How to troubleshoot a Mac that won’t boot

If your Mac abruptly refuses to footwear up properly, it tin beryllium frustrating — but you don’t person to instantly caput to an Apple Store. There are a fig of elemental tricks you tin effort to get everything up and moving again. I’ll instrumentality you done them here.

First, I’ll screen what to bash if your machine starts but you lone get a blank screen. Later, I’ll speech astir immoderate imaginable actions to instrumentality if you spot a awesome connected the surface oregon if the Mac doesn’t commencement astatine all.

(Problems similar this are a reminder to keep everything backed up connected macOS astatine each times. You’ll beryllium thankful for it if you yet request to regenerate your strategy thrust oregon your full computer.)

Your machine starts but shows a blank screen

Try a restart

If your Mac is showing signs of beingness astatine the commencement of the footwear process but lone displays a blank screen, past first, effort a restart.

If you’re successful luck, your strategy was conscionable experiencing a impermanent blip. If that doesn’t work, your adjacent larboard of telephone should beryllium the macOS Recovery console. 

Try the macOS Recovery console

How you get to this depends connected however aged your Mac is.

On newer Macs with Apple Silicon chipsets:

On older Intel Macs:

Whatever way you’ve taken, you should present spot a database of utilities onscreen, including the enactment to reinstall macOS oregon reconstruct from a backup. 

Let Disk Utility help

From here, take Disk Utility, a broad disk checking and repair instrumentality that whitethorn prevention you a reinstall.

When you person Disk Utility open:

If your startup disk doesn’t amusement up to beryllium selected, crook disconnected your Mac, region each peripherals, and spell backmost into Disk Utility. If the strategy thrust is inactive not showing up, a nonrecreational repair mightiness beryllium needed: the official Apple enactment page for the Disk Utility has much connected this.

Assuming your disk is showing up, erstwhile you’re done, unfastened the Apple paper and click Restart. If the repair worked, your Mac volition footwear up arsenic normal. If not, the adjacent measurement Apple recommends is simply a afloat reinstall.

Boot up successful harmless mode

You besides person the enactment of loading up macOS harmless mode, which starts the operating strategy with a constricted fig of apps and inheritance processes. However, harmless mode is much for investigating bundle and macOS crashes, alternatively than boot-up problems. You tin effort it if you’re not having immoderate luck with Disk Utility, but Disk Utility is the much broad option.

Do a afloat reinstall

This tin beryllium done by going backmost to the database of utilities utilizing the methods supra and past choosing Reinstall macOS from the database of options alternatively than Disk Utility. Follow the onscreen instructions. If the reinstall is successful, macOS volition beryllium reset and moving again and each of your apps and information should inactive beryllium successful place.

For an adjacent much broad reinstall, you tin hitch the strategy thrust wholly (including apps and data) and past enactment a caller mentation of macOS connected top. This process is besides done done Disk Utility; Apple provides abstracted instructions for Apple Silicon Macs and Intel silicon Macs.

Your machine shows symbols onscreen

These symbols bespeak antithetic problems, similar an incompatible Mac operating system, but the fixes are mostly the aforesaid arsenic those covered above. You’ll request to cheque the enactment pages for afloat instructions, but you whitethorn privation to effort a repair via Disk Utility first. 

Your machine doesn’t commencement astatine all

If you’re not adjacent getting to a blank surface oregon immoderate benignant of awesome erstwhile your machine boots up and determination are nary signs of beingness (no lights and nary whirring), past you mightiness beryllium looking astatine a much cardinal occupation with your hardware.

Apple’s advice is to tally immoderate basal checks: marque definite your Mac is connected to powerfulness and that you’re utilizing a moving powerfulness cable. (Try a antithetic 1 oregon effort the 1 you’re utilizing connected a antithetic computer.)

With that done, region each the peripherals that you don’t perfectly request to person connected to marque definite they’re not interfering successful immoderate way. Press and clasp the Mac’s powerfulness fastener until it turns disconnected (which whitethorn instrumentality up to 10 seconds), past property the powerfulness fastener again to restart.

Should you inactive person problems, Apple suggests resetting the SMC (System Management Controller) spot arsenic 1 past troubleshooting step. The steps are rather progressive and alteration depending connected the Mac you have, but the full instructions are here.

If you’ve worked your mode done each of that, you’re astatine a constituent wherever you request to contact Apple Support directly. You tin get assistance implicit unrecorded chat oregon via a telephone call, publication an assignment astatine a section Apple Store, oregon docket a repair — and hopefully find a mode to get your Mac moving again.