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MirandaCain Author

Level 1

4 points

My Mac is showing a file with a question mark when I try to restart it

My Mac is showing a file with a question mark when I try to restart it why?

MacBook

Posted on Mar 8, 2021 12:57 PM

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steve626

Level 6

10,235 points

Posted on Mar 8, 2021 1:29 PM

That happens when (1) a startup disk has failed and can no longer be accessed; (2) the startup disk and its files are ok but the operating system was damaged; (3) the disk was erased (intentionally or unintentionally).

See this article: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204323

You can boot into recovery hold COMMAND-R while booting, then select Disk Utility and run First Aid on the startup disk. Try rebooting again. If not fixed, you can also choose an option from Recovery to reinstall the MacOS without erasing/formatting. If you erased the internal drive, you can also use this method to install a new MacOS.

If the startup disk seems to disappeared, then (1) is most likely, the disk failed.

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My Mac is showing a file with a question mark when I try to restart it

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