How to Fix a Mac That Will Not Start

Follow these steps to troubleshoot and resolve power, display, or startup issues on your Mac. Restore your device to working condition today.

1. Verify power and peripheral connections. Disconnect all non-essential accessories, including external drives, hubs, and printers. Ensure the power cable is firmly seated in the Mac and a known-working wall outlet. If the device remains unresponsive, attempt to charge it for at least 30 minutes before proceeding.
2. Perform a forced restart. Press and hold the Power button (or Touch ID button) for exactly 10 seconds. Release the button, wait five seconds, and press it again briefly to attempt a standard boot. This clears temporary hardware states that may be preventing the startup sequence.
3. Boot into Recovery Mode. Shut down your Mac completely. If you have an Apple Silicon Mac, press and hold the Power button until the text 'Loading startup options' appears on the screen. Select Options and click Continue to enter the macOS Recovery environment.
4. Repair disks with Disk Utility. In the Recovery utility window, select Disk Utility and click Continue. Select your startup disk (usually named Macintosh HD) from the sidebar. Click the First Aid button and select Run to scan for and automatically repair directory corruption.
5. Reinstall macOS. If Disk Utility finds no errors but the system still fails to boot, return to the main Recovery window. Select Reinstall macOS and follow the on-screen prompts to download and overwrite the operating system files without affecting your personal data.