Tuesday's Tip of the Week: How to Troubleshoot Airplay from a Mac

Apple TVs are awesome, but they don't always work the way we want them to.  I have found that Airplay works best when you are not mirroring, but air playing the video or music by itself.  However, Mirroring your display is a great thing to do, and it works well most of the time.  But what do you do if it doesn't work?

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1. Reset the Apple TV

It is really simple to reboot your Apple TV with your remote.  Simply hold the down button and menu button for 6 seconds (or until the light starts blinking rapidly) and release. The Apple TV will reboot

2. Reset your Airplay

There are a couple of steps you can take to reset your connection with the Apple TV.  First, try turning off your wifi and turning it back on.  If that doesn't work, open Terminal and type in sudo killall coreaudiod and press enter.  It will ask for your account password.  Type in your password and press enter.  This will reset Airplay on your computer.

What do you do if that doesn't work?

The above steps will work 90% of the time.  This is also assuming that you have checked cables, and that your network is working. It's helpful to ensure that your Apple TV is connected to the same network your Mac is connected to.  And finally, on occasion, it is necessary to reboot your computer.