Here are all the steps you need to get your Mac started again. Just work through them in order, unless your Mac won’t boot after a failed operating system update. In that case, skip straight to step 8. Check If the Mac Has Power First, check that your Mac has a power source. Yes, it’s silly and obvious, but anyone who’s done tech support knows that you have to get the obvious fixes out of the way first. So if your MacBook won’t boot on battery power, plug it in.
Sep 26, 2017 - If Touch ID just stopped working on your MacBook Pro, especially after. Turns out, simply restarting my Mac fixed the issue. Click on the Apple menu logo in the upper left corner of your MacBook Pro screen.
The battery may be fully depleted, or could be malfunctioning. If your You're almost certainly going to have to troubleshoot your MacBook power supply at some point. Here's how to do it. Or turn on with the power adapter connected, make sure it’s connected properly and not damaged in any way. Try a different power cable, if you’ve got one around. Also, check that the port is clean.
A buildup of dust can disrupt older MagSafe chargers. And while you’re at it, check your external hardware as well. Disconnect any peripherals like printers or graphics tablets, as these can sometimes be the cause.
If you’ve got a Mac Mini, make sure the monitor is connected and powered properly. Run a Power Cycle The next step is to run a power cycle. This completely cuts all traces of power from the Mac and enables you to restart it from scratch.
On a recent MacBook, disconnect the power cable and hold the power button down for 10 seconds. For an older MacBook, disconnect the power cable and remove the battery for at least 10 seconds. If you’re using a desktop Mac, disconnect the power cord for at least 10 seconds.
Now reconnect the power and try to restart your computer. This move may be enough to spring it to life. Holding the Power button down like this is the equivalent to pressing a “reset” button or pulling the plug.
It works on phones, ebook readers, and pretty much every other gadget that doesn’t allow you to remove the battery, so is a good tip to remember. Boot in Safe Mode. When your MacBook won’t boot, try to remember what you were doing the last time it was working.
Were you installing apps, fiddling with fonts, or tweaking the system? If your Mac shows signs of life when you power it on—it won’t go past the Apple logo or login screen—then If your Mac won't boot, you can use several methods to try repairing it. Here's how to fix your macOS disk with Safe Mode, fsck, and more. May help you fix it. Press the Power button on your Mac and immediately press and hold the Shift key.
Keep it held until you reach the login screen, then continue as normal. Safe mode runs a bunch diagnostic tests, then boots a stripped-down version of macOS. This doesn’t load your startup apps, custom fonts, extra hardware features, or anything else beyond the basics. If your Mac boots successfully into Safe Mode, you can start uninstalling any new apps, disabling startup items, removing hardware, or undoing any other recent changes that may cause the problem. Reset SMC The System Management Controller (SMC) controls a host of basic Mac functions. It handles everything from the keyboard backlight, to battery management, to what happens when you press the Power button. Is a good catch-all solution to many problems, including if your MacBook won’t start or it won’t wake up when you open the lid.
There are a few ways to do it, depending on what model of Mac you’ve got: Desktop Macs. Unplug the power cord and wait 15 seconds. Plug the cord back in and wait another five seconds. Restart your Mac. 2018 MacBook Pro + MacBooks With T2 Security Chip. Press and hold the right Shift key, the left Option key (Alt), and the left Control key for seven seconds.
While keeping these keys pressed, hold down the Power button for another seven seconds. Release all the keys, wait a few seconds, then restart.
MacBooks Without Removable Batteries. Press and hold the left Shift, Option (Alt), and Control keys, plus the Power button (or Touch ID button) for 10 seconds.
Release all the keys then restart your computer. Older MacBooks With a Removable Battery. Remove the battery.
Press and hold the Power button for five seconds. Reconnect the battery, and restart the MacBook.
Reset NVRAM or PRAM. NVRAM (non-volatile random access memory) is a special section of memory that stores certain settings a Mac needs to access quickly. Although problems with this are less likely to render your computer unbootable, resetting it as a precaution will do no harm. Older Macs used PRAM (perimeter RAM) instead.
The process for resetting either is the same:. Press the Power button then immediately press and hold the Option (Alt), Command, P, and R keys. Keep the keys pressed for around 20 seconds, even if your Mac appears to restart. If your Mac plays a startup sound, release the keys after you hear it chime for the second time.
If your Mac has the T2 Chip, release the keys after the Apple logo disappears for the second time. When your Mac has restarted, you’ll find that some basic settings like time zone or volume level might need adjusting. Run Apple Diagnostics Hopefully by now, your Mac is up and running again. If not you can check for hardware issues.
This will check for problems, then either suggest fixes or show your support options. Disconnect any unnecessary external devices, such as a printer. You can leave your keyboard, mouse, and monitor plugged in if needed. Press the Power button. Press and hold the D key. Keep it pressed until you see a screen asking you to select your language. Pick a language, then Apple Diagnostics will begin running its tests.
These take a few minutes to complete. When done, you’ll see the results of the test. Some will suggest quick fixes, and give you the chance to re-run the test. Others will generate reference codes which you can look up on the. It’ll also show your.
If there are no issues, then the fault likely is not with your hardware. On Macs released before June 2013, you’ll get the Apple Hardware Test instead. You activate it in the same way, and the principle is the same. Select your language, then click Test to begin.
Use Recovery Mode Tools All Macs have a on the hard drive. This boots independently of the full macOS and gives you access to a suite of tools for repairing your computer.
