Startup + Gray folder with question mark.

I had this problem once before and took the computer to the Apple Store. The machine began running great. Now I have this again. What does this mean?

A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac
Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by one or more of these:
a. Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
b. Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
c. Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
d. The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
Note that the information I have provided is what Apple recommends, If other users suggest different solutions than found here, then be sure what they recommend does not impact on your warranty, if any, or ability to get continuing Apple service.
Please don't start removing drives or changing cables unless you know what you are doing and have exhausted other non-invasive alternatives outlined here. If you perform any work yourself that is unapproved by Apple, then you will void any warranty you may have and lose all further Apple Support.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD. Simply boot from the Recovery HD to perform the above.
Reinstall Snow Leopard Without Erasing The drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing The Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Similar Messages

Help. flashing gray folder with question mark on startup, then no startup.

on startup, macbook pro showed flashing gray folder with question mark, but no startup. after several retries, now shows circle with diagonal diameter, and still no startup. worked fine yesterday. suggestions?

Hi! I had the same problem as you. (I had a 2004 emac) all i had to do to boot it up was press enter and that seemed to do the trick but a grey folder might signify your missing files (Computer is broken) or its a network startup. Try it out!

Help! White screen with gray folder with question mark

Help, my macbook always shows this white screen with gray folder with question mark after turning it on.

That folder with the question mark icon means that the MacBook can't find the boot directory. That can either mean it can't find the hard drive or the Operating System data on the hard drive is somehow corrupted.
With 10.4, 10.5 or 10.6 put your install DVD into the optical drive (CD/DVD drive) and reboot. Be sure to either use the disc that came with your Mac, or, if you installed a later Mac OS X version from disc, use the newer disc. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option Key until the Install Disk shows up) until the apple shows up. That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
Or if you are running 10.7 Lion or 10.8 Mountain Lion, boot from the recovery partition (Command +R on boot) and use Disk Utility to repair your OS 10.7 or 10.8 partition.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Choose your language and press the Return key on your keyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is, then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. If that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions. After repairing use Startup Disk from the same menu to choose your hard drive for restarting from your hard drive.
If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

Gray folder with question mark - no HD option

Hi there,
having a problem with our imac - running 10.6.8, 3.06 intel core 2 duo, 4gb 1067 mhz ddr3.
Basically the other day the flashing gray folder came up.
We rebooted using a system disc, which made us completly reconfigure the machine - to the point of re-registering again. Then tried to install our mac image but there is no HD available to select from.
Have then tried on numerous occasions to reboot with and without the OS disc with the same response.
Safe boot will not work
Option boot will not work - comes up with a blank screen with no option of selecting a HD.
Have tried to reset the PRAM/NVRAM - does same thing - gray folder with question mark
Cannot enter Single User Mode
Is our HD completly dead or is there any other steps I can do - I have tried to do everything every article I have found suggests, but still nothing.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Thanks for the reply Mike,
Got an error code: 4sns/1/40000000: TH00-9.000
Dust buildup in the computer prevents proper cooling, so the fans have to work harder.
Corrupted Power Manager chip settings. Go to the Apple support page and search for "Power Manager" "reset" and your specific model. You can get the model number from the System Profiler utility (Apple menu: About this Mac: More Info). If this is the problem, resetting the Power Manager should solve it. If it happens again after unplugging, you may need a new clock/PRAM battery;
Bad temperature sensor (all fans run at high speed);
Shorted fan driver transistor on the logic board or in power supply (one fan always runs at max speed).
(copied form: http://www.fixya.com/support/t18246194-4sns_1_4000000_th00_9_000)
As I havent changed the HD, I reset the System Manager Controller - nothing. Looks like its one of the other causes. I guess I'll have to send it away to be fixed/looked at by our department (and wait a long time for it to come back )
Doesn't quite make sense to me why this would prevent a HD from being shown.
Cheers
Jaron

Upon restart from dead battery Macbook freezes showing gray folder with question mark. Help! Any ideas?

Upon restart from dead battery Mac Book freezes showing gray folder with blinking question mark. Help! Any guidance greatly appreciated.

