequoia 15.77. This has been happening for a while and hoping someone can help me. I always back up my phone and when I try to sync my phone, it says that my calendar and contact information are being synced by Microsoft exchange and if I want to change that, I have to do it on my iphone 15 26.5.2. What is strange? I do not have Microsoft exchange on either my phone or on my computer. I want to manually sync the two but when I click on the info tab when my...

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413: Summer in the City

10 July 2026 at 14:51

Summer in the City

413: Summer in the City

Summer and the heat seem to have much of the Northen Hemisphere in a firm grip. But this doesn’t seem to slow down Apple or the Mac Admin community. Security updates and beta releases for both 26.6 and 27.0, as well as Creator Studio app updates from Apple, and lots of tool and app updates from the Mac Admin community.

Conference season is still going on, with MDOYUL earlier, Mac Admins Conference this week and Mac Admins India Connect coming up!

413: Summer in the City

This is the second Summer Camp issue. Next issue is in two weeks, July 24. MacAdmins.news will remain on a two-weekly schedule until September 4.

πŸ“° News and Opinion

How Apple's decade-long bet on chips won over AI teams

Jason Hiner, The Deep View:

Doug Brooks, senior product manager of Apple silicon, discussed how Apple's long-term investments in neural processing, unified memory, power-efficient computing, and hardware-software integration have positioned its devices for the AI era.

French Mac Admins Agree: WWDC 2026 was a Strong one for Enterprise and Education

Guilleaume Gète:

Launching the inaugural Mac Admins User Group Paris meetup during Apple annual developer conference week was quite a challenge… but a good one,

Keep your Mac cool using physics

Howard Oakley:

With more heatwaves expected across Europe and North America, this summer is already proving a challenge for those who can’t use their Macs in rooms that have effective air conditioning.

βš™οΈ Apple Updates

Platform updates 26.5.2

Applications

Testing macOS 27 VM

Rob Potvin has beenconstantly blogging about the challenges with macOS 27 VMs.

πŸ” Security and Privacy

Apple’s Hide My Email doesn’t hide it very well

Pieter Arntz, Malwarebytes:

a researcher has found a vulnerability in Apple’s Hide My Email feature that could allow someone to discover a person’s real email address.

Is malware protection changing?

Howard Oakley:

How long has it been since the last security data update to macOS, for XProtect or XProtect Remediator (XPR)?

Block and monitor EDR Freeze on macOS with Santa and Fleet

Dhruv Majumdar, Fleet blog:

EDR Freeze suspends a security tool instead of killing it, so the process looks healthy while it quietly stops working.

πŸ”¨ Support and Tutorials

Building Your Own Installomator

Richard Glaser:

Installomator is one of those Mac admin tools that starts simple: run a label, install the app, move on with your day. Then your environment grows.

Build Jamf DDM Update Blueprints for macOS and iOS

Jon Brown:

I do not try to build the entire deployment in one sitting. That usually leads to troubleshooting three different problems at the same time. Instead, I build the workflow in layers.

Using Secretive and TouchID for sshing

Brandon (BK) Kurtz:

Secretive is an open-source macOS app for protecting and managing SSH keys with the Secure Enclave.

Review the Package Before You Build the Policy

Jon Brown:

Before it reaches production, I want to understand what it’s installing, how Jamf is going to deliver it, what other configuration the application depends on, and how I’ll verify that everything worked after the policy runs.

Firmware has become complicated again

Howard Oakley:

As far as I’m aware, this is the first time in the last six years that large numbers of Macs will have firmware that is out of sync.

How to Configure Okta Platform SSO Simplified Setup on macOS with Jamf Pro

HCS Technology Group:

a step-by-step guide to configuring Okta Platform Single Sign-On (SSO) with simplified setup on macOS using Jamf Pro, including certificate management and device access integration.

πŸ€– Scripting and Automation

VPP via Setup Manager? Challenge accepted.

Philip Ross:

Since the release of Jamf Setup Manager, it's not been possible to install App Store Applications through VPP whilst running Setup Manager....until now!

Introducing Conditional Logic for JamfUploader and JamfCLIRunner

Graham Pugh:

For such circumstances, it would be neat if there was some logic to be able to skip a process based on some predicate

Third-Party-Patcher

Gil Burns:

Third Party Patcher (TPP) is a macOS MDM agnostic, MDM managed, daemon-based patching and software distribution system for IT administrators. It automatically discovers installed third-party applications, checks for available updates, downloads installers in the background, and applies them.

♻️ Updates and Releases

πŸ“Ί Watch

Marriott Library, Mac Admins Meeting, June 2026

  • Accessibility is for Everyone – Damien Barrett, Corning Inc.
  • Introduction to DDM Explorer 2.0 – Mark Buffington, Jamf

AI Governance on Mac: A Practical Guide for IT and Security Teams

Jamf: (Webinar)

as organizations push for AI-driven productivity gains, teams need to find ways that enable AI tools without compromising security.

🎧 Listen

OS 27 Support, Siri AI, and the New Backup Reality

Command Control Power:

early impressions of iOS 27 on an iPhone 15 Pro Max and interest in Siri AI on newer iPhone hardware, plus Apple’s macOS 27 compatibility list ending Intel support while continuing support for 2020 M1 Macs, which they estimate could extend security updates to roughly 2029.

The 3 pillars of AI for the Apple enterprise

Apple @ Work:

Matt Vlasach, SVP of Enterprise Product and Solutions Engineering at Jamf joins the show to talk about their recent survey around AI usage amongst Apple focused enterprise.

AI Governance

Mac Admins Podcast:

Matt Vlasach is back to talk to us about AI Governance and how Jamf is tackling this in an authentically Apple way.

macOS ClickFix is back for more

Apple @ Work:

Ray Canzanese from Netskope joins the show to discuss the latest macOS ClickFix campaign, designed to create a permanent backdoor.

This pay gap is programmed

Lock and Code:

we speak with Dubalβ€”professor of law at the UC Irvine School of Lawβ€”about how algorithmic wage discrimination works, what data it consumes to function, and the threat it poses as it creeps from gig work into many more industries.

🎈 Just For Fun

Bringing Swift to the Apple II

Yeo Kheng Meng:

I built SwiftII, a Swift-flavored mini development environment for the original Apple II to a IIe and up.
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