What do I do about the file with a question mark when it starts up?

I have a MacBook Pro, had it for 2 years now. It has been good, up until just now... It was on, perfect as normal until I plugged in my iPad mini and my iPod touch. It started freezing up, and so I turned it off, but when I turned it back on, the file with the question mark just shows up. What am I supposed to do now?  I have never had this problem before, and I don't wanna lose everything inside it as I have 2 years worth of pictures and videos. Any suggestions? Is there any steps I can take?
P.s I'm not sure which operating system it is, so I just chose one that might be close to it, as I updated my Mac just a couples weeks ago.

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

Similar Messages

  • What does a picture of a file with a question mark on it displayed on the screen mean?

    Hello out there,
    Does anyone know what a file with a question mark displayed on screen means?
    And how to get to start up, I am not able to exit the page.
    Help would be much appreciated.

    Follow these support documents
    https://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
    https://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964
    https://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
    If you have OS X Lion you can hold option and select the Recovery Partition to boot off of or download the recovery
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
    https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1433
    If you can hold c and boot off a 10.5 or 10.6 OS X installer disk, you can install OS X onto a external drive and reboot holding option key to select the external drive to boot off of to retrieve files too.
    If that doesn't resolve the issue, use another Mac, a Firewire cable and Target Disk Mode to recover your files off the internal drive before taking it in to Apple for service.
    https://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
    Do what you think you can handle above, just don't erase or reformat your drive unless you have gotten a copy of your files off first.
    Most programs can be simply reinstalled from fresh sources, make sure you have any license keys handy.
    You have one year warranty and another two more years with AppleCare.
    It's possbile to take a computers internal hard drive and place it in a external drive enclosure to access your files on another machine, so if the computer is going to be replaced, ask for the internal hard drive.

  • I've got a 15" white macbook which I bought about 2 years ago. It froze the other day and wouldn't respond so I shut it down. When I turn it on now it comes up with a flashing file with a question mark on it. How can I fix it?

    I've got a 15" white macbook which I bought about 2 years ago. It froze the other day and wouldn't respond so I shut it down. When I turn it on now it comes up with a flashing file with a question mark on it. How can I fix it? I've tried a few things i've seen online but the futhest ive got is to put the start up disk in when you makes it go to a grey screen with an apple logo and the spinning wheel which then stops spinning. Can anybody help?

    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.
    Put your install DVD into the optical drive and reboot. 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). That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
    When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Just 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 handlist. 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.
    If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

  • How do I get rid of the flashing file with a question mark in it?

    I wanted to start clean on my MacBook Pro osx 10.9.4. So I did the command r and erased what I thought was the right one. I restarted my computer and did the command r again and what came up was internet recovery. It can't find my internet because it's WEP and I don't know to change it to wpa. So I restarted my computer again and I didn't do the command r but just let it load itself to see what would happen and all I get is a flashing file with a question mark. I don't know what to do. Someone please help me.

    Do you get this display?
    If so, you have to select an Internet connection.  Do not expect quick response time in this mode.  All activities in this mode will be lengthy.
    Ciao.

  • HT4718 I have nothing on my Mcintosh HD after trying to install Mavericks. I did save a recovery copy of files however this was also lost. All I now have is a file with a question mark with nothing else happening. What should I do?

    Apple recently sent a message asking me if I would like to upgrade to Mavericks which was free. I considered installing after saving a copy of my HD to a WD external drive. I proceeded with the instalation however when it was time to reboot the programme the computer displayed a message that it could not process the request due to errors with the hard drive. The computer then requested that i save a copy and the verify disk and repair disk which i followed and the computer would not repair due to an error. At which pioint I did some research and was told by the IMac to push shift when it starts to enter disk utility and repair the Mcintosh HD. I did as asked however the computer would still not install with Mavericks.
    So after many attempts of trying to start over, I was prompted to erase the Mcintosh HD and reboot using the saved copy. At this point all data was lost and all that is left on my computer is a file with a question mark with no way of restoring the HD drive. Could anyone help please?

