Q: I have a cd stuck in my MacBook Pro.  How can I get it out?

Thank you so much, your tilt trick worked perfectly...I had a CD with a thick, disc-sized label on it and it was physically stuck in the drive.  Tilting got it out first try.

Hi Kappy

I have a 6 year old MacBook Pro running Mountain Lion.

None of the solutions you have provided, that don't involve a reboot of some kind, has worked for my problem.

My problem occurs when, for some reason, my DVD drive cannot read or recognise that there is a disk in the drive. with movies on, presumably because they are damaged.

If I am willing to wait about 5 minutes (I am not!) of many attempts to read the disk, eventually a window pops up saying: "you have inserted a blank disc" and gives me the option to eject. It works then, but there has to be a quicker way, and one that doesn't involve a reboot every time, or such a long wait. Perhaps there is a way to reduce the number of read attempts to maybe 3, and then offer the option above, i.e.  "you have inserted a blank disc"  with the option to eject.

Some free-standing DVD players have a little pinhole which can be used to manually eject a stuck DVD, but not my MacBook, it seems.

Further info, which probably is not relevant to the problem under discussion: The DVD drive gave me trouble once after a long period of disuse. I got forum advice to switch off, disconnect from power, spray compressed air into the drive slot, wait for a few minutes for the moisture to evaporate, plug in and reboot. It worked!!

However the drive is working, it seems, with undamaged DVDs, so this probably has no relevance. It seems the unreadable DVDs are somehow damaged. It is likely, because they are from a huge collection of DVDs in the hostel where I live, having been used by all and sundry.

I even tried tilting my Mac. I used to have a Sony CD walkman which, when it got older and began skipping over tracks, would only work properly if I stood it on its' side! Go figure!

Your response/advice would be very welcome.

Of course if there is still no solution that works without a reboot, I will try the geniuses at Apple.

Charlie

Thanks jacksonbrookssharpe it worked for me.A dvd was stuck in my drive and i tilted my laptop completely sideways and hit eject and it slid out haha saved me a trip to apple!

Thanks a ton, I tried all the methods mentioned by Kappy, did a SMC reset and nothing! The first time around it happened day before yesterday ithe CD came out magically after giving the MBP a sleepover of 12 hrs. But today when the next CD got stuck, nothing else but your trick worked. Aaah such a relief! Thank you.

Thank you .... so simple and DVD ejected like a dream!

Great help from Utilities setting, thanks a lot!

WAs getting bummed because nothing worked and with your gracious advice i could dig out that mthfukka thanks     ✌️✨ 

I've tried a few things but this one was the one that worked - shut down, reboot while holding the track button down while holding the macbook with the drive facing down. I couldn't believe it worked. Rebooting while holding the eject button didn't work; terminal didn't work; waiting the 10 - 15 odd minutes didn't work. Hope you found your answer.

i tried everything suggested by the others and then came up on your suggestion, laughed to myself and thought what the heck ..may as well give it a shot...worked in the first try!!! you're a genius ..thanks a lot!!

I use a business card: when the disk is trying to eject, insert an inch of the card into the slot. I usually run in from one side to the other. This always helps when the disk is trying to eject but is physically stuck.

thank you. #1 worked for me:)

Thanks! This was the only thing that worked!

Amazing! Thank you - I've been battling this all year and that just solved my problem outright.

Oh my god thank you so much this worked for me!

Hi All,

I am a MacBook Pro and Mac (of all types) for many years now. I am a Sr. network Analyst/Engineer for a very large company here in NC. When my disc got stuck, it didn't freak me out, because this happens more than you would like to think. I knew there were all kinds of ways to get it out with key combinations and this and that, so I wasn't too worried. Meanwhile however, before I tried to do all that stuff, I saw the post from by "jacksonbrookssharpe on Jan 17, 2013 5:59 PM"   And, before I started trying all the other methods, I decided to give his method a shot, and wa-boom. It worked perfectly. So, before you get all into the hunting and key pressing, and chasing down all these methods, just try his method first, and it will most likely work like a charm. It did for me on two occasions already in the last few days. I don't normally do a lot of CD/DVD work from my Mac, and that is why I needed to come look this up again, but I will always remember his suggestion as well since it is so easy. So, stop now, try his method, and if it doesn't work, then go ahead and start chasing down all the other methods. I will recap what he said, and make sure he gets full credit for the fix/post... So, this was from jacksonbrookssharpe on Jan 17, 2013 5:59 PM" and one of the first posts in this forum.. He simply said the following:  

-- I know you already had your problem answered, but this other trick worked when all the others failed. When ejecting the CD, I would tilt my macbook sideways so the CD drive was angled down at a slant while pressing my fingers up against the bottom of my mac and into the CD drive, which would push the CD out. Hopefully this works as an alternative method and it helps somebody out. --

Personally, I just tilted the Macbook pro, pressed the eject key, pushed on the bottom of the MacBook Pro, but I did NOT use my fingers to "and into the CD Drive", because I didn't really understand this part since i slide my disc into the side of the MacBook Pro. I didn't see HOW I could put my fingers into the CD drive. I don't have an iMac, so perhaps he is referring to a drive on that, or a drive where you can press your fingers inside the CD Drive. I am just not sure, but the other methods worked completely fine, and I am very pleased, because I will never need to look this up again, and I will remember the method forever, and likely it will always work.

Jacksonbrookssharpe - If you want to explain the "fingers in CD drive, please feel free, because I didn't really understand that if you're referring to a MacBook Pro that only has a slit in the side. Unless you mean to have your fingers there to immediately push up or down on the disc as it starts to come out, so it will not be sucked back into the electric, automatic disc pull system/feature.

Thanks again, Jacksonbrookssharpe, great post and job. Certainly appreciate it. It will also help me when someone else asks me how to do it. I can give them a quick and easy resolution without having to jump through hoops and something I and they can remember without having to look too hard.

Sorry for the long post, but when I find something that really works, I like to make sure others know as well, because while it may take some time to read all of this, it will save a mess load of time in the future when this happens again. Trust me, if you have a MacBook (any kind pro or not) you WILL HAVE THI PROBLEM at some point. You can rest assured it will happen to you. This is the one thing Mac does not do a good job at. This cool, neat, auto-pull system of the discs into the Mac. It just doesn't work well, and freaks a first timer OUT when it happens. Relax. It is normal for Mac's, you will get it out, just follow directions and then the "hoops" if his method doesn't work.

Works Fantastic!!!   Thank you sir!!