There are lots of reasons why you might detect that your Mac won't turn on, or your MacBook won't starting time upwardly, simply yous probably simply want to get it working once more. Nosotros'll run through the various checks and changes to brand to get your Mac to kicking up to y'all can start using it again.

Read on for some simple tips that should get your Mac working, from the obvious stuff like checking the power connectedness, to performing a ability cycle, starting in Recovery fashion, and checking the file arrangement. And if your Mac actually is expressionless, we'll also tell y'all where to turn next.

The fixes in this article apply to nigh recent versions of macOS. The menus and interfaces may look slightly dissimilar depending on which Os you are running, only their functions are in essence the aforementioned. Similarly, if you lot take an M1 Mac there are some changes to the way you lot perform certain functions - like starting up the calculator in Condom fashion or Recovery, nosotros'll item these beneath.

Mac won't turn on

1. Check your Mac turns on

First, permit's find out if the problem is that your Mac won't start up, or that information technology won't turn on - those might sound like the aforementioned thing, simply at that place's actually a big difference.

Printing the Power button on your Mac. If you lot don't hear a startup chinkle, yous don't hear any fan or bulldoze noise, and there are no images, video, or visuals of whatsoever sort on your display, then your Mac isn't turning on at all. You're non even getting to the betoken where it refuses to start upwardly.

A Mac that doesn't plow on calls for a different approach to ane that doesn't start upwardly. If your computer doesn't turn on then yous need to practise the post-obit:

i) Check your power connexion

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 certain that the battery isn't dead - and if information technology needs charging requite information technology a while to endeavor to charge before concluding that it isn't going to work. If your MacBook won't accuse read this.

two) Try a different ability cable or adapter

It may exist that the fault resides with the ability cable. If y'all've got a friend with a Mac power cable that fits your machine, effort it to run into if that solves the trouble. If it does, it could be a simple set that involves finding a secondhand power cable on eBay (although we propose against buying third-party power cables that aren't made past Apple tree, as they are much more probable to be faulty and maybe dangerous).

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

Finally, it'south possible that the cable is loose, and pulling it out and plugging information technology in again volition solve the trouble. Just we doubt it will exist that easy.

Apple sells various cables for charging Apple Macs and laptops. You lot should discover the 1 you need here: Apple power adaptors. Likewise read: Which MacBook charger do I need?

three) 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 issues with the startup sequence.

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

If none of those steps work so information technology's time to move onto the side by side phase.

ii. Perform a Power Cycle

If you aren't hearing whatever signs of life, yous could perform a power wheel, which involves forcing your Mac to restart after killing the power to information technology.

  • On a MacBook you need to concur down the ability cardinal for 10 seconds. Yous'll unremarkably hear a squeak as the Mac's power is forcibly cutting. Hopefully afterward waiting ten seconds and restarting, all will be well.
  • If your Mac is a desktop you lot will need to unplug it and leave it unplugged for at least x seconds before plugging it back in and attempting to restart.
  • For M1 Macs if you printing and concur the Ability button you would eventually see Loading startup options - assuming the Mac was working properly. If pressing and belongings the power button does allow yous to access the startup options and so you can run through those options below to get your Mac up and running. We discuss this below.  We likewise 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 first upward options, in that location are a few other simple things to endeavour out before moving on to the more complicated steps.

3. Check your display

If yous're using a desktop Mac such as a Mac Pro or Mac mini this could utilise to you. If you don't have a separate display plugged in y'all tin can skip this step.

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

screen and mac mini

It is possible that your Mac does turn on, simply doesn't boot up because information technology can't access the brandish - if that's the instance y'all are about likely having trouble with the brandish hardware (rather than a broader startup issue).

If you think it's a problem with your monitor, then have a look at this Apple Support certificate for advice on troubleshooting a brandish. If your display isn't working the advice is to:

  1. Check the power supply to the Mac (and the power to the brandish if using a split unit).
  2. Confirm that all cables are connected securely.
  3. Remove all display extenders and switches, and any other devices between the Mac and monitor.
  4. Unplug the video cable (if using a separate monitor) and plug it back in.
  5. If using more than than one monitor in a 'daisy chain', unplug all monitors and test using just 1.
  6. If possible, try to use a different display, or a different adapter (use DVI instead of VGA, for example).
  7. Apple also advises adjusting the screen resolution in Organization Preferences.

