There are several reasons why your Mac won't turn on: the screen won't turn on, the Mac won't start… Follow our guide step by step to find the solution before giving everything up for lost. The remedy for many computer problems is to simply turn the computer off and on again. But what can we do when the problem is ours Mac won't turn on? In this article we have put together a list of possible solutions.
Despite being very powerful computers, Macs are ultimately machines, and they can be damaged by both the user and the manufacturer. So if you ever encounter this setback, avoid giving the device up for dead, as it is likely that it will be fixed without even having to go to your nearest Apple store's Genius Bar.
Solution 1. Check that your Mac is not turning on permanently
This tutorial is designed for Apple users who can't turn on their Mac, so first check that it really is. There is a big difference between not turning on and not starting, for example.
If when you press the power button, you can't hear the fan or hard drive booting sound, you don't see any image on the screen, and no lights are on on the keyboard, you can rest assured that your problem is that the Mac won't turn on.
In this case, please follow the guidelines below:
1 . Check that your Mac is properly connected to the mains. If the problem is with your laptop, make sure it has a battery or if not, let it charge for a few minutes before concluding it isn't working.
2 . Use a different power adapter or other charger to verify that there is no problem with the cables. If this solves the problem, you should get a new one. We recommend that you avoid cables that are not produced directly by Apple.
3 . Disconnect all accessories connected to the Mac, whether they are printers or other devices connected to the USB inputs. It could be that one of them is causing the startup problem.
4 . Have you recently installed a new RAM or hard drive? Make sure they are properly installed and compatible with your Mac. If possible, reinstall the original RAM or hard drive.
If none of these steps solve the problem, take a look at Solution 8 listed in this tutorial, which is to reset the System Management Driver, also known by the acronym SMC.
Solution 2. Force the Mac to start
One of the most commonly used techniques for troubleshooting when turning on a computer is what is known in English as “power cycling”. It consists of forcing the device to stop to force its restart.
In the case of a Mac, keep pressing the power button until you hear the noise. Disconnect the computer and, after ten seconds, reconnect it. Finally, press the power button again to check if it lights up.
Instead, if you have the problem on MacBook, press and hold the power button for ten seconds, then press again to check if the problem is solved. If not, read on.
Solution 3. Take a look at the Mac screen
Another possible reason that your device does not seem to light up is on the screen, especially if you are using a desktop computer. The first thing you should check is if the Mac makes a noise when you press the power button.
If so, that means it has no problems starting up and the solution should focus on identifying why the screen isn't working. In this regard, Apple's official technical support recommends carrying out these checks:
- Make sure that the power cord, like any other cable, is connected properly.
- If you have an external display, make sure it is compatible with your Mac.
- Disconnect any device connected to the Mac and / or external display.
- Disconnect and reconnect the video cable to the external display.
- If you're using more than one video card, unplug them all and plug them back in.
- Try using a different monitor or video card.
Have you tried everything and it still doesn't work? Refer to solutions 5 and 7 for information on how to start your computer in safe mode and reset the NVRAM or PRAM respectively. Then adjust the resolution in your Mac's “System Preferences”.
Solution 4. Use Disk Utility in 'Recovery' mode
Finally, you were able to start your Mac, but the operating system still does not load. In this case, the problem could be that one of the disks is damaged, which can be easily fixed with the “Recovery” option.
The steps marked below should be performed after making sure your Mac is turned off. If you think your Mac is frozen - with a gray, blue, or white screen - press and hold the power button for a few seconds until it shuts down.
1 . The first step to follow is to open the "Disk Utility". On those devices running OS X 10.8 or later, you will find it booting the Mac in 'modeRecovery'.
To do this, press the "Command"And"R”Simultaneously while you press also the power button. Hold down the "Command" and "R" keys while the computer starts up.
2 . When your Mac has restarted in 'mode Recovery ', you can log in to the application ' Utility' . Once opened, click on " Disk Utility ”And locate the icon corresponding to your Mac's disk.
3 . Then click " check disk ”So that the program automatically detects any errors with the disk. If you want me to fix these errors, just click " Repair disk ”When he asks you.
In addition to checking and repairing the disks connected to the computer, the "Recovery" mode can also be used to perform the following functions:
- Restore from a Time Machine backup
- Reinstall macOS
- Check your internet connection
- Get help on the Internet using Safari
Solution 5. Start your Mac in Safe Mode
A good way to identify problems on Mac is to use safe or boot mode, which allows you to start the computer while performing certain checks and choose which software components to load and which not.
While it rarely fixes startup problems, Safe Mode may help your Mac function properly. In this case, you just have to turn it back on as usual and that's it.
To start your Mac in Safe Mode, first make sure your computer is turned off. Restart, and immediately after, press and hold the key ' Shift '. To get information during this process, also press the " Command " is " V ".
