There are lots of reasons why you lot might observe that your Mac won't plough on, or your MacBook won't start up, but you probably but want to become it working over again. We'll run through the various checks and changes to make to get your Mac to boot up to you tin start using it again.

Read on for some uncomplicated tips that should get your Mac working, from the obvious stuff like checking the power connection, to performing a power cycle, starting in Recovery mode, and checking the file organization. And if your Mac really is dead, we'll as well tell you where to turn next.

The fixes in this commodity apply to most recent versions of macOS. The menus and interfaces may look slightly unlike depending on which Bone you lot are running, but their functions are in essence the same. Similarly, if you take an M1 Mac at that place are some changes to the way yous perform sure functions - like starting upward the calculator in Safe mode or Recovery, nosotros'll particular these below.

Mac won't turn on

i. Check your Mac turns on

First, let'due south detect out if the trouble is that your Mac won't first up, or that it won't plow on - those might audio like the same thing, simply there's actually a large difference.

Printing the Ability button on your Mac. If y'all don't hear a startup chime, you don't hear any fan or drive noise, and there are no images, video, or visuals of any sort on your display, then your Mac isn't turning on at all. Y'all're not fifty-fifty getting to the point where it refuses to get-go up.

A Mac that doesn't turn on calls for a different approach to one that doesn't start upward. If your reckoner doesn't plow on and so you need to exercise the following:

i) Cheque your power connection

Don't be the cliché: check that the power is on and the Mac is plugged in correctly. Or if it's a laptop, be sure that the battery isn't dead - and if it needs charging give information technology a while to attempt to charge earlier final that it isn't going to piece of work. If your MacBook won't charge read this.

ii) Try a different ability cable or adapter

It may be that the fault resides with the ability cable. If you lot've got a friend with a Mac power cablevision that fits your machine, try it to see if that solves the problem. If it does, information technology could exist a simple set that involves finding a secondhand ability cablevision on eBay (although we suggest against buying 3rd-party power cables that aren't made past Apple tree, equally they are much more likely to exist faulty and possibly unsafe).

If you recently had a ability cut, that could be responsible: your ability adaptor could accept been damaged in a power surge and you may need a new one.

Finally, it's possible that the cable is loose, and pulling it out and plugging it in again volition solve the problem. Just we uncertainty it will be that easy.

Apple tree sells diverse cables for charging Apple Macs and laptops. You should find the ane you need here: Apple tree power adaptors. Too read: Which MacBook charger do I need?

iii) Disconnect all accessories

Unplug all the accessories (such every bit printers and USB hubs) attached to your Mac. It could be that one of your peripherals is causing problems with the startup sequence.

If yous recently installed new RAM or a new hard bulldoze, make certain they are correctly installed and compatible. (If possible, reinstall the old memory or hard drive and see if that helps.)

If none of those steps work then it'south fourth dimension to move onto the side by side phase.

ii. Perform a Power Cycle

If you aren't hearing whatsoever signs of life, you could perform a power cycle, which involves forcing your Mac to restart after killing the power to it.

  • On a MacBook you demand to hold down the power key for ten seconds. You lot'll normally hear a squeak every bit the Mac'south ability is forcibly cut. Hopefully later on waiting ten seconds and restarting, all will be well.
  • If your Mac is a desktop you lot will need to unplug it and leave information technology unplugged for at least ten seconds before plugging it back in and attempting to restart.
  • For M1 Macs if you press and concord the Power button you would eventually encounter Loading startup options - bold the Mac was working properly. If pressing and property the power button does allow y'all to access the startup options then you lot can run through those options below to get your Mac up and running. Nosotros talk over this beneath.  We also discuss how to revive your M1 Mac using a second Mac and the Configurator app below.

If performing a power cycle on your Mac doesn't help, or if pressing the Power button on the M1 Mac doesn't open the start up options, there are a few other uncomplicated things to try out earlier moving on to the more complicated steps.

