How to Fix Startup Issues on Your Mac: 6 Great Solutions for Mac Users

We have a flowchart to guide you through six ways to fix a Mac that won't start up.

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Overview of Mac Startup Issues

Everybody may encounter Mac startup issues, like you press the power button on your MacBook, but the Apple logo doesn't show up! If you're an Apple fan, you might have experienced various MacBook startup errors, such as macOS Ventura won't boot, the computer stuck on the loading screen, failed to start as expected, or the Mac stuck on the Apple logo. However, some significant Apple Mac startup problems include:

• Question Mark Folder Icon
• Black screen on startup
• Infinite loading bar
• Shuts down automatically on startup

When this happens, you might be confused about how to proceed with your work! But worry not, for this article will provide you with the best solutions on how to fix Mac startup issues. So, let's dive right in and discuss the six best methods to resolve Mac startup errors!

How to Fix Mac Startup Issues [6 Ways]

To address Mac startup issues, here are six solutions to try:

Solution 1: Force Shutdown and Restart your Mac to Fix Boot Issues When encountering startup problems with your Mac, the first step is to force a shutdown and then restart it. Here's how: 1. Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds until your Mac completely turns off. 2. Wait a few seconds, and then press the power button again to start your Mac. 3. Observe if your Mac boots up normally. If the issue persists, try alternative solutions.

A forced shutdown is typically referred to as a procedure used to resolve freezing issues with a MacBook or Mac. Hence, if your MacBook is frozen with a blank screen, you can force a shut down and restart. However, follow the steps outlined in this guide on how to forcefully shut down your Mac.

Step 1. Hold down your MacBook's power button. Every MacBook has a power button located in the top-right corner of the Touch Bar. If you have an iMac, its power button is on the back of the screen, bottom-left.

Step 2: Use a keyboard shortcut. To safely shut down your Mac, you must press “Control + Option + Cmd + Power.” If your Mac is unable to shut down all applications safely, this shortcut may not work, and you will have to force your Mac to shut down! Now, press “Control + Cmd + Power,” and hold for a few seconds. This will cause your Mac to turn off.

Solution 2: Reset the Mac's NVRAM/PRAM and SMC

PRAM or NVRAM is a smaller memory that stores details about the macOS startup. They're similar, but newer MacBook models use NVRAM instead of PRAM. However, if your MacBook takes too long to boot, it's best to reset the NVRAM, as it helps revert disk startup issues to default settings. Here's how to reset the NVRAM:

Step 1: Restart your MacBook and hold down the “Command + Option + P + R” keys for 20 seconds to reset the NVRAM.

(2) Release the keys and let the computer start up normally.

Note: On older Macs, you'll hear a startup sound; hold these keys until you hear the second startup sound.

This article will teach you how to reset the SMC on your Mac.

The SMC is responsible for everything from battery management to keyboard backlighting to what happens when you hold down your MacBook's power button. So if your MacBook won't turn on, resetting the SMC is a good bet. Here are the important steps to reset the SMC with minimal effort:

For MacBook and 2018 MacBook Pro models with a T2 security chip:

Step 1: Hold down the right “Shift,” “Alt,” and left “Control” keys for about 7 seconds.

Step 2: Hold those keys down for seven seconds.

Step 3: Release all keys and wait a few seconds before turning your Mac back on.

For Intel-based desktop Macs:

Step 1: Unplug the power cord and wait 15 seconds.

Step 2: Wait five seconds, then plug the power cord back in.

Step 3: Restart your Mac.

Solution 3: Reinstall macOS Ventura or an older version of macOS

If nothing works, the best way to fix Mac startup issues is to reinstall macOS Ventura. Thankfully, you won't lose any important documents during the process of reinstalling macOS, as it's similar to an upgrade. Follow these steps to reinstall macOS:

Before you begin, make sure that you have an Internet connection.

Step 2. Hold down Command + R as your Mac restarts, until you hear the startup sound. This will boot your Mac into Recovery Mode.

Step 3: Next, you should choose Reinstall macOS from the macOS Utilities window.

Fix 4: Run the Disk Utility's “First Aid” to Check and Repair Your Mac Hard Drive

If the startup disk on your Mac has issues, you can run Disk Utility. From there, you can use it to repair the Mac disk with Disk Utility.

Step 1. Boot your Mac into Disk Utility and click "Continue."