Note that this process may take some time. If you see that Apple does not appear, then it is best that you reject this little trick as a solution to your problem and see what you can do more in other sections of this article.
Solution 6. Check the file system
Want to feel like a real geek for a day? This proposal will please you, especially if what you are trying to solve is not your computer, of course. Use this option only if solution number 4 did not solve the problem.
This involves using the 'fsck' command to check if there have been any errors in the file system, as this could be one of the reasons that prevent the Mac from starting up after a bad shutdown, a forced restart, or a power failure.
1 . After making sure your Mac is turned off, restart in single user mode by holding down the keys " Command " is " S ". You can stop pressing them when the black screen with white text appears.
2 . When the command line appears and the text has finished loading - when it stops moving up, type fsck -fy, press the ' Submit 'and wait a few minutes.
3 . The command will perform five different checks of varying duration. When it's done, you'll get one of these two messages:
- "** Volume (volume_name) seems satisfactory."
- "***** THE ARCHIVE SYSTEM HAS BEEN CHANGED *****"
4 . If the first message appears, it means that no problem was found. In this case, type reboot on the command line and press the 'key Submit '.
If, on the other hand, you get the second message, it means that a problem has been found and the command (s) has been changed, repaired, or corrected. In this case, repeat step 2 again until the first message appears.
Finally, if the 'fsck' command doesn't work, you should consult solution 7.
Solution 7. Reset the NVRAM or PRAM
NVRAM - formerly known as PRAM - is non-volatile random access memory, i.e. memory that stores certain information, volume level, screen resolution, etc., which is not lost even when the computer is turned off.
In this section, we'll learn how to restore data, a process that doesn't harm your Mac, although perhaps not very useful for troubleshooting startup problems. Since you lose nothing in trying, here are the steps to follow.
1 . With the computer turned off, restart it from while holding down the power button and the buttons Command ',' Option ',' P ' is ' R ', until you hear the typical startup sound your Mac makes when it restarts.
2 . If this trick managed to fix the problem, you will see how your Mac boots up as usual. Sometimes, you have to wait for the progress bar to complete. In other cases, the computer may shut down before it completes.
3 . Once you have managed to restart your device, you can go to ' System Preference 'to set those values which have been reset to reset NVAM again.
On the other hand, if your Mac does not start, you should seek help in some other solution proposal of this article.
Solution 8. Reset SMC
As a last resort to solve the problem, while maintaining the current version of MacOS and without having to reinstall the operating system, you can try to reset the system management controller, known by its English name SMC.
The process outlined below can be done on a Mac or MacBook with Intel processors that don't respond to power button presses, don't handle temperature well, don't detect ambient light, among other features.
If you want to reset SMC on Mac desktop computer:
1 . With your Mac turned off, unplug the power cord and wait 15 seconds.
2 . After 15 seconds, reconnect the power cord.
3 . Wait another 5 seconds and press the power button to start the computer.
If you want to reset SMC on MacBook laptop:
1 . With the MacBook off, press and hold i keys " Shift "," Control " is " Option ”While also pressing the button di power on for 10 seconds.
2 . Release the keys and press the power button again to start the laptop.
If that doesn't work, you'll have no choice but to back up all your data and files and reinstall the operating system.
Solution 9. Use disk mode
The time has come to try reinstalling the operating system on your Mac, but first you need to check that all your files are safe. If you back up regularly and are convinced that your data is saved, you can go to solution 10.
If this is not the case, you will be interested to know that it is still possible to recover some of the documents and other files that you have on your computer. For this, you will need another Mac.
1 . Connect the two computers with the help of a Thunderbolt cable or FireWire cable on older Macs.
2 . Shut down your Mac, including pressing and holding the power button if necessary.
3 . Restart your computer and hold down the 'key T 'while booting until the Thunderbolt icon appears.
4 . You can now use target disk mode, which will act as if your Mac is an external drive. If all went well, you can access your hard drive from your friend's computer.
5 . Finally, copy all your files to another disk drive and follow the detailed instructions in the next section.
Unfortunately, if you can't access your computer from a second Mac, you won't be able to recover your saved files, even if you still have time to try the last solution before heading to your trusted Apple store.
Solution 10. Reinstall the OS on the MAC
Having been able to save the files you had saved on your hard drive, it is finally time to reinstall the operating system on your Mac.
1 . Press the power button while holding the keys " Command " is " R ". Don't stop pressing these last two keys until your Mac has finished booting.
2 . Hence, the application ' Useful info 'should appear on the screen, from which you can access the macOS Reinstaller. Just click on the option ' Reinstall macOS '.
3 . Then, click " Continue "And follow the onscreen instructions until you can click" Install ".
4 . After the installation is complete, your computer will restart automatically.