4. Kicking up your Mac in Condom Kicking

Safe Kicking limits what checks and functionality your Mac focuses on during startup, and performs certain diagnostics. It's rare, but sometimes you can get your unhappy Mac to start up successfully with a Condom Kicking, and so restart it normally, and everything returns to hunky-doriness. If y'all want more assistance with this pace read: How to start a Mac in Safety Style.

  • To enter Safe Mode on an Intel-powered Mac: First your Mac up while holding down the Shift key. Safe Boot can take a while to start (if it does piece of work at all).
  • To enter Safe Style on an M1-powered Mac: Press and keep to concur the ability button until you see the startup options appear on the screen. Choose the startup disk. Now press and hold Shift and then click Go on in Safety Fashion. Then release the Shift key. Y'all will see the words Condom Style in menu at the top right of your screen.
  • To become more feedback virtually what's happening, you could start upwardly an Intel-powered Mac while holding down Shift, Command and V: that enters both Condom Boot and something called Verbose Way, which spits out some messages about what Safe Boot is actually trying to do as information technology goes.

Now yous are in prophylactic mode we will discuss how to use Condom Mode to prepare your Mac showtime up issues.

While y'all are Prophylactic Way the interface will await very slightly different, with blocks of colour rather than transparency. The biggest giveaway is the Dock at the lesser of the screen, such as in the image below, for example.

Safe Mode Mac

In one case in Condom Style you may be able to run sure checks (we'll run through these below) and make changes that could set your Mac. For example you could reinstall macOS or update other software.

If you lot notice you lot can outset up in Safety Mode it is likely that the outcome is related to one of your startup items, in which case you should become to: System Preferences > Users & Groups and remove all the items (click on -). You could utilize trial and fault to work out which startup item is causing the problem.

5. Reset the PRAM / NVRAM

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

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

Resetting that data isn't harmful, but quite bluntly information technology's likewise rarely genuinely useful. Simply information technology can't hurt.

You might demand to grow an extra finger or ii for this ane, or have a friend help you out. Here's how to reset the PRAM/NVRAM on your Intel-powered Mac:

  1. Concur down all of these keys: Control, Option (Alt), P and R, and turn on the Mac (information technology'due south the aforementioned keys to reset the PRAM).
  2. Keep property the keys downwardly until yous hear the Mac restart over again.
  3. Heed for a second reboot, and then release the keys.

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

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

half-dozen. Reset the SMC

In some situations, you may need to reset your Mac's SMC (Organization Management Controller). This is largely a final-ditch attempt to set up the current version of macOS before attempting to recover the data and moving on to reinstalling the OS.

SMC is absent from the M1 Mac so you can't reset it. Notwithstanding you lot can change the settings that the SMC used to expect afterward. Nosotros discuss how to do this here: How to reset a Mac'south SMC.

Here's what to do if you desire to reset the SMC (Intel Macs):

On a Mac laptop:

  1. Close down the MacBook.
  2. Unplug and and then reconnect the ability cable.
  3. Printing Shift + Ctrl + Option/Alt keys and the power button at the same time.
  4. Now release all those keys and the power button at the same time.
  5. You may run into the low-cal on the power cable flicker.
  6. Restart your MacBook.

On a Mac desktop:

  1. Shut down the Mac.
  2. Unplug it.
  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 Mode

If your Mac is booting but the operating system isn't loading up, you may have a corrupted drive. Luckily it is possible to fix this in Recovery Way. We have a detailed tutorial on using Recovery Mode hither, but we'll run thorough the basics below.

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

The first pace is to run Deejay Utility. On a Mac running Mountain King of beasts or later, which will be the vast majority of Macs, y'all tin run Disk Utility by booting into Recovery Style.

  • On an Intel Mac you need to make sure the Mac is turned off. If it'due south non responsive because it's stuck on a greyness, blue or white screen, only hold downwardly the Mac's power button for several seconds until it gives up and shuts off. (Here'due south what to do to gear up a Blue Screen of Expiry on a Mac.) Hold down the Control and R keys, and power the Mac back upwardly again. Keep pressing Cmd + R while your Mac is booting upward until you come across the Apple tree logo.
  • On an M1 Mac press and hold the Power push button until the Mac starts upwardly and eventually shows the start upward options. Select Options > Continue to enter Recovery.