Step 2: Select the last partition on each drive that you want to repair, and then click "First Aid" or hit the "Tab" key to begin.

Step 3: Click "Run" to check for errors on the selected drive.

Step 4: Type your administrator password when prompted to unlock the disk.

Step 5: When Disk Utility finishes, select the next item in the sidebar, and run First Aid again. Work your way up the list, running First Aid on the volume, the container, and finally the disk itself.

Step 6: Exit Disk Utility when you're done. If you booted into macOS Recovery and used Disk Utility, choose Restart from the Apple menu.

Solution 5: Replace a damaged Mac hard drive to fix boot issues

If your MacBook's hard drive is severely damaged, replacing the hard drive is the best way to fix this error. You can choose to replace the hard drive to check and replace a faulty Mac hard drive. While this doesn't directly replace the hard drive, it's good for Apple. To replace a damaged Mac hard drive, do the following:

Step 1: Click “About This Mac,” and check the hard drive model from the System Information.

Step 2: Click "System Report" for details.

Step 3: From the sidebar, select “Storage” to get more detailed information about your drives. This will allow you to identify the boot drive your MacBook is using and replace the damaged one.

Fix 6: Contact Apple Support to Address Mac Startup Issues

If none of these work, you should contact Apple Support.

How to recover data when Mac won't start up

Did you lose some important data while fixing the startup issues on your Mac? Or do you want to recover data when your Mac has startup problems and won't turn on? Don't worry, as there's a portable Mac data retrieval tool for you – the tools Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

This professional tool supports Trash recovery after emptying it or accidental deletion. Besides, it can deal with various data loss situations and save your files no matter how big they are – from a single Office Word document to a large number of pictures stored on your Mac.

With Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, you can recover data lost due to partition loss or formatting, wrong operations, and system crashes. In addition, this Mac data recovery software helps you create bootable media to retrieve data from an unbootable or crashed system, ensuring a high success rate of data recovery.

Now download the Mac version of tools Data Recovery Wizard and follow the instructions. The steps below will guide you through starting up your Mac and using tools Data Recovery for Mac to recover your data.

First, you'll need to start your Mac in Recovery Mode:

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Step 1: Boot into Recovery Mode with the tools utility

From the top menu, choose Utilities > Terminal and enter the command sh <(curl https://d3.tools.com/mac/boot.sh). Press Return. Wait for the app to open, which may take a few minutes.

Note: If the terminal returns "No such file or directory" or "Could not resolve host," double-check that you've typed the command line correctly, ensure your Mac has a stable internet connection, and confirm that your macOS version is macOS 10.15 or later.

**Step 2: Select the volume on your Mac hard drive**

Select the volume where your lost data was stored and click “Search for Lost Files”. The tool will quickly locate all recoverable data on the selected volume.

Step 3: Choose the lost data you want to recover

The software categorizes the recoverable data by file types and storage paths. You can locate the desired data by clicking "Type" or "Path" on the left panel. Then, check the box in front of the data you want to recover.

Step 4: Recover and save the data to an external drive

When you click “Recover,” a pop-up will ask you to “Select a Destination.” Choose your external drive as the new location to save the recovered data.

Conclusions

The above 6 methods are the best solutions to fix all your Mac startup issues. However, you might lose your files in the process of fixing the errors! But don't worry because Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is a professional tool to help you retrieve your lost files. So, it's recommended that you download the tool now!

Frequently Asked Questions About Mac Startup Issues

Here are some of the best troubleshooting tips for Mac startup issues:

How to Fix a Mac Stuck on the Apple Logo?

Follow the steps below to resolve freezing issues like Mac stuck on Apple logo:

• Press and hold the power button on your Mac for 10 seconds to turn it off.
• Turn your MacBook back on.
• If the issue persists, press and hold the power button again until it turns off.
• Turn it back on.

Why does my Mac keep crashing and restarting?

Software on your Mac or a connected device can sometimes cause unexpected restarts. If the problem causes your Mac to restart every time you try to start up, it might eventually shut down.

How to Fix the Question Mark Flashing on Your Mac Startup Screen

If you deleted an app from your Mac and its icon is still in the Dock, it will show as a question mark. To remove it, drag the icon out of the Dock until you see the “Remove” option.

What to Do When Your Mac Won't Start Up and You Need to Rescue Data

When it has booting problems, you need to use Mac Data Recovery Wizard to get your important data back.