There are oodles of reasons why you might find that your MacBook wo n’t turn on , or your Mac wo n’t start up , but you probably just desire to get it working again . We ’ll operate through the various check and changes to make to get your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro , iMac , Mac miniskirt , or other Mac to turn on so you could start out using it again .
take on for some simple point that should get your Mac working , from the obvious stuff like stop the power connection , to performing a exponent cycle , starting in Recovery modality , and checking the file system . And if your Mac really is dead , we ’ll also tell you where to plow next .
The fixes in this clause hold to most recentversions of macOS . The menus and interfaces may look slightly dissimilar reckon on which OS you are running , but their mathematical function are in essence the same . Similarly , M - series Macs perform certain social occasion in a different way to older Intel - powered Macs , for example , the method for start up the computer in Safe manner or Recovery will be unlike on an older Mac , we ’ll cover both methods where necessitate .
Check your Mac turns on
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First , get ’s ascertain out if the job is that your Macwon’t start up , or that itwon’t turn on – those might sound like the same thing , but there ’s really a big difference .
iron out the Power clit on your Mac . If you do n’t get wind a startup chime , you do n’t hear any fan or cause randomness , and there are no images , video , or visuals of any sort on your exhibit , then your Mac is n’t turning on at all . You ’re not even getting to the point where it decline to start up .
A Mac that does n’t become on calls for a different approach to one that does n’t start up . If your data processor does n’t plough on then you need to do the pursuit :
i) Check your power connection
Do n’t be the cliché : check that the power is on and the Mac is plugged in correctly . Or if it ’s a laptop computer , be certain that the battery is n’t all in – and if it needs charge give it a while to attempt to charge before close that it is n’t going to work . If yourMacBook wo n’t charge read this .
ii) Try a different power cable or adapter
It may be that the fault domiciliate with the power cablegram . If you ’ve get a friend with a Mac power cable that fits your machine , try it to see if that solves the problem . If it does , it could be a simple fix that involves stupefy a novel cable television service . We advise against corrupt third - party superpower cablegram that are n’t made by Apple , as they are much more likely to be faulty and maybe dangerous , unless we have screen them in ourBest USB - C and Thunderbolt charging cables .
If you recently had a power cut , that could be responsible : your king adaptor could have been damaged in a power upsurge and you may need a new one .
Finally , it ’s possible that the cable is easy , and pulling it out and plug it in again will solve the trouble . But we doubt it will be that easy .
Apple sell various cables for charging Apple Macs and laptop computer . You should get the one you need here : Apple power adaptors . Also scan : Which MacBook battery charger do I demand ?
iii) Disconnect all accessories
disconnect all the accessories ( such as printers and USB hub ) attach to your Mac . It could be that one of your peripherals is causing problems with the startup sequence .
If you recentlyinstalled new RAMor anew hard drive in your Mac(both of which are something you may only do with old Macs ) , make trusted they are correctly set up and compatible . ( If possible , reinstall the old computer storage or hard thrust and see if that helps . )
If none of those dance step work then it ’s time to move onto the next level .
Perform a Power Cycle
If you are n’t pick up any signs of life , you could perform a power cycle , which imply impel your Mac to restart after killing the power to it .
If performing a power cycle on your Mac does n’t help there are a few other round-eyed things to try out before moving on to the more complicated steps .
Check your display
If you ’re using a desktop Mac such as a Mac Pro or Mac mini this could apply to you . If you do n’t have a separate display plugged in , you could skip this footprint .
You could have a trouble with the display you have secure in , rather than the Mac itself . Have a listen to your Mac to see if it ’s making any sounds during the boot - up .
It is potential that your Mac does turn on , but does n’t reboot up because it ca n’t get at the show – if that ’s the case you are most potential having trouble with the display hardware ( rather than a broader inauguration progeny ) .
If you think it ’s a job with your admonisher , then take a expression at thisApple Support documentfor advice on troubleshooting a display . If your exhibit is n’t working the advice is to :
Boot up your Mac in Safe Boot
Safe Boot limits what checks and functionality your Mac focus on during startup , and performs sure diagnostics . It ’s rare , but sometimes you could get your unhappy Mac to bug out up successfully with a Safe Boot , and then restart it commonly , and everything returns to hunky - doriness . If you need more help with this step read : How to start a Mac in Safe Mode .
Now you are in Safe Mode we will discuss how to use Safe Mode to define your Mac start up egress .
While you are Safe Mode the interface will look very slightly unlike , with block of colour rather than transparency . The giving giveaway is the Dock at the bottom of the screen , such as in the image below , for example .
Once in Safe Mode you may be capable to endure certain checks ( we ’ll incline through these below ) and make changes that could desex your Mac . For example you could reinstall macOS or update other software .
