question mark folder icon

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Level 1

8 points

question mark folder icon

hi hello!

i’ve been having a few trouble with my Macbook Pro 13” 2017 touchbar with 4 thunderbolt ports with the 512gb ssd.

it has recently started shutting off out of nowhere and showing a folder with a question mark icon on it. this problem has been plaguing my macbook ever since i started doing long classes on zoom online meeting.

i have checked with a paid third party app and it said that my ssd is perfectly fine, so i don’t know what’s causing this problem.

any solution hasn’t been done yet, so i’m open to any solutions.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jun 10, 2020 8:27 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

sterling r

Community Specialist

Jun 12, 2020 5:53 PM in response to Zanhz

Hello Zanhz,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. From what I am understanding is that your MacBook Pro will unexpectedly shutoff and show a ? folder, correct? Let's take a look into this!

Before going into troubleshooting, a Time Machine back up of the data on the device would be encourage:

Back up your Mac with Time Machine

Based on what you are describing, it appears the MacBook Pro is having Kernel Panic. Here is an article on isolate issue:

If your Mac restarted because of a problem

Here is an article on the ? folder icon and additional troubleshooting steps:

If your Mac starts up to a question mark

If the issue persists, please don't hesitate to post a reply!

Cheers!

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Answer 2

Zanhz Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 13, 2020 12:06 AM in response to sterling r

hi hello!

after reading your suggestions, i have managed to try and back up my files on time machine and macos recovery suggested me to restore back to MacOs High sierra from MacOs Catalina.

after it’s at High Sierra i downloaded MacOs Mojave because i need that dark mode haha. So far the problem seems to be gone as i’ve noticed that when it was on Catalina my macbook wouldn’t even last a good 15 minutes before it shuts down and showed the missing folder icon, now my macbook can be used normally without any issue.

also to note, when i was on Catalina, my macbook overheats like crazy even though there’s no app that’s opened in the background, this issue seems to be gone in mojave.

but nonetheless thank you for your suggestions sterling r!

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Answer 3

Leanne_68

Community Specialist

Jun 15, 2020 10:27 AM in response to Zanhz

Hello Zanhz,

You're most welcome and glad to hear the issue is resolved with using Mojave! Please don't hesitate to reach back out in Apple Support Communities again in the future.

On the issue of Catalina, I would encourage you to reach out to Apple Support directly. They will be able to provide you with additional information and review different options with you:

Contact Apple Support

Take Care!

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