3. Cheque your display

If you're using a desktop Mac such equally a Mac Pro or Mac mini this could employ to you lot. If yous don't have a separate brandish plugged in you can skip this step.

You could have a trouble with the display you have plugged in, rather than the Mac itself. Take a listen to your Mac to encounter if it'south making any sounds during boot-up.

screen and mac mini

It is possible that your Mac does turn on, merely doesn't kicking upward because it tin can't access the display - if that'southward the case y'all are virtually probable having trouble with the display hardware (rather than a broader startup event).

If y'all remember it's a problem with your monitor, then take a wait at this Apple tree Support document for advice on troubleshooting a brandish. If your brandish isn't working the advice is to:

  1. Cheque the power supply to the Mac (and the power to the display if using a separate unit).
  2. Ostend that all cables are continued securely.
  3. Remove all brandish extenders and switches, and any other devices betwixt the Mac and monitor.
  4. Unplug the video cablevision (if using a separate monitor) and plug it back in.
  5. If using more than than 1 monitor in a 'daisy chain', unplug all monitors and test using just 1.
  6. If possible, try to use a unlike display, or a different adapter (use DVI instead of VGA, for case).
  7. Apple likewise advises adjusting the screen resolution in Arrangement Preferences.

4. Boot upwards your Mac in Condom Boot

Safe Boot limits what checks and functionality your Mac focuses on during startup, and performs certain diagnostics. It'southward rare, merely sometimes yous can get your unhappy Mac to first up successfully with a Prophylactic Boot, and then restart information technology normally, and everything returns to hunky-doriness. If yous want more help with this pace read: How to kickoff a Mac in Safe Style.

  • To enter Safe Style on an Intel-powered Mac: Beginning your Mac up while holding down the Shift key. Safe Kicking can take a while to commencement (if it does piece of work at all).
  • To enter Safe Mode on an M1-powered Mac: Press and continue to concur the power push button until yous see the startup options appear on the screen. Choose the startup deejay. Now press and hold Shift and so click Continue in Safe Mode. Then release the Shift key. Yous volition see the words Safe Mode in card at the top right of your screen.
  • To get more feedback well-nigh what's happening, you could start up an Intel-powered Mac while belongings downward Shift, Command and V: that enters both Rubber Kick and something called Verbose Mode, which spits out some letters well-nigh what Prophylactic Boot is really trying to do as it goes.

At present yous are in rubber manner nosotros volition hash out how to use Safe Manner to ready your Mac start up problems.

While you are Condom Style the interface volition look very slightly different, with blocks of colour rather than transparency. The biggest giveaway is the Dock at the lesser of the screen, such every bit in the image below, for example.

Safe Mode Mac

Once in Safe Mode yous may exist able to run certain checks (we'll run through these below) and make changes that could ready your Mac. For example y'all could reinstall macOS or update other software.

If you detect you can start up in Safe Mode it is probable that the issue is related to one of your startup items, in which case y'all should go to: System Preferences > Users & Groups and remove all the items (click on -). Y'all could employ trial and error to work out which startup item is causing the problem.

5. Reset the PRAM / NVRAM

In the PowerPC days, we talked about resetting the PRAM. On Intel Macs, the term is resetting the NVRAM. The NVRAM in M1 Macs is reset automatically, simply there is a way to reset NVRAM on the M1 Mac - nosotros discuss that hither: How to reset NVRAM on an M1 or Intel Mac.

The proper name refers to special memory sections on your Mac that store data that persists fifty-fifty when the Mac is shut off, such as volume settings and screen resolution.

Resetting that data isn't harmful, but quite bluntly it's as well rarely genuinely useful. Just information technology can't hurt.

Y'all might need to grow an extra finger or two for this one, or have a friend help you lot out. Hither'due south how to reset the PRAM/NVRAM on your Intel-powered Mac:

  1. Hold down all of these keys: Command, Option (Alt), P and R, and plow on the Mac (information technology's the same keys to reset the PRAM).
  2. Go on holding the keys down until you hear the Mac restart over again.
  3. Listen for a second reboot, and and then release the keys.

