Keeping your Mac updated is critical for patching dangerous security vulnerabilities and ensuring compatibility with the latest software. However, manually opening System Settings every week to see if Apple has released a new patch is tedious and easily forgotten. To keep your system perfectly secure without any effort, you can configure macOS to silently check for updates in the background and notify you the moment one is available.
How to Enable Automatic Checks
You can manage this background behaviour directly from your Mac’s Software Update preferences.
- Click the Apple Logo in the top-left corner of your screen.
- Select System Settings… from the dropdown menu.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on General.
- On the right side of the window, click on Software Update.
- Look for the section labelled Automatic Updates.
- Click the small Information (i) button located on the far right side of that row.
- A popup menu will appear with several toggle switches.
- Turn On the switch labelled Check for updates.
By simply enabling this top switch, your Mac will periodically ping Apple’s servers in the background. If a new version of macOS or a critical Safari security patch is found, you will receive a standard notification banner in the top right corner of your screen.
If you want a truly hands-off experience, you can also toggle on Download new updates when available. This forces your Mac to silently download the massive multi-gigabyte update files in the background while you work, meaning when you finally click the notification to install it, you will not have to sit and wait for the download bar to finish.