Mojave System Preferences pane is blank

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duncantho Author

Level 1

67 points

Mojave System Preferences pane is blank

The System Preferences pane on my partner's iMac, running Mojave, is blank.

Is there a way to fix this?

Posted on Oct 20, 2021 6:40 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

D.I. Johnson

Level 7

23,501 points

Oct 20, 2021 8:03 PM in response to duncantho

This may or may not help, but restart you Mac in Recovery mode and run Disk Utility to see if there are any disk problems that can be corrected.

• To boot into Recovery mode, press the power button on your Mac, and when you hear the startup chime, press the Command-R (⌘R) keys until you see the Apple logo and progress bar.

• When presented with the macOS Utilities window, select and launch Disk Utility. In DU, click View > Show All Devices.

• Now, from the list on the left, select the lowest volume that is still an indented item of the topmost internal device. It'll likely be named Macintosh HD or Macintosh HD - Data. Then click the First Aid button and let DU check and repair the volume if necessary. Do this to the other volumes and containers on the device, working your way up. Finally, run First Aid on the device itself. When DU indicates the tasks complete, quit the app and restart the computer.

Also, please see:

How to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility - Apple Support

Finally, if Disk Utility > First Aid doesn't correct the issue, I would proceed to reinstall macOS Mojave.

Reinstalling macOS does not have to erase your user data. The only time that should happen is if you choose to delete, erase, format or partition your startup drive. If you simply select Reinstall macOS from the macOS Utilities window, the OS should be reinstalled on top of the current installation, thereby refreshing the macOS version currently running. That is assuming that the drive device and volumes are healthy.

To non-destructively reinstall macOS as a troubleshooting measure - without deleting user files, documents, pics and vids, etc. – boot your Mac in Recovery mode by restarting and when you hear the startup chime press the Command-R (⌘R) keys until you see the Apple logo and progress bar. It's best to use a wired USB keyboard for this.

When the macOS Utilities window is displayed, select Reinstall macOS. The OS should be reinstalled on top of the current installation, thereby refreshing the macOS version currently running. That is assuming that the drive device and volumes are healthy.

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

NOTE– You should not have to delete, erase, format, partition or otherwise alter your startup disk for this. If that becomes an option, quit the process and restart your Mac. Then come back here for additional advice.

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Answer 2

Oct 20, 2021 7:27 PM in response to duncantho

If rebooting your Mac doesn’t fix things, see if the problem still happens in Safe mode (hold the shift key down at startup). It can take much longer to safe boot (10 min) so be patient.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

Safe mode forces the OS to clear certain caches and logs and do other miscellaneous housekeeping. It's non-destructive to user data so is safe to do. Very often certain weird software behavior is corrected by simply logging in this way as a troubleshooting method. When you're in safe boot, the machine will not be at its best performance, especially with graphics, but that's expected.

Does the problem persist while in Safe mode?

Exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and re-evaluate the issue again.

If the problem is still unresolved, please return here and post a reply and we’ll see what else we can come up with for help.

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Answer 3

duncantho Author

Level 1

67 points

Oct 20, 2021 8:18 PM in response to D.I. Johnson

Thanks for all that, D.I.

I have to set this aside for the moment but will pursue later. It's not pressing, as she can still pull up individual panes — Network, Displays, etc. —through System Preferences' Search box. Better to fix it, of course.

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Answer 4

duncantho Author

Level 1

67 points

Oct 21, 2021 10:31 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

Hi again,

I followed your instructions for running First Aid, which found no problems and also did not solve the problem. So I have tried the Mojave reinstallation process but am blocked by the message "The recovery server could not be contacted."

I'm guessing that's related to Apple ending support for Mojave, although I thought that was meant to happen in November.

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Answer 5

Oct 21, 2021 10:42 AM in response to duncantho

Apple dropping Mojave support wouldn't be the problem in this case. Most likely it's just a temporary issue. Are you given any error code with that message?

What method did you use to restart the Mac into recovery mode; was it ⌘R?

Were you presented with the macOS Utilities screen and able to launch the the Restore macOS option before you received this error?

If your Mac is connected to your router via wi-fi, try connecting with an ethernet cable. Or, try locating the router closer to the Mac to improve the signal. Then try the recovery restart again.

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Answer 6

duncantho Author

Level 1

67 points

Oct 21, 2021 11:58 AM in response to duncantho

I eventually was able to restore without the recovery server message popping up — and restoration solved the problem! Thanks, D.I.

Also thanks to BD. It did occur that there might be a plist problem and that deletion would be a quick move. And perhaps the system restore sorted that.

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