On M1 Mac resetting the NVRAM ways using Concluding, the method is discussed in the article linked above.

In some cases, after performing this step, your Mac will restart unremarkably. In other cases, you might instead see a progress bar on startup. If the progress bar fills upwards and so the Mac starts up, you're probably good to become. In some cases we've seen, withal, the Mac shuts down at around the halfway signal in the progress bar.

6. Reset the SMC

In some situations, you may need to reset your Mac'south SMC (System Management Controller). This is largely a last-ditch endeavour to set the current version of macOS earlier attempting to recover the data and moving on to reinstalling the OS.

SMC is absent from the M1 Mac so you can't reset information technology. However y'all can change the settings that the SMC used to look after. We talk over how to do this here: How to reset a Mac'southward SMC.

Here's what to practise if you want to reset the SMC (Intel Macs):

On a Mac laptop:

  1. Close down the MacBook.
  2. Unplug and then reconnect the power cable.
  3. Press Shift + Ctrl + Option/Alt keys and the ability button at the aforementioned time.
  4. Now release all those keys and the power push button at the same time.
  5. You may see the light on the power cable flicker.
  6. Restart your MacBook.

On a Mac desktop:

  1. Shut downwards the Mac.
  2. Unplug information technology.
  3. Press the ability button for 5 seconds.
  4. Plug the Mac back in.
  5. Turn on your Mac.

How to fix a Mac that won't turn on: Reset the SMC

vii. Run Disk Utility in Recovery Style

If your Mac is booting but the operating organisation isn't loading up, you may take a corrupted drive. Luckily information technology is possible to fix this in Recovery Fashion. We have a detailed tutorial on using Recovery Mode here, but nosotros'll run thorough the basics below.

Yet again, accessing Recovery Manner is a little different on an M1 Mac (read about All the new ways of doing things on M1 Macs).

The kickoff step is to run Disk Utility. On a Mac running Mountain Lion or later, which will be the vast bulk of Macs, you tin run Disk Utility by booting into Recovery Mode.

  • On an Intel Mac y'all need to brand sure the Mac is turned off. If it's not responsive considering it's stuck on a grey, bluish or white screen, just agree down the Mac's power button for several seconds until it gives up and shuts off. (Here'south what to practice to fix a Blueish Screen of Expiry on a Mac.) Hold down the Control and R keys, and power the Mac back up again. Keep pressing Cmd + R while your Mac is booting up until you see the Apple logo.
  • On an M1 Mac press and hold the Power button until the Mac starts up and eventually shows the outset upward options. Select Options > Continue to enter Recovery.

Now yous are in Recovery style here'south what to do:

  1. One time your Mac starts in Recovery Manner yous will gain admission to Utilities. Click on the Disk Utility option. macOS Utilities
  2. Locate your Mac'due south drive - probably Macintosh HD, select it.
  3. Click First Assistance. First Aid Mac
  4. If there are errors with your disk, Disk Utility should find them and will either repair them automatically, or will inquire if you would like to repair them. Click Repair Deejay if this is the case.

In Recovery Way you tin can also practise the following:

  • Restore from a Fourth dimension Auto fill-in.
  • Get aid online.
  • Install or reinstall macOS (we discuss this below).

8. Revive a M1 Mac

If you have an M1 Mac and yous still oasis't been able to revive it, the adjacent option to effort is to use a second Mac running Apple'south Configurator 2 to update the firmware.

You will need a 2d Mac, a USB to USB cable, a spider web connection and Apple's Configurator ii software.

  1. Connect the two Macs with a USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to USB-A cablevision.
  2. Open Configurator ii software on the working Mac.
  3. Now on the not-working Mac press and agree the power button while also pressing the following primal combination: Right shift, Left Option/Alt, Left Command. You volition need someone to help you unless you have gigantic easily because you besides need to be pressing the Power Push at the aforementioned time.
  4. After about 10 seconds let go of the keys, but keep pressing the Power push. Hopefully the M1 Mac will announced in the Configurator app on your second Mac past this point (the M1 Mac all the same won't show any screen action though).