    It sounds like your HD may have died.
    If you could answer a few questions it may help figure out what you should do next:
    What OS did you have on your computer before you tried to upgrade to mavericks?
    Did your computer originally come with installer disks?

  • What does the folder with a question mark mean?

    When I power on my black Macbook a white screen appears with a folder with a question mark flashing. what does the folder with a question mark mean? I just replaced the hard drive. When I put the install disc in the cd drive makes a very loud whirring noise then eventually the disc pops back out. Any ideas?

    You will need to reinstall:
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    Do the following:
    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 the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.

  • Hi I installed a new hard drive in my Mac mini osx lion an when I turn it on I get a flashing file with a question mark. I tried holding command and R keys when turning it on but the recovery fails to work. Does any one know how I can get it to recover?

    Hi I installed a new hard drive in my Mac mini osx lion an when I turn it on I get a flashing file with a question mark. I tried holding command and R keys when turning it on but the recovery fails to work. I can hold the option key at start up and choose my network, then Internet recovery shows up with an arrow pointing up. When I click on the arrow Internet recovery fails and all I get is a globe with a triangle on it with an exclamation mark on it, and under that it says
    apple.com/support
          -6002F
    Does any one know how I can fix this without a recovery disc? Thanks

    I just want to add to this, in case someone else searches for this error on Apple Support (google doesnt cover apple support.. how clever is that?)
    I had the same error. And i had a Computer that had worked, with a SSD drive and 16GB upgrade done by the owner himself.
    I tried swapping with a Mechinal Harddrive, no luck.
    Kept the Mechanical drive in, and tried with some other Ram, it worked..
    So for me this error and after reading the other responses can be boiled down to a Harddrive problem or Ram issue.
    It was Ram for me..

  • TS3274 I get on the internet with my Ipad3 and when I start typing in the search box the ipad guess' what I want before I finish typing and goes to the internet. How do I fix that?

    I get on the internet with my Ipad2 and when I start typing in the search box the ipad guess' what I want before I finish typing and goes to the internet. How do I fix that?

    Yes if you purchase the tethering data plan for your iPhone. See:
    iPhone: System requirements for Personal Hotspot

  • What does a blinking file with a question mark mean?

    Hey guys! i have a mid 2008 macbook pro and it recently turned off and whenever i try to turn it back on, a blinking file with a question mark pops up? any thoughts or ideas? Maybe the hardrive is broken or something?

    Solution may be found if you search in the "More Like This" section over in the right column. 

  • My Intel iMac only shows a blinking folder with a question mark when powering it up. What can I do besides running the hardware test of the original installer disc.

    My Intel iMac only shows a blinking folder with a question mark when powered up.
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    If the drive shows errors then repair, if after the 3rd pass of Repair Disk in Disk Utility it still shows errors it's telling you it's time to be replaced. Take it to your local Apple Store or AASP for repair, when it comes back use your backup (either Time Machine or bootable clone) to restore so you can pick up where you left off.

  • I have a white intel i mac and when i boot up a file with a question mark shows up

    i installed wnow leopard and then attempted to use boot camp to install windows (thats a whole other story though) after i got windows on it and then got it back to the mac side i found i could not get back to the windows side so i attemted to delete the windows partition and recreate my full mac partition (thats not as easy as i thought it would be, anyway i ended up with a partition that said it was the alloted mac partition space and another one, that apperead smaller in disk utility, that said it was 160 gb (my total disk size) while i was trying to fix that i hit the power strip switch with my foot and the whole thing shut down when it booted back up the only thing on the screen was a file with a question mark on it, i think it is just booting from the misconfigured parition but im not sure ive tried inserting my snow leopard and xp system disks but it doesnt seem to be booting from them.