Hello and welcome,
try this support site:
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support
If you're lucky it just forgot where your startup disk was. If not it will be more work.

Gray Folder with Question Mark?

Hey Guys! So... my life is so colorless...
So today, I returned from academy, and I happened to run home for around 5 minutes with my computer in my bag. It was working fine for a straight 3 hours while I was at the academy. When I came home and turned on my computer, it was black, so I checked the battery which was sufficent, and force shutdown my computer. Then, I turned my computer on and to my surprise there was a gray folder with a question mark. I got so worried... I have 4 essays due tomorrow and I was doing so well... are they gone? I tried all my options. I tried Option + Start and it brought me to four options. Time Machine Backup, Safari Help (How I'm sending you this message right now), Re-Install OS X, and Lastly, Disk Utility, I checked this, and realized there was only OSX Backup Manager as a hardrive however this has no clickable options, and yes, I am ashamed to tell you the last time I backed-up my computer was in December 2012 which was the last time the same problem occured, I have been using this computer for 3 years now. I spoke with our school's IT Office and told me it was either my harddisk was broken, or the cords and misplaced, and asked me to bring it in on Monday. I wanted your input cause I am so worried right now.
THANKS

The IT Office is correct. If the hard disk is broken, only a professional data recovery service can recover the data on it, and those could cost thousands of dollars.
(84737)

Gray folder with question mark-- is my hard drive dead?

I have a white 13 inch MacBook that is about 3 years old and runs on Mac OS X 10.4 (I believe). In the past year, it has been running more and more slowly and programs keep freezing. I was going to ask for more RAM for Christmas, but decided to try a few maintenance steps first. I ran a VirusScan this morning (using McAfee), and when I came back into the room, my computer had frozen past all help. I powered it off with the power button, and now, when I try to start it, a gray screen appears with a question mark. I have tried some of the support steps listed to get it working again such as trying a safe boot (didn't work) and resetting my PRAM (didn't work). Is my hard drive dead? Is there any way I can get my files off the computer? I haven't backed up in about 3 months, and I am very upset because I have a lot of important papers and photos on my HD.
Thank you..

Hi corimazz and welcome to Apple Discussions!
It is possible that your hard drive has kicked the bucket, but the folder with the question mark just shows that the computer cannot find a valid system when it starts up. There are a number of possible reasons for this.
Do you have the 10.4 install disk? If so, insert it into the optical disk drive, restart the computer and hold down the C key during startup. Once the computer is booted to the install DVD, select your primary language, then look for the utilities menu and from it select "Disk Utility".
In the Disk Utility, you should see a list of available disks, which we hope will include your hard drive. If the hard drive does not appear in the list, it is dead. If it does show up, select it and click the "Repair Disk" button to see if the problem is being caused by directory damage that can be repaired.
If the drive is truly dead, you are going to have to decide how much the data from the last three months is worth to you. There are companies that have quite good records of recovering data from even very badly damaged hard drives (sunk in rivers, burned in fires, etc) but they are not cheap.
In the USA some data recovery options include:
DriveSavers.com - 800-440-1904
www.ontrack.com - 800-872-2599
www.lazarus.com - 800-341-3282
Once you have the drive out (it's a simple process to remove) it can be replaced with a new one.
I hate to say it, but keeping backups of important files is vital to safe computing. Both the Leopard and Snow Leopard operating systems make this a much easier process using the "Time Machine" application.
Best of luck.

Safely saving Data when you have the gray folder with question mark?

I'm starting to get the folder with the question mark and I've tried everything but reinstalling Mavericks. I don't want to reinstall because I really need my data. Is there any safe way for me to save my data before I fix the problem on my mac? Would firewire work? I don't have the cable but I don't want to go and buy one right now without knowing if it will work. I'm not all that knowledgeable on computer terms either. If anyone can help I'd REALLY appreciate it.