The process is a footling different for the M1 Mac mini.

  1. In this case you need to unplug it and wait for about ten seconds.
  2. Printing and hold the power button.
  3. Plug it in once again, while still property the power button.
  4. Release the power push.

How to use the Configurator software to revive an M1 Mac.

  1. The M1 Mac should be showing in the Configurator software on the other Mac. Select the M1 Mac you want to revive.
  2. Click on Actions > Advanced.
  3. Select Revive Device.
  4. This will revive the firmware on the M1 Mac.

9. Bank check the file organization

This stride is actually kind of fun - at least when information technology'southward not your Mac that's under the weather. It's fun because it feels then geeky.

Before you get besides excited though, this isn't an selection for M1 Macs.

  1. Close the Mac off, and start it up over again while holding Cmd + Due south to launch in Single User Style. You can release the keys when the intimidating black screen with letters in white text appears.
  2. Wait until the command-line prompt appears, when all the text is done scrolling past. And so blazon fsck -fy and hit Render. And wait. Possibly for several long minutes.
  3. Eventually, after 5 different checks that take varying amounts of time, you should get to one of two letters: "The volume [your Mac's proper name] appears to be OK" or "FILE Arrangement WAS MODIFIED."
  4. If you run across the commencement message, type reboot and press Return.
  5. If you run into the latter message, you need to run fsck -fy all over again. You can retype the control and striking Return, or printing the Upwards arrow once and then press Return.

If this doesn't work, and your Mac however doesn't first up, and so motility on to the next step.

ten. Use Target deejay fashion to re-create files

This step should be taken prior to reinstalling macOS and it depends on your backup situation. You do make regular backups, or at least sync important documents, music and photos to the cloud, right?

If you're not sweating at the moment, and are confident in your Time Car or other backup solution, and then skip to Step 11 below. But if you wish you'd backed up your Mac so at present is the time to see what y'all can salvage from the machine.

For this, you'll need a second Mac. If you haven't got one and then ask a friend. Follow these steps to use Target Disk Mode:

  1. Connect both Macs together using an Apple tree Thunderbolt cable (£39 from Apple). If you have an older Mac this same procedure works with FireWire cables.
  2. Switch off your Mac.
  3. First upwards your Mac while belongings downwards the T push on the keyboard.
  4. Keep belongings the T button down as you hear the startup chinkle and go along it pressed until the Thunderbolt icon appears on your screen.

This places your Mac in Target deejay style. In Target Disk mode your Mac acts like an external drive. You should now hopefully run across the hard bulldoze for your faulty Mac on your second Mac's Finder.

Yous should be able to catch the files you need from your unresponsive Mac, or even clone the entire hard drive to some other external drive.

Plug in Mac

11. Reinstall macOS

This is pretty drastic, only if y'all have tried everything else, so reinstalling the operating system could remove the result that is stopping the Mac from starting properly.

Remember macOS Recovery from the step above? Yous can apply it to reinstall macOS too.

  1. Kicking into Recovery manner equally to a higher place (concord the Command and R keys while you start up, or printing and agree the power push button if y'all are on an M1 Mac).
  2. Once in Recovery click to install the latest Bone and follow the onscreen prompts.

Our commodity on resetting a Mac to manufactory settings has more data on wiping a Mac and reinstalling macOS.

12. Make a Genius Bar appointment

If you've made it this far and your Mac still doesn't work, you'll need to take it to an Apple Genius Bar to see if they can aid you ready it (or arrange for a repair under warranty). Hopefully you accept got enough data from your Mac and so as to be able to dorsum up, or proceed working on a new Mac.

Wondering how many years your Mac should final for? Read: How long do Macs last?