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User profile for user: Community User
Community User Author

Folder with a question mark appearing on my Mac sometimes

According to the article, "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."


My Mac sometimes show a folder with a question mark when I start up. I didn't do anything to my Mac, like I didn't delete my startup disk, and I see my Mac operating system is working fine and has no problems. The only solution is to get rid of that screen. I did repair the startup disk in recovery mode, but it didn't work. Somebody help me.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 13.3

Posted on Jun 5, 2023 7:08 PM

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User profile for user: Lucius_Fox
Lucius_Fox
User level: Level 1
22 points

Posted on Jun 6, 2023 5:38 AM

If the issue is persistent, try reinstalling the MacOS from recovery.


More information and further troubleshooting steps can be found here on this link


If your Mac starts up to a question mark - Apple Support (CA)


If the question mark is persistent, and your Mac does not start up normally:


  1. Press and hold the power button on your Mac for up to 10 seconds, until your Mac turns off.
  2. Every Mac has a power button. On notebook computers that have Touch ID, press and hold Touch ID.
  3. Use Disk Utility to repair your startup disk. Follow the steps for a Mac with an Intel processor.
  4. If Disk Utility found no errors or repaired all errors, reinstall macOS.
  5. If you still need help, please contact Apple Support.



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5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Lucius_Fox
Lucius_Fox
User level: Level 1
22 points

Jun 6, 2023 5:38 AM in response to Community User

If the issue is persistent, try reinstalling the MacOS from recovery.


More information and further troubleshooting steps can be found here on this link


If your Mac starts up to a question mark - Apple Support (CA)


If the question mark is persistent, and your Mac does not start up normally:


  1. Press and hold the power button on your Mac for up to 10 seconds, until your Mac turns off.
  2. Every Mac has a power button. On notebook computers that have Touch ID, press and hold Touch ID.
  3. Use Disk Utility to repair your startup disk. Follow the steps for a Mac with an Intel processor.
  4. If Disk Utility found no errors or repaired all errors, reinstall macOS.
  5. If you still need help, please contact Apple Support.



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User profile for user: PRP_53
PRP_53
User level: Level 10
90,541 points

Jun 6, 2023 7:26 AM in response to Community User

Is this the Article the user is referring to


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 is persistent, and your Mac does not start up normally:

  1. Press and hold the power button on your Mac for up to 10 seconds, until your Mac turns off.
  2. Every Mac has a power button. On notebook computers that have Touch ID, press and hold Touch ID.
  3. Use Disk Utility to repair your startup disk. Follow the steps for a Mac with an Intel processor.
  4. If Disk Utility found no errors or repaired all errors, reinstall macOS.
  5. ➡️ If you still need help, please contact Apple Support. ⬅️

6. Have the computer evaluated by the Professionals who have the Special Hardware Software and Expertise to diagnose the issue and offer possible solutions

7. - Make an Appointment at the Apple Genius Bar and have them evaluate the computer


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User profile for user: Barney-15E
Barney-15E
User level: Level 10
115,852 points

Jun 6, 2023 10:03 AM in response to Community User

According to the article, "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.“

It's not necessarily that everything is missing. It is sometimes just a single file that it can't locate. It may be indicative of some corruption in the drive. Make sure you have a back up. You may need to reinstall the OS.

It's been a while, but I think sometimes an NVRAM reset would repair the problem.

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Folder with a question mark appearing on my Mac sometimes

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