Mac turns on but won’t boot into Mac OS

If your Mac powers on okay but won’t load into the desktop, that could be something else entirely. There are a few fixes you can try at home for this.

Use Safe Boot

If your Mac powers on but won’t load into the desktop, you could try a Safe Boot. This runs internal diagnostics to try to identify the problem and fix it.

1. Start your Mac and press the Shift key until the Apple logo appears.
2. Release the Shift key when you see the login box. Log in and load the desktop.
3. Open Terminal and type ‘fsck -fy’ and hit Enter. This will perform a file check that could take a few minutes.

If you see ‘The volume appears to be OK’, your file system works as advertised. If you see ‘FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED’, run the command in Step 3 again by pressing the up key and Enter once more. Run it until you see ‘The volume appears to be OK’. Then reboot normally without going into Safe Boot.

If your Mac boots normally, you need not do anything else. If you recently installed any new apps or software, now might be a good time to remove them. Try using your Mac without the new app or program and reinstall it. If your Mac has trouble booting again, it is that program and not your Mac causing the problem.