Summary : This blog offers one of the best solutions for resolving a flashing question mark (?) folder problem on Mac screen.
And while you deal with this problem, you may face data loss situation due to corruption or inaccessible media. So, we also cover along data recovery solution for Mac hard drives. Do you know Stellar Data Recovery Professional recovers data from a non-booting Mac as well? Free download to know more.
Originally Answered: How can I reformat a MacBook Air? Thanks for the A2A. Either boot up in the Recovery volume (COMMAND-R) or hold the Option Key down at start up and choose the recovery volume. Then use Disk Utilities to reformat the drive, and then use the installer on the recovery volume to re-install OS X. In today’s video, we show you how to completely reformat your Mac and set it back to factory settings, all without the need for a recovery disk or drive. Check out the video above to see how! Phase 2: Reset Your MacBook Pro/MacBook Air/iMac and More. Now, you can get to wiping and resetting your Mac. Step 1: Reboot Mac in Recovery Mode. Go to Apple menu in the top left corner of your Mac screen and click 'Restart'. As the system restart, hold 'Command and R' keys together to bring up the macOS Utilities window. Step 2: Erase Mac.
When I turned on my MacBook Pro, a flashing folder with a question mark came on the screen. That stayed there for a few seconds, but the Mac booted later on. Is there an issue with my MacBook Pro? Any suggestions…
Yesterday, after I turned on my MacBook Air, it displayed a flashing folder with a question mark. It didn’t boot so I had to force shut down. Then on, I didn’t start the MacBook. I don’t know what’s going on. Any clues on how to fix this?
In this blog, we will help you resolve the problem of ‘flashing folder with a question mark sign’ on your MacBook or iMac. And while you deal with this problem, you may come across the possibilities of data loss due to corruption or inaccessible media. So, we also cover along data recovery solution for Mac hard drives.
Let’s begin with the reasons for— why your Mac is flashing a question mark folder?
Flashing folder with a question mark (?) errormay occur if the Mac cannot detect its boot directory. This can happen in the following situations:
How to Repair Mac Flashing Question Mark Folder?
Following are the scenarios you would face in the ‘MacBook flashing folder question mark’ situation, along with the solutions you can use to tackle them:
Starcraft apple store. Case 1: When MacBook displays the error for a few seconds but boots
Step 1: Go to Apple menu > SystemPreferences > StartupDisk.
Step 2: Click the icon of the Startup Disk that is generally named as MacintoshHD.
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Step 3: Click Restart; your Mac won’t display flashing folder with question mark again
Case 2: When MacBook displays the error but does not boot.
A) Force Shutdown and Enter macOS Recovery Mode
Step 1: Press & hold the power button for a few seconds to force shut down the MacBook.
Step 2: Power on the Mac and immediately press & hold Command + R keys until Apple logo, spinning globe, or firmware password prompt appears.
a) When prompted, select a Wi-Fi network. You’ve entered into macOS recovery mode.
Step 3: When macOS Utilities appears, go to Apple menu > StartupDisk.
Reformat Macbook Air And Clean Install Os
Step 4:Click the Startup Disk (Macintosh HD), and then click Restart.
If the Startup Disk icon is not visible in the Startup Disk window, then likely the Startup Disk is facing a problem. Try repairing it with First Aid, as follow:
B) Repair Startup Disk
Step 1: In the macOS recovery mode, go to macOS Utilities and click DiskUtility.
How To Reset A Mac
Step 2: From the left pane, select the Startup Disk (MacintoshHD).
Step 3: Click the First Aid tab and then click the RepairDisk button.
Step 4: Exit DiskUtility once the repair process is over.
Step 5: Go to Apple menu > Startup Disk then select the Startup Disk (Macintosh HD) and Restart.
If the Startup Disk is still not visible after repair, then you would need to reinstall macOS to solve the ‘Flashing Folder with a Question Mark’ problem.
Also Read: 8 Best Ways to Recover a Failed Internal Mac Hard Drive
C) Recover Data from macOS
Step 1: Back up the MacBook data [critical step]
This is critically important because if you reinstall the OS without first backing up the data, it will result in data loss due to overwriting. So, back up the data present in the Startup Disk to another functional Mac (Target Disk Mode), as follows:
Step I. Connect the Mac that has flashing question mark to another Mac via Target Disk Mode.
Origin sims packs. Step II. Easily get the Stellar’s data recovery software from the below:
Step III. Install Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac on the working Mac.
Step IV. Launch the tool, and from the main interface, select RecoverData.
Step V. Select the type of data and the location of the flashing question mark drive.
Step VI. Click Scan after you turn on the DeepScan Windows on new macbook. feature for rigorous searching.
Step VII. Click Recover, and on the dialog box, specify the save location and click Save. The ‘save’ location can be the working Mac’s internal drive if it has sufficient space or else another external drive.
For quick walkthrough on how to use the software for MacBook data backup, see the following video:
Step2: macOS Reinstallation
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Afterthe data stored on the HD – having flashing question mark folder problem – isbacked up, proceed with reinstalling macOS, as follows:
Note: When Disk Utility does not show the Startup Disk or cannot repair it, then the storage drive has hardware problems. Contact a Mac repair service provider in this scenario.
Conclusion
The article elaborated various methodsto repair flashing question mark folder screen on Mac. The first case occurs when your Mac shows a flashing folder with a question mark for a few seconds. In this case, you reselect the Startup Disk fromsystem preferences.
Thesecond case happens whenyour Mac is stuck in the flashing folder with a question mark without booting.In this case, you need to enter the macOS recovery mode and reselect the StartupDisk. If it’s not visible, then try repairing it with Disk Utility.
If the Startup Disk repair fails, thenyou would need to reinstall macOS to overcome this problem. But, before that,it’s critical to back up the data stored on this hard drive, as reinstallingmacOS will simply overwrite the existing data.
So, connect the affected Mac to a functional Mac via Target Disk Mode, install Stellar Data Recovery Professional software on this working Mac, and then run it on the affected hard drive to extract and backup all the data to a secure location. Once the data is backed up, reinstall the macOS on the drive to fix the flashing folder with a question mark issue on Mac.
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