Black Screen But Can See My Cursor

Thank You SO MUCH! Like almost everyone on here I was pulling my hair out on this until I tried the fix!! You are trully a lifesaver 🙂

I had the same issue with my 2008 iMac and Apple support walked me through the fix yesterday...

1. Shut the computer down by holding the power button for 10 seconds

2. Restart the computer and press shift at the same time until you see the progress bar start moving

3. Once you reach the point where your screen goes dark and you see the cursor, type the first letter of the username for your computer, then hit Enter, then type your password, then hit Enter.

4. After a moment, you should see the spinning beach ball

5. Your screen should then move on to something along the lines of "Completing OSX Installation" (I can't remember the exact wording). Let it finish. After that it should go to your normal desktop and the issue should be fixed. (If your screen goes pitch black during this process, hit the space bar. I thought it wasn't working, but the screen was just sleeping).

Apparently it's an issue with an automatic update that never quite got past the login screen.

Hope this helps!

I had the same issue, but the following has resolved.

if you have enable auto-login, disable it using the safe mode described previously in the forum. restart.

1. On the blank screen type in the first 2 letters of the username.

2. hit tab

3. input password (of course you won't be seeing anything on this screen at this point, but follow same procedure as when you login).

4. Press enter.

you should be logged into your account. Now shutdown and restart, the blank screen should be gone. Atleast this is what fixed my issue.

-TL

Thanks jesseinma, thanks so much!

this worked after I tried everything else! and no chance of having it looked at until the 9th of jan, so such a big help, I've got so many reports due!

(Running Mac OS Sierra on MacBook Pro Mid-2012)

Unfortunately I cannot get past this black screen. It starts up I see the apple logo and progress bar. Then the black screen appears. Sometimes I see in the upper corner the banner that's says some apps could not be updated. It doesn't allow me to click on it. Then it goes away. Is my Mac fried? I have tried all the different options and nothing.

This can happen with OS 10.12 update.

Reboot while holding down command-S until you see the console, white printing.

Get the root: prompt. Type the following:

cd /Volume/Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences

mv com.apple.loginwindow.plist com.apple.loginwindow.plist.old

reboot

Do not turn on automatic Login (System Preferences, Users & Groups, Login Options) otherwise it may happen again.

Jesseinma THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

I spent all morning resetting the PRAM etc and this worked on a '11 MBP with sierra updating itself in the night and then freezing.

For me after pushing shift on start up and after the progress bar I would get to login enter my password then get the spinning beach ball and then it would go all black with just notifications and cursor showing so I entered my password and push enter and the blackness actually slipped down to reveal my computer all in one piece!!!

When u see the upper corner banners, type the first letter of your login id, press enter, input your password. This should log you in and you will be able to see the screen now.

After I did the above the issue went away. Also, the latest update seems to have fixed this issue.

-TL

I'm having this same problem. I see the mouse arrow and Notification banners and alerts but the screen is black for at least 10 secs before the Finder appears.

I tried the above procedure but I'm not sure it will work for the new MBP (I have a Late 2013 w/ Retina Display). I got to Safe Boot progress bar but the screen never went blank to enter in username and password. Contacting support to see if they have any ideas or modifications to this procedure.

I had this same problem today on a Mac Pro (MacPro5,1) running MacOS Sierra (10.12.2). The other answer did not work but gave me an idea which I tried and did work successfully.

I experienced this issue after enabling automatic login. I booted up my computer and had blank screens (I run three monitors) but I had a cursor and notifications of emails, calendar events etc.

1. I first tried rebooting several times.
2. I then tried rebooting into safe mode which allowed me to see the login window but once I logged in, I had the same black screen with cursor and notifications.
3. I then read this thread and tried the first letter of my username followed by the enter key. This did not work but I lost the mouse while typing. I then tried typing my password followed by the enter key - this worked and the problem has been resolved (I can successfully boot into the OS without any issues now).

This seems to be an issue with how Apple is serving updates, or the updates were interrupted while attempting to install --> The update(s) hang, or get not installed, but/or the system is trying to install a non existing update.

To solve the issue (possibly) is as follows:

1. Reset the PRam 3 times --> Hold the Option + Command + P + R keys down, until you hear the boot-chime 3 times in a row --> let go after the 3rd time and immediately hold down the Command + S keys. --> This will get you into the Single User Mode.

If you missed the Single User Mode --> Force Shut-down the Mac (hold down the Power key until black) --> Reboot holding the Command + S key down.

2. Once in Single User Mode, type the following commands:

/sbin/fsck -fy (there is a space after the k)

/sbin/mount -uw / (There is a space after the t and a space after the w)

After the above is completed, type:

rm -f /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow.plist (there is a space after the m, after the f)

rm -f /var/db/.AppleUpgrade (there is a space after the m, after the f and a dot before the A)

After that, type reboot

This should solve the issue.

Issue may have resolved for me with the 10.12.3 update just released, woke up this morning an was able to login as per normal.

Previously none of the other tips/fixes worked for me so fingers crossed its stays working.

reboot in console mode (holding command-s). The navigate to /Library/Preferences/ and delete or re-name com.apple.loginwindow.plist.

Now when you reboot you'll be OK. do not set automatic login until you get the latest update.

This worked for me too (in late-Jan 17, with Sierra 10.12.2).. My Air has been doing this from time to time, but always came back to life after two or three boot attempts.. But the last time no such luck. Oh dear! That's when I found your trick Jesse .. It works! Big Thanks!!