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What to do when I see a globe sign with an exclamation mark in the middle? I ha e a Mac book air

Can’t access my Mac book air I see a forbidding sign with a circle and a strike over

Posted on Jun 20, 2021 4:59 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 20, 2021 6:33 AM

If your Mac starts up to a question mark

A folder with a flashing question mark means that your startup disk is no longer available or doesn't contain a working Mac operating system.




If the question mark appears only momentarily before your Mac starts up normally:

  1. Reset NVRAM.
  2. Make sure that your preferred startup disk is selected in Startup Disk preferences.

If the question mark persists, follow these steps:

  1. Press and hold the power button on your Mac for up to 10 seconds, until your Mac turns off.
  2. Turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold Command (⌘) and R to start up from macOS Recovery.
  3. While in macOS Recovery, use Disk Utility to repair your startup disk.
  4. If Disk Utility found no errors or repaired all errors, reinstall macOS.
  5. If you still need help, please contact Apple Support.



If you can't start up from macOS Recovery

If your Mac can't start up from its built-in macOS Recovery system, it might try to start up from macOS Recovery over the Internet. When that happens, you see a spinning globe instead of an Apple logo during startup: 

To manually start up from Internet Recovery, press and hold either of these key combinations at startup:

If startup from Internet Recovery is unsuccessful, you see a globe with an alert symbol (exclamation point):

If you see the globe and alert symbol, try these solutions:

  • Make sure that your Mac can connect to the internet. If you're not prompted to choose a Wi-Fi network during startup, choose a network from the Wi-Fi menu , if available.
  • Press Command-R at startup to try using the built-in Recovery system instead of internet Recovery.
  • Connect to the internet using Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi, or vice versa.
  • Connect to the internet from a different Wi-Fi or Ethernet network. Your network configuration might not allow the internet access that macOS Recovery needs.
  • Try again later, because the issue might be temporary.
  • Start up from another disk or volume, if available, or use a bootable installer to reinstall macOS.

If you still need help, please contact Apple Support.


1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 20, 2021 6:33 AM in response to eleni281

If your Mac starts up to a question mark

A folder with a flashing question mark means that your startup disk is no longer available or doesn't contain a working Mac operating system.




If the question mark appears only momentarily before your Mac starts up normally:

  1. Reset NVRAM.
  2. Make sure that your preferred startup disk is selected in Startup Disk preferences.

If the question mark persists, follow these steps:

  1. Press and hold the power button on your Mac for up to 10 seconds, until your Mac turns off.
  2. Turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold Command (⌘) and R to start up from macOS Recovery.
  3. While in macOS Recovery, use Disk Utility to repair your startup disk.
  4. If Disk Utility found no errors or repaired all errors, reinstall macOS.
  5. If you still need help, please contact Apple Support.



If you can't start up from macOS Recovery

If your Mac can't start up from its built-in macOS Recovery system, it might try to start up from macOS Recovery over the Internet. When that happens, you see a spinning globe instead of an Apple logo during startup: 

To manually start up from Internet Recovery, press and hold either of these key combinations at startup:

If startup from Internet Recovery is unsuccessful, you see a globe with an alert symbol (exclamation point):

If you see the globe and alert symbol, try these solutions:

  • Make sure that your Mac can connect to the internet. If you're not prompted to choose a Wi-Fi network during startup, choose a network from the Wi-Fi menu , if available.
  • Press Command-R at startup to try using the built-in Recovery system instead of internet Recovery.
  • Connect to the internet using Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi, or vice versa.
  • Connect to the internet from a different Wi-Fi or Ethernet network. Your network configuration might not allow the internet access that macOS Recovery needs.
  • Try again later, because the issue might be temporary.
  • Start up from another disk or volume, if available, or use a bootable installer to reinstall macOS.

If you still need help, please contact Apple Support.


What to do when I see a globe sign with an exclamation mark in the middle? I ha e a Mac book air

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