What model of Mac is it?
Do you have a backup of the Mac or any of the files on it?
Do you have access to another Mac & a disk large enough to copy the data from the failing Mac?
Using 'Target disk mode' with Firewire or Thunderbolt may work to read data however you need another Mac to access the failed Mac and a cable to connect between them. Obviously the connection types depend on the Mac model(s). You need Firewire or Thunderbolt on each Mac.
Target disk mode - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
How did you get into this situation? Did the Mac just start doing it or have you run some cleanup software or done something else recently?
The flashing question mark means it cannot find a valid startup disk.
1. Try holding alt at startup & see if a list of disks appears. Select the main boot disk if it appears, otherwise hold the power button to shut down if nothing appears - report what happens here.
2. Boot into recovery & see if the main disk shows up & can be verified/ repaired.
Boot holding cmd+R. Recovery mode should startup (assuming you have a recovery partition).
Select Disk Utility in the list of options
In Disk Utility select the 'boot disk' this is usually the item above 'Macintosh HD' (or whatever your boot disk is called).
Select the 'First Aid' tab
Repair any disk damage that is reported via 'verify'. Then select The 'Macintosh HD' & repair the permissions too.
3. It may be possible to run third party repair or recovery tools, do you have Disk Warrior, Tech Tool Pro or any other Mac apps for this?
4. Report back here with info about what other Macs you can access etc
5. It may be possible to reinstall 10.9 without loosing your data, the default 'reinstall OS X' option will try to replace the OS files & leave all your user data intact. If the disk is still functioning & has a valid partition this could make it bootable. HOWEVER if the disk is damaged beyond repair it will need to erase the disk - DELETING all your data. Personally I would take a backup before doing this, even if it meant waiting to use a friends Mac (or a trip to the Applestore).

Flashing Gray Folde with Question Mark

I opened my lid on my macbook this morning and it froze. I restarted the computer and was greeted with a flashing folder icon with a question mark in it. I have no idea what happen!?! It sits on my desk when not in use. I purchased it in September or October of last year.
I read on another site to try and boot from the OS disk and when I do it doesn't register my HD. I attempted to use Time Machine Backup since the latest was at 9:46PM lastnight but it says that it will restore to my external device and erase everything that is on there and I can't lose what I have stored there.
Can anyone help me? I don't have Applecare as I couldn't afford the 249.00 price tag. I still have the one year hardware but I don't want to lose what is on my computers HD.

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
AppleCare is $170 at LA Computer.
If your Time Machine backup was last made of your entire hard drive, after you last saved your most critical information, then you are fine, and can go ahead and use a repair utility such as Alsoft Disk Warrior to attempt to fix your drive. If it was made before, data recovery software such as Prosoft Data Rescue, Subrosasoft Filesalvage, or Boomerang may be able to recover that information. Some people at the nearest Mac Usergroup may have the utility you need to repair your machine:
http://www.apple.com/usergroups/
The only reason why a restore will erase your drive is because it has to, in order to recover the information as it was in the beginning.
Another option you have is to restore to a 2nd external Firewire hard drive of equivalent size, that way, not losing any info on your internal drive.

MacBook Pro flashes file folder with question mark and startup manager will not run

My son's MacBook Pro won't boot (gets the flashing file folder with question mark). When I try to open startup manager (holding "option" key during boot does not do it). Other posts suggest inserting the install disk, but I am pretty sure that for Lion, there was no disk, it was just off the website through the App Store. Any further suggestions?

Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Folder with Question Mark, to Apple Icon, to Kernel Screen at Startup.

At startup Folder with Question Mark, Followed all steps to resolve it to no avail, I try to re-install Snow Leopard and Apple Icon with Grey screen appears, then Kernel screen.
I cannot get past the Kernel screen. No options to click anything, like system preferences or anything. I have a Macbook, with Snow Leopard. Any help would be much appreciated.
I tried Pram Reset and everything.

Hey, thanks for the quick reply Mende.
I tried that, it goes to the apple icon, however after about 10 seconds of the apple it goes straight to the Kernel screen. It doesn't give me the options of opening anything. Infact it doesn't even have a mouse curser.
If I hold "option" it gives me the option of choosing only the "Leopard DVD" but that's it and then it goes to the Kernel Screen
Again, thanks for the taking the time to help me out.

