Is your Mac stuck on the Apple logo, showing a progress bar that won't move, or refusing to boot? Here are the recovery steps.

Symptoms

  • Progress bar stuck during startup

  • Endless boot loop or grey/black screen

  • Mac only boots intermittently

Step-by-Step Resolution

1. Perform a Basic Power Cycle

  1. Hold the power button until the Mac shuts down completely

  2. Wait 10-15 seconds

  3. Press the power button again to start

2. Boot into Safe Mode

Apple Silicon Macs (M1/M2/M3):

  1. Shut down completely

  2. Press and hold the power button until you see "Loading startup options"

  3. Select your disk, hold Shift, and click "Continue in Safe Mode"

Intel Macs:

  1. Restart and immediately hold Shift until you see the login window

3. Remove Login Items

If Safe Mode works:

  1. Go to System Settings > General > Login Items

  2. Remove any unnecessary third-party items

  3. Restart normally

4. Use macOS Recovery (Disk Utility)

Apple Silicon:

  1. Hold the power button to "Loading startup options"

  2. Click Options

Intel Macs:

  1. Restart and hold Command+R

Then:

  1. Choose Disk Utility

  2. Select your startup disk

  3. Click First Aid to repair the disk

5. Reinstall macOS (Without Erasing)

  1. From Recovery, choose Reinstall macOS

  2. Follow the prompts

  3. This repairs system files while keeping your data

Startup problems keep returning? This may indicate failing storage or deeper hardware faults. For data-safe repair options, our team can help.

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