If you find you may come out up in Safe Mode it is probable that the issue is related to one of your startup particular , in which case you should go to : System setting > Users & Groups and remove all the item ( tap - ) . You could utilise trial and error to work out which startup point is stimulate the problem .
Reset the PRAM / NVRAM
In the pre - Intel , PowerPC , days , we speak about resetting the PRAM . On Intel Macs , the term is resetting the NVRAM . The NVRAM in M - serial Macs is reset automatically , but there is a direction to readjust NVRAM on the M - series Mac – we discourse that here : How to reset NVRAM .
The name touch on to special retention sections on your Mac that fund data point that endure even when the Mac is exclude off , such as volume configurations and blind resolution .
reset that datum is n’t harmful , but quite frankly it ’s also seldom truly useful . But it ca n’t hurt .
You might need to uprise an supererogatory finger or two for this one , or have a friend help you out . Here ’s how to reset the PRAM / NVRAM on your Intel - power Mac :
On M1 / M2 Mac readjust the NVRAM means using Terminal , the method is discuss in the article connect above .
In some cases , after performing this measure , your Mac will restart normally . In other cases , you might instead see a onward motion bar on startup . If the advance bar fill up and then the Mac come out up , you ’re probably good to go . In some cases we ’ve seen , however , the Mac close down at around the halfway point in the advance saloon .
Reset the SMC
In some situations , you may need to readjust your Mac ’s SMC ( System Management Controller ) . This is for the most part a last - ditch attempt to doctor the current version of macOS before attempting to recover the information and moving on to reinstalling the operating system .
SMC is absent from M - series Macs so you ca n’t readjust it . However you’re able to change the preferences that the SMC used to look after . We talk over how to do this here : How to readjust a Mac ’s SMC . We also discussHow to reset the NVRAM , PRAM , and SMC on any Mac .
Here ’s what to do if you want to readjust the SMC ( Intel Macs ):
On a Mac laptop :
On a Mac desktop :
Run Disk Utility in Recovery Mode
If your Mac is booting , but the operating system is n’t loading up , you may have a profane private road . fortuitously it is potential to sterilise this in Recovery Mode . We have adetailed tutorial on using Recovery Mode here , but we ’ll draw thorough the basics below .
Yet again , access Recovery Mode is a little different on an M - series Mac ( take about thedifferent mode of doing thing on M - serial Macs ) .
The first step is to run Disk Utility . On a Mac running Mountain Lion or later , which will be the immense bulk of Macs , you could lam Disk Utility by reboot into Recovery Mode .
Now you are in Recovery mode here ’s what to do :
In Recovery Mode you could also do the following :
Revive an M-series Mac with Configurator
If you have an M - series Mac and you still have n’t been able-bodied to resuscitate it , the next option to try is to use a second Mac running Apple ’s Configurator 2 to update the firmware .
You will need a second Mac , a USB to USB cable , a World Wide Web connection and Apple ’s Configurator 2 software package .
The process is a little unlike for an M - series background , like the Mac mini , iMac , Mac Studio .
How to use the Configurator software package to revive an M - series Mac .
Back up if you haven’t already or copy what you can
This step should be need prior to reinstall macOS and it depends on your backup situation . You domake regular backups , or at least synchronize important documents , music and exposure to the cloud , right ?
If you ’re not sweating at the second , and are confident in yourTime Machineor other backup solution , then skip toStep 10 below . But if you bid you ’d bet on up your Mac then now is the time to see what you may salvage from the machine .
This places your Mac in Target disk mode . In Target Disk mode your Mac acts like an external drive . You should now hopefully see the hard campaign for your faulty Mac on your second Mac ’s Finder .
You should be able-bodied to snaffle the files you involve from your unresponsive Mac , or even clone the integral hard drive to another outside drive . Good luck !
Reinstall macOS
This is moderately drastic , but if you have tried everything else , then reinstall the operating system could take away the issue that is cease the Mac from start properly .
Remember macOS Recovery fromstep 7 above ? you’re able to use it toreinstall macOStoo .
Our article onresetting a Mac to factory settingshas more selective information on wiping a Mac and reinstall macOS .
Make a Genius Bar appointment
orchard apple tree
If you ’ve made it this far and your Mac still does n’t work , you ’ll require totake it to an Apple Genius Barto see if they can help you touch on it ( or arrange for a haunt under warranty ) . Hopefully you have get enough data from your Mac so as to be able to back up , or continue working on a unexampled Mac .
wonder how many years your Mac should last for ? Read : How long do Macs last ?
To recover lose data you could attempt the keep up apps we have reviewed :
Wondershare Recoverit
Data Rescue
Stellar Data Recovery for Mac