Now y'all are in Recovery mode here's what to do:

  1. One time your Mac starts in Recovery Mode you will gain access to Utilities. Click on the Disk Utility selection. macOS Utilities
  2. Locate your Mac'southward drive - probably Macintosh HD, select it.
  3. Click Showtime Aid. First Aid Mac
  4. If there are errors with your deejay, Disk Utility should discover them and will either repair them automatically, or will inquire if you would similar to repair them. Click Repair Deejay if this is the case.

In Recovery Manner you tin also exercise the post-obit:

  • Restore from a Time Machine fill-in.
  • Get help online.
  • Install or reinstall macOS (nosotros discuss this below).

8. Revive a M1 Mac

If you have an M1 Mac and you however haven't been able to revive it, the next option to attempt is to use a second Mac running Apple tree'south Configurator 2 to update the firmware.

Y'all will need a second Mac, a USB to USB cable, a spider web connection and Apple tree's Configurator 2 software.

  1. Connect the ii Macs with a USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to USB-A cable.
  2. Open up Configurator 2 software on the working Mac.
  3. Now on the non-working Mac press and hold the power button while also pressing the post-obit key combination: Right shift, Left Pick/Alt, Left Control. You will need someone to assistance you unless you have gigantic hands because yous too need to be pressing the Power Button at the same time.
  4. Afterwards almost 10 seconds let go of the keys, but keep pressing the Power button. Hopefully the M1 Mac will appear in the Configurator app on your second Mac by this point (the M1 Mac still won't show any screen activity though).

The process is a little unlike for the M1 Mac mini.

  1. In this example you demand to unplug information technology and wait for about 10 seconds.
  2. Press and hold the power button.
  3. Plug it in again, while still holding the power push.
  4. Release the ability button.

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

  1. The M1 Mac should exist showing in the Configurator software on the other Mac. Select the M1 Mac you desire to revive.
  2. Click on Deportment > Advanced.
  3. Select Revive Device.
  4. This volition revive the firmware on the M1 Mac.

nine. Check the file system

This step is actually kind of fun - at least when it'southward non your Mac that's nether the conditions. It's fun because it feels so geeky.

Before you get as well excited though, this isn't an pick for M1 Macs.

  1. Close the Mac off, and start it up again while holding Cmd + Southward to launch in Unmarried User Manner. You can release the keys when the intimidating black screen with messages in white text appears.
  2. Await until the command-line prompt appears, when all the text is done scrolling by. So type fsck -fy and striking Return. And wait. Possibly for several long minutes.
  3. Eventually, after 5 different checks that take varying amounts of time, y'all should get to one of two messages: "The volume [your Mac's name] appears to be OK" or "FILE Organization WAS MODIFIED."
  4. If you encounter the first message, type reboot and printing Return.
  5. If yous see the latter message, you need to run fsck -fy all once more. You can retype the command and hitting Return, or press the Up pointer once so press Return.

If this doesn't work, and your Mac still doesn't start up, then movement on to the side by side step.

10. Apply Target disk mode to re-create files

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

If you're not sweating at the moment, and are confident in your Time Machine or other backup solution, and then skip to Step eleven below. But if yous wish you'd backed upwardly your Mac and then at present is the time to encounter what you tin can salvage from the machine.

For this, y'all'll demand a 2nd Mac. If you oasis't got one then enquire a friend. Follow these steps to use Target Disk Manner:

  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. Starting time upwardly your Mac while holding down the T push on the keyboard.
  4. Keep holding the T button down as you hear the startup chime and keep it pressed until the Thunderbolt icon appears on your screen.

This places your Mac in Target disk manner. In Target Deejay fashion your Mac acts like an external drive. You lot should now hopefully see the hard drive for your faulty Mac on your second Mac's Finder.

You should be able to grab 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, merely if you accept tried everything else, and then reinstalling the operating system could remove the issue that is stopping the Mac from starting properly.

Call up macOS Recovery from the stride above? You can use information technology to reinstall macOS as well.

  1. Kicking into Recovery mode every bit above (agree the Command and R keys while you lot commencement up, or press and hold the ability push button if yous are on an M1 Mac).
  2. Once in Recovery click to install the latest OS and follow the onscreen prompts.

Our article on resetting a Mac to factory settings has more information on wiping a Mac and reinstalling macOS.

12. Make a Genius Bar appointment

If you've made it this far and your Mac however doesn't work, you'll demand to take it to an Apple Genius Bar to see if they can help you fix it (or arrange for a repair under warranty). Hopefully you have got enough information from your Mac so as to be able to back upwardly, or continue working on a new Mac.

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