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Loading Catalina on my MacBook Air

Was prompted to update/download Catalina. My computer is now stuck on restart. I see the apple and a progress bar on my screen. And it won’t move. Been waiting 3 hours now. Help!!

MacBook Air 13", OS X 10.10

Posted on Jan 29, 2020 3:23 PM

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4 replies

Jan 29, 2020 7:35 PM in response to Elizabethryan55

A Troubleshooting Procedure that may Fix Problems with macOS El Capitan or Later


    Be sure to backup your files before proceeding if possible.


  1. Shutdown the computer, wait 30 seconds, restart the computer.
  2. Disconnect all third-party peripherals.
  3. Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
  4. Reset the System Management Controller (SMC)
  5. Reset your Startup Disk and Sound preferences, if needed, after resetting the PRAM.
  6. Repair the disk by booting from the Recovery HD. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears. Choose Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the side list.  Click on the First Aid button in the toolbar. Wait for the Done button to appear. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu. Restart the computer from the Apple Menu.
  7. Repair permissions on the Home folderResolve issues caused by changing the permissions of items in your home folder.
  8. Create a New User Account Open Users & Groups preferences. Click on the lock icon and enter your Admin password when prompted. On the left under Current User click on the Add [+] button under Login Options. Setup a new Admin user account. Upon completion log out of your current account then log into the new account. If your problems cease, then consider switching to the new account and transferring your files to it - Transferring files from one User Account to another.
  9. Download and Install Catalina: How to upgrade to macOS Catalina.

Jan 30, 2020 9:08 AM in response to thrashedkid

After I posted my help request I found the instructions for a hard restart and I tried that. While I got the same loading bar screen back it eventually appeared to load. I don't know if that was what unstuck it.


Here are the instructions I followed:

Press and hold down the Command (⌘) and Control (Ctrl) keys along with the power button (or the ‌Touch ID‌ / Eject button, depending on the Mac model) until the screen goes blank.


I held the keys down for approx 60 secs. Let them go and then hit the power button. My Macbook air restarted and within 30 minutes I had my computer back!!!


I hope this works for you!

Loading Catalina on my MacBook Air

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