How to Fix MacBook Stuck on Apple Logo and Won’t Boot

Are you not able to work because your MacBook is stuck on Apple logo and won’t boot?

Well, you are not alone. When your MacBook is stuck on the Apple logo screen, a common cause is a corrupted operating system. It may be due to improper shutdowns or buggy applications on your computer.

Aside from this, a faulty battery can also cause corruption in your file system. To avoid this from happening again, you need to replace your battery. Having a healthy battery means you have enough time to shut down or plug in your MacBook.

Now that you know how to avoid this problem, let’s focus on how to resolve it if you’re currently experiencing the issue. Our guide for today includes methods that will fix the issue on the software level. After that, determine if you indeed have a hardware failure that will require manual inspection. At the end of this, we hope it helps you to fix your MacBook that is stuck on the Apple logo and won’t boot up.

Let’s get started!

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Choose Correct Disk
2. Remove Peripheral Conflicts
3. Reset the Cached Data Settings
4. Reset the SMC
5. Boot in Safe Mode
6. Repair the Disk
7. Recover via Internet
8. Use Apple Diagnostics Tool
9. Reach Out to Apple

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How to Fix MacBook Stuck on Apple Logo and Won’t Boot: 9 Ways

 

1. Choose Correct Disk.

This issue happens when the computer, such as your MacBook, is booting up from the wrong device. These devices are your external hard drive or flash disks. To fix the issue, you need to launch the start-up manager and choose the correct drive to boot.

To launch it, press the Power button and Option key on your keyboard until you see the start-up manager. You will then see a list of devices which you can boot. Make sure you choose the system hard drive of your MacBook so it will launch the start-up.

 

 

 

2. Remove Peripheral Conflicts.

You may have external devices attached to your MacBook that is causing a conflict. But before you remove them, make sure you shut down your MacBook first. This is to avoid further corruption of your system file or hardware damages.

Now, remove external devices like mouse, keyboard, flash drive, and network cable. If you have all other devices that are not essential for starting up your MacBook, remove them as well. Then, power on your computer again and check if you are still having the same issue. If it works, try to test each device and see which one is causing the problem.

Also, if your battery is full or above 50%, try to remove the charger and start up your Macbook. There is a chance that your charger is faulty and needs replacement. If this does happen, then we recommend that you have an Apple-certified technician verify it for replacement.

 

 

 

3. Reset the Cached Data Settings.

NVRAM or Nonvolatile random-access memory is a place to store the parameter settings in your MacBook’s operating system (macOS). If this cached data is corrupted, you will not be able to load your operating system correctly. To fix this, you will need to reset it to default values to restore it to a healthy state.

Here’s how you can do it:

1. Go ahead, press and hold the Power button of your MacBook. Release it until you see the screen turns from the stuck Apple logo to black screen.
2. Then, make sure to take note of Command, Option, P and R keys in your keyboard.

 

 

3. Then press the Power button to turn it back on. When you hear the startup sound, immediately press this key combination until your MacBook restarts.
4. Finally, release the keys when you hear the startup sound again.

After you cleared the cached data settings, it should have removed the corrupted data files causing the issue. You should be able to start-up your operating system successfully on your MacBook.

 

 

4. Reset the SMC.

The SMC or System Management Controller is particularly designed for intel-based MacBooks. This feature is responsible for handling the low-level functions of your Mac such as display, battery and LED indicators. To make sure that the issue is not caused by malfunctions on the SMC level, you need to reset it as well.

Here’s how to reset it on MacBook with a removable battery

1. First, you have to remove the battery of your MacBook.
2. Next, for 5 seconds, press and hold the Power button.
3. Finally, connect back the battery to your MacBook and proceed to start up the MacBook.

 

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Here’s how to reset it on MacBook with non-removable battery

1. First, press and hold the Power button of your MacBook until it powers off.
2. Next, for 10 seconds, press the Power button again but this time with Shift, Control and Option key.

 

 

3. Finally, release the keys and proceed to start up the MacBook.

After restoring your SMC to default values, you should be able to see the correct display during start-up. But if you are still stuck on the Apple logo page when starting up, you will need to check the operating system this time.

 

 

5. Boot in Safe Mode.

Corrupted system files on your operating system or low storage space can mess up with your start-up process. This is why it is wise to start-up your MacBook on ‘Safe Mode’ which only loads the core files. To do this, your MacBook should be completely off, and then you will have to press the Power button to turn it on. Hold the Shift key until you hear the start-up sound if your Mac model is earlier from 2016). If you own a Mac model from late 2016, hold the Shift key until the Apple icon appears on the screen then release the key.

