beyondthecode-bc/MacFansControl: Community hub for MacFansControl — translations, issues & releases. Free, closed-source macOS app. · GitHub

Native macOS fan control for Apple Silicon and Intel
Monitor every temperature sensor. Set precise fan speeds. Reduce noise during light work, maximize cooling under heavy loads.

Built with Swift and SwiftUI. No Electron, no web views, no bloat.

Updated 2026-09-16.

• GitHub — Version 1.1.6: OS 27 compatibility checked with Xcode 27 builds, automated helper-safety tests, and signed-artifact checks. The download supports Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

Checks use Xcode 27 builds and automated tests where available. Full testing on physical devices has not been completed. Minimum OS requirements are unchanged.

1. Existing users — update in app: Choose the Automatic fan preset, then open Settings > About > Check Now > Download & Install > Install Now. After the app update, restart your Mac. If offered, use Settings > General > Update Helper; a held update keeps the existing helper and provides recovery guidance.
2. New installation: download MacFansControl.zip, extract it, and move MacFansControl.app to Applications.
3. Manual fallback: if the in-app updater is unavailable or fails, quit the app, extract the same ZIP, and replace the existing app in Applications. Choose Automatic before quitting; do not force helper replacement when its safety check is held.

• Signed with Developer ID, hardened runtime and a secure timestamp. Apple notarization accepted; ticket stapled; Gatekeeper verification passed.
• VirusTotal: 0 malicious, 0 suspicious; 67 undetected, 7 type-unsupported. View the exact-file report.
• Asset: MacFansControl.zip (version 1.1.6, build 4). The sibling MacFansControl.zip.sha256 contains the same checksum.

SHA-256

4aa39d30f46daed50f056dec7384d9ede64e210ba09625a3415de07e9cc2c774

Temperature Monitoring

• Full sensor suite: CPU cores, GPU, SSD, battery, power regulators, ambient
• Real-time readings in the menubar with customizable display format
• Pin favorite sensors or category averages to the menubar

Fan Control

• Set exact RPM for any fan via slider
• Link fans to temperature sensors with custom curves (min/max temp-to-RPM mapping)
• Visual multi-point fan curve editor
• One-click return to automatic (system-controlled) mode

Safety

• Watchdog process returns fans to safe speeds if the app crashes or is force-quit
• Sleep/wake restoration re-applies your settings automatically
• Fans always return to automatic on clean quit

Presets

• Save and switch between named fan configurations
• Set a default preset that auto-applies on launch

Preferences

• Tabbed settings window: General, Sensors, Fans, Presets, Menu Bar, About, Disclaimer
• Drag-reorder favorites, hide sensors, copy Markdown snapshots
• Favorite category averages (CPU avg, GPU avg) for cleaner monitoring
• Launch at login, dock icon toggle, temperature unit (C/F)
• Per-app language override

Localization

• 8 languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Chinese (Simplified)
• Community translations welcome via pull requests

Download and move MacFansControl.app to your Applications folder.

On first launch, open Preferences > General and click Install Helper.

The background helper allows MacFansControl to change fan speeds without asking for your password every time. Installing it requires your administrator password once. This is a one-time setup — once installed, fan control works silently in the background.

Why is this needed? Changing fan speeds requires elevated (root) privileges. The helper runs as a small background service that handles these privileged operations securely via XPC, so the main app never needs root access itself.

MacFansControl lives in your menubar. Click the temperature readout to see sensors, fans, presets, and quick access to preferences.

This repository hosts the translation files for MacFansControl. You can help translate the app into your language or improve existing translations.

1. Fork this repository
2. Edit an existing file in the languages/ folder, or create a new one by copying English.xml
3. Translate the string values (the text between <string> tags) — do not change the id attributes
4. Keep any %1, %2, %@, %d placeholders in place — the app needs them
5. Submit a pull request

Want to add a new language? Copy English.xml, rename it to your language name, translate the values, and submit a PR.

Please use Issues to report bugs or request features.

If MacFansControl saves you from fan noise or thermal throttling, consider supporting development:

You need to install the background helper. Go to Preferences > General and click Install Helper. The helper runs as a privileged background service so you won't be asked for your password on every fan speed change.

macOS will ask for your administrator password once during helper installation. This is expected and safe — the helper is a small daemon that only handles fan speed writes via the SMC interface.

If you launch the app directly from the downloaded zip without extracting it first, you may see this error:

To fix this:

1. Close MacFansControl if it's running
2. Extract the zip file first (double-click the .zip in Finder)
3. Drag MacFansControl.app from the extracted folder to your Applications folder manually
4. Launch from Applications

This happens because macOS mounts zip contents as a read-only volume — the app can't move itself from there.

When you click Install Now in Settings → About, macOS will show a password prompt before replacing the app in /Applications. This is expected — the app needs elevated permissions to overwrite itself.

If you see the error above ("couldn't be removed because you don't have permission") instead of a password prompt, you are on v1.1.2 or earlier. Download v1.1.3 or later from Releases and install it manually — the issue is fixed in that version.

Use a macOS account with Administrator rights. On most personal Macs this is the default. If you are on a managed or work Mac with a Standard account, either ask your IT admin to install the update or download the zip from Releases and replace the app manually.

MacFansControl is a menubar app — it doesn't open a window on launch. Look for the temperature readout in your menubar (top-right area of the screen). If you don't see it, it may be hidden behind the notch on newer MacBooks — try closing other menubar apps to make room.

This usually means the background helper isn't installed or isn't running. Go to Preferences > General — if the helper status shows "not installed", click Install Helper. If it shows installed but fans still read 0 RPM, try clicking Reinstall Helper.