If your Mac starts up to a blank screen

A blank screen (black, gray, or blue) should appear once or more during startup. If your Mac appears to be stuck on a blank screen, follow these steps.

gray screen 

Try to start up from macOS Recovery

If your Mac seems to be turned on but the screen remains blank, follow the appropriate steps depending on whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon. If you're not sure, you can try it both ways.

Apple silicon

  1. Press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds, until you see the startup options window, which includes a gear icon labeled Options. Select Options, then click Continue.
  2. If you never see the startup options window, release the power button, then repeat step 1.

Intel processor

  1. Press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds.
  2. Press and release the power button, then immediately press and hold Command (⌘)-R until you see an Apple logo or other image.

If you can start up from macOS Recovery

If you started up from macOS Recovery, you should see a utilities window that includes Disk Utility. Select Disk Utility, then click Continue and follow the steps in this article:

Use Disk Utility to repair your startup disk

macOS Recovery options with Disk Utility selected

If Disk Utility found no errors, reinstall macOS.

If Disk Utility found errors and repaired them, restart your Mac. If the issue returns after restarting, reinstall macOS.

 


If you can't start up from macOS Recovery

If you can't start up from macOS Recovery, your Mac might not be turning on at all:

If your Mac doesn't turn on

If you're using an external display instead of a built-in display, make sure that the issue isn't with your external display:

If your external display is dark or low resolution

 


Contact us

If the issue continues, contact Apple Support

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