To boot into Recovery:. Press the Power button. Press and hold the Command and R keys. Release the keys when you see the Apple logo. When it finishes booting, you’ll see a new macOS Utilities menu. The one to try first is Disk Utility.
This is a version of the same tool that’s available in macOS and enables you to scan and repair your hard drive or SSD. Select the drive and click First Aid to begin the repair process.
There are a few more tools available through the Utilities menu. These include the Terminal for more advanced users. Reinstall macOS in Recovery Mode If you’ve gotten this far, then it’s likely that your problem is not hardware-related, nor is it a simple software fix. The best solution now is to, or Need to restore your Mac to factory settings? Here's how to install a fresh copy of macOS and erase everything. You can do this through Recovery.
Get started by pressing the Power button and holding down the Command and R keys. If you’ve got a recent Time Machine backup, you can restore that to see if it solves your problem. If not, choose Reinstall macOS from the menu. When you choose to reinstall macOS you’re given the option to format your disk as part of the process.
Don’t select this if you simply want to repair your installation—there’s no problem with reinstalling macOS on top of itself. Follow the onscreen guide to complete the installation. You’ll need to be connected to the internet, as the tool will download the operating system from scratch. Check for Other Warning Signs on Mac All Macs, whether a high-end MacBook Pro or an older iMac, have great reputations for reliability. But they can still run into problems.
Although it’s often relatively easy to fix a Mac that’s not turning on, it’s best to check for warning signs and patch up problems before they strike. Follow the advice in our guide to Every Mac user should keep these 8 tools around to fix any problems that may arise, like malware, hardware issues, and more.—covering everything from memory to malware—and you’ll keep your Mac running smoothly and problem free. Explore more about:,.
Here’s how to create a macOS Sierra USB Installer for the Developer Preview. Note that these instructions will vary for the Public Beta and eventual final version of macOS Sierra, and we will provide updated instructions for these versions as they are released. Step 1: Download the macOS Sierra Installer from the Mac App Store To create a macOS Sierra USB Installer, you first need to download the operating system from the Mac App Store.
Registered developers will receive a Mac App Store redemption code for macOS Sierra via the portal. It is still possible to obtain and install macOS Sierra if you are not a registered developer or beta tester, but be wary of using installers obtained from sources other than Apple, as using them is a violation of Apple’s licensing agreements and they may have been modified to contain malware. Once you have downloaded macOS Sierra from the Mac App Store, the upgrade installer app will automatically launch.
Quit it by pressing Command-Q on your keyboard. Now check your Applications folder to verify that you have the Developer Preview installer, as the instructions for creating the USB installer are dependent on the name of the installer application. As of the date of this tip, the name of the macOS Sierra Developer Preview installer is Install 10.12 Developer Preview.app. Step 2: Prepare Your USB Drive Next, grab a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 drive that is at least 8GB in size. Make sure that you don’t have any important files on this drive as we will be wiping the drive before creating the installer. Plug your USB drive into your Mac and launch the Disk Utility app. Find the USB drive listed on the left side of the window, click to select it, and then click Erase in the toolbar.
Ensure that “Scheme” is set to GUID Partition Map, “Format” is set to OS X Extended (Journaled), and then finally name the drive macOSInstall. This name is simply to ensure compatibility with the installation commands below, and the name of the drive will be changed after the installer setup is complete.
To complete the process, click Erase. Step 3: Create the macOS Sierra USB Installer Launch Terminal and then copy and paste the following command: sudo /Applications/Install 10.12 Developer Preview.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia -volume /Volumes/macOSInstall -applicationpath /Applications/Install 10.12 Developer Preview.app -nointeraction This is a sudo command, so you’ll need to enter your Mac’s admin password. As long as the names of your Sierra installation app and USB drive match those mentioned above, Terminal will use the createinstallmedia command to copy the macOS Sierra installation files to your USB drive and make it bootable. Depending on the speed of your USB drive, this process can take between 2 and 15 minutes.
Just make sure not to interrupt the process. When the macOS Sierra USB installer is ready, Terminal will print “Done” and then return you to your user account command line.
You can now quit Terminal, eject your USB drive, and proceed to install macOS Sierra on any compatible Mac. Step 4: Installing macOS Sierra from the USB Drive Once you have your macOS Sierra USB Installer ready, you can use it to install the operating system in one of two ways. First, you can use it to upgrade existing OS X installations to Sierra, similarly to how the Sierra install application downloaded from the Mac App Store works. Just boot into OS X on a, plug in your USB drive, open the drive in Finder, and double click the macOS Sierra installer app file. This lets you upgrade multiple Macs without having to download the Sierra installer from the Mac App Store each time. The second method, and the one that is more useful with USB installers, is to perform a clean install by booting to the Sierra USB Installer and either installing macOS Sierra from scratch on a new drive, wiping your existing drive, or installing to a new partition. To boot from your macOS Sierra USB Installer, first shut down your Mac and connect the USB drive.
Then, simply power on your Mac while holding the Alt/Option key on your keyboard. Keep holding Alt/Option until you see the boot menu appear, select your USB installer, and press Return to boot into the Sierra install environment from your USB drive. Want news and tips from TekRevue delivered directly to your inbox? Sign up for the TekRevue Weekly Digest using the box below. Get tips, reviews, news, and giveaways reserved exclusively for subscribers.