My macbook pro won't restart or shut down.

arhyarion. wrote:

Thank you. I just completed this update (which I had to do using macOS Recovery Mode, as the "Restart Now" option in Software Update did the same thing with getting stuck on a reboot).

After updating to 11.4 I tried restarting and also shutting down. The issue persists.

Uninstall all third party apps that are Cleaners/Optimizers/VPN/Anti-Virus

You can get a good look at your System config. and reveal conflicts or issues, you can download/run this trusted utility https://etrecheck.com

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arhyarion. wrote:

I use a MacBook Pro (15 inch, 2016), and I am currently on BigSur 11.3 - although for me, this issue has been around at several months, possibly longer. (I don't restart the machine that often.)

So here's the issue: if I go to the Apple menu and select Restart (or Shut Down), all of my apps quit nicely, or ask me if I want to save anything unsaved and then quit - that's all proper. So everything acts like it's getting ready to restart or shut down. The Finder appears to exit. The menu bar and dock disappear. All that's left is the desktop background. It should go dark any second now, after which I'll hear the chime…any second….any second. Hmm. Nope - it never comes. All I see is my desktop background, with no dock, no menu bar. Command + Option + Escape does not bring up the Force Quit dialogue. I do see that the mouse cursor is still present, and it still moves when I move the mouse. Aside from that, nothing happens. I have walked away for an hour with it in this state, and come back to the same screen.

Ultimately I have to hold the power button to force a shutdown.

This happens every time I try to restart or shutdown. I can't even remember the last time I had a clean restart.

Try updating your software, the current stable release is 11.4