10.4 C
London
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Mac Not Starting Up: Possible Fixes To Know!

Must Read

How painful and annoying it can be when you just pick up your macbook to start your daily tasks and notice that your mac is not starting up. There can be various reasons for your Mac not starting up or Macbook starting problem, like power related issues, display related issues, a hardware failure, battery issues or recent OS or software update. But irrespective of the reasons, one thing is obvious, you need to fix it as soon as possible.

Yes, you always have an option to take it to the Apple Store, but it will not only cost you money but also the time. And, therefore we have clubbed some simple solutions in our article that will help you fix the Macbook starting problem.

So without further ado let’s begin.

Check for the Power in your Mac

Before getting started with any of the basic troubleshooting steps it is always better to look out for the basic solutions. So, if your mac is not starting up then first check whether it is properly connected to a power source or not. Try pulling out the plug from the power outlet and put it back to rule out any possibility of loose power connection.

In case if it’s your macbook that is not starting up then make sure its battery is not completely depleted. And if it is the case, then before starting up first try to let it charge for at least 10 min or more. Also, make sure that it is charging properly, by trying switching to different power outlets. Another option is to closely look at the power cord or the adapter to make sure that they are not damaged. You can even try changing the adapter or the power cable, and if changing any of these fixes the mac starting problem, then it simply means you need to change your power adapter or cable.

Disconnect All Connected Accessories and Peripherals

Another quick yet useful troubleshooting step is to disconnect all the accessories or peripherals that are connected to your Mac. It is often seen that the attached accessories, especially the ones that are not manufactured by Apple, cause issues with the startup sequence of the mac and prevent it from starting as usual. So to rule out any such possibility, remove any attached devices like printer, mouse, keyboard, and then again try starting your mac to check whether it starts properly. And if it starts then surely one of your attached accessories is not compatible with the current version of MacOS or your mac.

Run a Power Cycle

The next step to fix the macbook starting problem is to run a power cycle that cuts all traces of power from the Mac and then start it from scratch to clean up any internal incompatibility that is  preventing your mac from a proper startup.

Note: This step may not work if your MacBook is totally dead.

  1. For new MacBooks that are shipped with non-removable batteries, press and hold the Power button for at least 10 seconds, then wait for 10 seconds, After that try restarting your macbook as usual.
  2. For an old macbook that has a removable battery,  shut it down completely by pressing the power button and then remove the battery and wait for 10 seconds before reinstalling the battery again. Now restart your device to check whether this time it starts as normal.
  3. For a desktop Mac, you need to unplug the power cord from the power socket, wait for 10 seconds and then plug it back. Now restart the Mac as usual.

Reset  System Management Controller (SMC)

The System Management Controller abbreviated as (SMC) is responsible for handling different basic Mac functions, like handing the keyboard backlight, battery management, and what happens when a user presses the power button.

On a Mac laptop follow the steps below to reset SMC:

  • Completely shut down the MacBook.
  • Now unplug and then reconnect the power cable.
  • Next, press Shift + Ctrl + Option/Alt keys and the power button on the keyboard at the same time.
  • After holding for 7 seconds, release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
  • You will see the light flickering on the power cable.
  • Now restart your MacBook as usual.

On a Mac desktop follow the steps below to reset SMC:

  • Shut down the Mac completely by pressing the power button.
  • Next unplug it from the power source and wait for 10 seconds.
  • Now keep pressing the power button for 5 seconds.
  • And finally plug it back to the power source and tunn on your Mac.

Boot your mac into Safe Mode

If the above method doesn’t work and you correctly remember that your MacBook was booting properly the last time you used it then the option of Safe Mode will help you to solve the Macbook starting problem for you.

To initiate Safe Boot, start up your Mac and keep holding the Shift key as it turns on. This will  start your mac with just some basic and limited functionalities. If starting in Safe Mode works flawlessly then try shutting down and restarting your Mac again as usual.

Hope this helps as Safe Boot many times helps you to reset things so that everything is operating correctly again.

However, in case Safe Boot doesn’t work for you, you can try an alternative way. Press and hold the D key when powering on your mac. This will run a diagnostic test on your mac that can provide you with much needed information about what exactly has happened that is stopping your Macbook from starting as usual.

Moreover, if your Mac successfully starts in Safe mode, you can try uninstalling any new apps that you have installed before the problem arises, disable all the unneeded startup items, remove any new attached hardware, or peripheral device, or undo any recent changes that you have applied and caused the problem of mac not starting up. Once done, shut down your mac and try to boot as normal. Hopefully now your mac will start without any glitches.

Reset NVRAM or PRAM

NVRAM i.e non-volatile random access memory is a special section of your mac’s memory that is responsible for storing the settings required by the mac to access quickly. If you are using an older Mac, then instead of NVRAM your mac has PRAM (perimeter RAM).

However, the process resetting both NVRAM and PRAM is same and is listed in the steps given below:

  • Press the power button on your mac, and then immediately press and hold the Option (Alt), Command, P, and R keys on your keyboard.
  • Keep on holding the keys for around 15-20 seconds. Do not release the keys even if you find that Mac restarts.
  • Now, release the keys after you hear the chime sound from your mac for the second time.
  • For the Mac having T2 Chip, release the keys the second time when the Apple logo disappears.

After the mac restarts successfully, you might need to adjust some basic settings like time, time zone or the volume level.

Run Disk Utility in Recovery Mode

This step will help you especially, when your Mac is only turning on, however, the OS isn’t loading, due to a faulty hard drive or Operating System. To fix this we need to go into Recovery mode by following the steps below:

1. First make sure that your Mac is completely turned off. Now hold and press the Command and R keys on your keyboard along with the Power button on your mac.

2. Keep all these keys pressed until your Mac boots and you see the Apple logo on the screen.

3. Your Mac is started in Recovery mode. Now on the window that appears, click on Disk Utility option.

4. Next select the hard drive of your Mac and click on “First Aid.”

5. Now, if your hard disk has any errors then the Disk Utility will automatically diagnose them.

6. If any errors are found on the hard disk, then choose the option “Repair the disk”.

7. Once done, try restarting your Mac to check whether it boots up properly without any problem.

If you still face the problem, then open Recovery Mode again by following the above steps and  restore your Mac from a Time Machine backup or install a fresh copy of macOS.

Wrapping Up

So readers, we hope that the article has helped you in fixing the Macbook starting problem. But, before we wrap up this article we would like to ask you a question. Do you wish to minimize the risk of such a situation in the future? If your answer is yes, then we suggest you keep your mac optimized by cleaning the junk, browser cache, app cache, and other unneeded files from time to time. Now, it is an uphill task if you manual do this, therefore we would like to introduce a mac optimization software, Disk Clean Pro that automatically optimizes your mac.

This amazing mac optimization tool helps you to clean the junk, uninstall apps along with their leftovers, protect your identity, manage startup items and much more.

You can get this amazing app from the App Store.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest News

Truck Repair: Keeping Your Vehicle in Top Shape

If you own a truck, you understand the importance of keeping it well-maintained to ensure it operates smoothly on...

More Articles Like This