My Mac Doesn’t Turn On: First Aid and Tips
You pressed a power button, but your Mac doesn’t seem to respond. We all know this scary feeling of the unknown, and it can be particularly distressing if you have some urgent work to do. Here’s how you can address this problem and prevent similar issues in the future.
Quite often, the cause of the problem is pretty simple – your device is not plugged in and does not have the energy to turn on. So, the first thing you should always do is check whether the computer is plugged in and whether the power plugs and electric sockets are not damaged. To ensure that your charger works appropriately, try different power cables and power bricks (if you have spare ones).
If your computer’s battery is completely dead, it may take some time before the device will turn in. To prevent this problem in the future, try not to let the battery run too low before you switch off the device and charge your battery regularly.
If the listed actions did not help, check whether the display is working. If your device has an external display, make sure it has power and is connected properly. You never know when your cat decides to play with the cables and unplug them accidentally. If your Mac made the usual sounds when you turned it in, it means that the display is the culprit. If you have a spare one, try using it instead and check whether the device turns on as usual.
Another helpful step would be to make sure that all the cables are fitted securely. Inspect them carefully to identify potential signs of tear or fraying. If you have a pet or a small child having access to your device, there is a risk that they have damaged the cables. As soon as you replace them, your computer will turn on.
More Advanced Steps If nothing helps, move to more complex actions. For example, you can do a power cycle by holding the power button down for ten seconds. For a desktop version, unplugging the computer for ten seconds also works. In addition, you can boot in safe mode by pressing shift. This option may help you determine whether some software or driver issues (e.g., limited space) don’t allow the device to turn on.
Working as a cyber security solutions architect, Alisa focuses on application and network security. Before joining us she held a cyber security researcher positions within a variety of cyber security start-ups. She also experience in different industry domains like finance, healthcare and consumer products.