Help please! My macbook air (2015) startup showed a folder with question mark so i tried "Command R" for internet recovery but after few minutes it stopped and showed error.. Please hepl me!

Help please! My macbook air (2015) startup showed a folder with question mark so i tried "Command R" for internet recovery but after few minutes it stopped and showed error.. Please hepl me!

Startup – Question Mark
Startup Issues - Resolve
Startup Issues - Resolve (2)
Startup Issues - Resolve (3)

Mac Shows Folder With Question Mark On Startup?

Hey Guys!
I currently own a Macbook Air First Genereation (2008) running on Lion 10.7.5 (upgraded from Snow Leopard)
Recently, when I was just using the Macbook Air, the Hard disk started spinning and was creating a lot of noise well I just ignored it and gave it a hard reboot
So the next day wehn I booted my mac it was showing a folder with question mark on startup. I tried going to recovery (holding option on startup) but neither Macintosh HD or Recovery HD was being shown. I tried a internet recovery but it was not even entering Internet Recovery. I tried Single User mode, that didn't work.
I really don't know what to do now, I am panicking cause I don't have a backup and all my schoolwork is inside there.
Please reply soon and thanks in advance if you can help me
A youtube tutorial or online step by step tutorial would be great!

My tutorial is simple: pack up the MBA and charger and head for the nearest Apple store or Apple reseller. The error you see can mean three things: (1) your drive's system files are damaged, (2) your drive's directory or partition are damaged, or (3) your drive is dead. The fact that you can't boot into the recovery mode pretty much eliminates #1. It is possible that your drive's partition table was damaged but were that the case I'd expect that Internet recovery would work. So I strongly suspect #3.

Flashing folder with question mark at Startup

Here is what I know so far.
- The computer was powered off by pushing the power button without shutting down.
- The computer was then restarted and it was coming into the white screen with the Apple logo in the middle, but i noticed that it was skewed slightly (like someone took a 4:3 ratio screen and stretched it to a 16:9) and then it would show a circle slash icon and then the flashing folder with a question mark on it.
- It would not come up in single user mode (Command + S) and it said that there was an error loading kernel 'mach_kernel'
- It would not come up in safe mode (Shift)(The flashing folder came up again)
- I reset the PRAM (Command + Option + p + r) and it seemed to fix the problem with the stretched screen but did not help the boot situation (still got flashing folder)
- I did the start up where you can select the hard drive to boot with, it owed the HD and i selected it, but then i got the flashing folder with question mark.
- It would not come up in Verbose Mode (Command V) Error loading Kernel again.
- I bought a FireWire cable and hooked it to another MacBook Pro, and booted the faulty Mac into Target Disk Mode, the FireWire logo came up on the screen and bounced around like all forums said that it would, but the drive would not show up on my host. I checked the System Profiler on the host and it did acknowledge the Target Disk Mode was there, but the drive of the target would not show up on the host. I restarted the host, nothing. I checked all of the connections, nothing. I replugged all of the connections, nothing. I even reversed the FireWire cable, nothing.
- I have DiskWarrior 4 if i can get the drive to show up in TDM, but nothing so far.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks for your help guys. I managed to get the computer started by holding down C at the Start Up with the Install Disc 1 in the computer. The disc was really kindof unnecessary, as the newest version of Mac OS X (10.4.10) became available via the hard drive.
I then found out that the battery was not installed, so I reset the management system by removing the A/C power, the battery and pushing the power button for 5 seconds, and then reconnecting everything. It did not help, the battery is bad i guess, so I am going to call AppleCare and get a new battery.
Thanks for your help.

Flashing folder with question mark comes up at startup?

it was working fine 3 days ago i try start it up and a Flashing folder with question mark.
It has mountain lion i try to boot to recovery Part but when i hold the Option key nonthing show up.
If some can tell me what else i can.

restart holding command R if it can not find a Recovery partition it will do a Internet Recovery.
Run diskUtility "repair disk" from the recovery.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

Startup + Gray folder with question mark.

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