Now that you are in ‘Safe Mode’, clear out your storage by emptying your Trash.

 

 

After that, free some hard drive space by moving large video files and images to your backup drive partition or external hard drive. Make sure that you have at least 10 GB of available space on your system hard disk. When you achieve this minimum requirement for macOS, shut down the MacBook and start it up.

 

 

6. Repair the Disk.

Older hard drives tend to get corrupted over time. This is due to an improper shutdown process which can damage your hard drive. With this, the disk can be repaired but before that make sure to back up your data.

Here’s how you can do a backup process:

1. First, press and hold the Power button of your MacBook until the display turns back to turn it off.
2. Then, after a few seconds, press and hold the Power button with the Command and R keys in your keyboard.
3. Now, click the Disk Utility option on the Mac OS Utility window.

 

 

 

4. Then, choose your system partition from the sidebar. Click the File option, then New Image, and then Image from your Hard Drive’s name.
5. Next, choose a name for your back-up Disk Image and select the external drive or flash disk to save it.
6. Click the Format option and then the read/write type. To save time, you can opt to not to encrypt your data.

 

 

7. Finally, click the Save option and click the Done button to complete the process.

Now let’s move on to repair your Hard Drive:

1. Go ahead and repeat Steps 1 to 3 to launch the Disk Utility option.
2. Next, click on your macOS System hard drive and click on the Verify/Repair disk option.

 

 

Note

On other versions of macOS, look for the First Aid option to repair your hard disk.

 

 

3. Finally, wait for it to complete the process. Depending on the hard drive capacity, it will take time to finish the process.

But, if the repair process fails try to erase the volume and restore from the time machine backup process option. Then try to boot it again.

 

 

If the issue still persists, repeat the repair disk process. But if still the repair fails and prompts that your hard drive is unrepairable, you will need a replacement. Once replaced, get your data from your backup on the external hard drive or flash disk.

 

 

7. Recover via the Internet.

If your ‘Disk Utility’ is not working, you can still do a recovery process using the internet. But first, you have to check the list of compatible MacBook versions for this process. You can connect your MacBook to the internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet Cable.

Here’s how you can do it:

1. First, press and hold the Power button of your MacBook. Wait until the display turns back to show that it is completely off.
2. Then, press and hold the Power button together with the Option, Command and R keys in your keyboard.

 

 

3. Finally, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the recovery process.

This process is still not a full-proof fix that will resolve this issue, especially if you have a defective hard drive. If it works, there is a chance that some parts of your hard drive are also defective. When this happens, we still tell you to replace it with a new one to prevent data loss in the future.

 

 

8. Use Apple Diagnostics Tool.

This tool would not resolve the issue but will definitely check if you have hardware problems in your MacBook. Before you decide to call for help, it is wise to have this information beforehand. But Apple Diagnostic tool also includes suggestions on how to fix hardware issues. So if you think you can do it yourself, that would be a great advantage.

Here’s how you can launch it:

1. First, make sure to remove all external devices on your MacBook except the power and internet.
2. Then, turn off your MacBook by pressing the Power button until the displays turn black.
3. Next, turn back on your MacBook and immediately hold the D key on your keyboard.
4. Release the key until you see the screen asking to choose a language.
5. After that, it will display a progress bar for checking the status of your Mac.

 

 

6. Finally, you will see suggested solutions with reference codes if there are issues.

 

 

Make sure to take note of the codes for you will be needing them if you call Apple’s support. If you know how to resolve them yourself, make sure to repeat the process and do the test again. If you want to get details of your service and support options, click on the Get Started option.

 

 

 

9. Reach Out to Apple.

For advanced troubleshooting procedures, you can always call an Apple Support representative. Now that you have the reference codes from Apple Diagnostics Tool, it will be easy for them to identify the issues of your MacBook. But since your MacBook cannot start up, it will be impossible for them to access your computer.

Better yet, go to the nearest Apple Store if you want an Apple-Certified technician to fix this issue for you. Before assuming a hardware issue, they can still do some advanced fixes. Rebuilding master boot record and removing incompatible kernel on your operating system might resolve it. They might even re-install your macOS, but whatever the case, you will need the experts to handle this. Just be sure to backup your Mac using Time Machine before heading over there.

 

 

As we close this guide for today, we hope that we were able to help you fix your MacBook that is stuck on the Apple logo and won’t boot. If you have questions related to this topic, please feel free to leave a comment below.

 

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