    At startup hold down the Option/Alt key t bring up the One time Boot Selection, Startup Manager, screen and then select the OS X install DVD. Give it about 30+ second for the DVD drive to read and display the OS X install DVD.
    Then use Disk Utility to Repartition the drive as one partition and then try installing OS X.
    Could be you simply killed that drive with all the new installs of OS X and then Windows and then using Disk Utility to erase the Windows partition. If that is the case you'll need to replace the drive before you'll be able to reinstall any OS on it.
    In any event Never use Disk Utility to erase a Windows install. Use the Boot Camp Assistant a second tim to Remove Windows and the partition it is installed on.

  • Gray file with a question mark

    I have macbook pro and it starts up fine but after about 30 minutes I hear a clicking sound and it freezes then a gray file with a question mark shows up. How can I fix this?

    You probably need a new hard drive. Your computer can't find a boot disk at startup and you're hearing a 'clicking' sound. Not good at all. You should backup immediately, using two schemes and two hard drives, at least, and then run Disk Utility from Disc 1 that came with your MacBook Pro. First Verify the disk and then, if needed, Repair the disk.
    But before you do anything - make those backups. See -> Most commonly used backup methods.
    Good luck,
    Clinton

  • IMac crashed & on reboot I get the folder with a question mark

    This happened last night when I went downstairs to put my computer to sleep, it was frozen. On reboot, I would get the chime, but not the apple logo—just the gray screen. Finally, after a minute or two, the folder with a question mark appeared. I tried resetting my PRAM and that didn't seem to work. I tried rebooting from the install disk to repair permissions, but my volume wouldn't even mount. It wasn't there.
    Since this was 10:30 at night, I just went to sleep and when I woke up this morning, I turned it on just to see what would happen and lo & behold, it turns on, apple logo appears and ultimately takes me to my login screen. Needless to say, I was thrilled.
    However, when I went to login on either my account or my husband's account, neither of our passwords will work now.
    I have tried everything—typing the letters one by one. Nothing. How on earth am I supposed to login now? I'm afraid of restarting for fear of that infamous folder with the question mark appearing.
    Any suggestions on how I could possibly login? Not only that, why are our passwords no longer working? Our names and avatars show up (they're custom avatars), so something is showing up on my HD, but why don't our passwords work? Weird.
    Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
    Oh, my specs are below and the only thing that I have done differently is I upgraded to v10.5.6 a few days ago. Otherwise, this never happens. No, I have not installed new RAM or anything like that.
    Thanks!!!
    Suzanne

    Thank you so much for your replies, but I wanted to give you a heads up.
    After speaking with tech support yesterday morning, and trying to verify disk via install disk, it was recommended that I bring my computer into Apple to have my HD replaced. I took it to the Genius Bar yesterday and yup, I need my HD replaced. Pain in the butt, but oh well, it could have been worse.
    I pretty much back up all of my work (I'm a graphic designer) on a regular basis, but hadn't backed up my recent iTunes purchases, which I was told yesterday I could easily transfer from my iPod back to my "new" iMac—since they're purchased from iTunes. What a relief.
    I guess the only thing that's a pain is pretty much all of my bookmarked websites (and there were a lot) and my photos, which I believe for the most part, were backed up.
    Regardless, a lesson learned—never take advantage of the fact that your computer is what you think brand new (less than a year and a half old), and thinking it won't die, because you never know. This guy that was sitting next to me at the GB had a brand new MacBook Pro and it died after one week. Ouch!
    I am going out right now and purchasing an external HD and having Time Machine back up on a regular basis. What a pain, but a harsh lesson learned.
    Thank goodness for Apple Care.

  • Hi can anyone help with a mac that had magnet put on it. I turned it on and then off but a white screen appears with a file with a question mark on it?

    Hi can anyone help with a mac that had magnet put on it. I turned it on and then off but a white screen appears with a file with a question mark on it?

    File icon with ? mark on it means it can't read from the hard drive. The hard drive is now wiped or bad. If just wiped then you will need to reinstall your operating system, OS X. If bad you will need to replace the drive.
    Start with booting the computer from the OS X install DVD that came with your system. If the Mac came with Lion Pre-Installed then you use the Lion internet recovery system to reinstall (Hold down Command+r keys or Command+Option+r keys to boot the computer from over the internet to the Lion recovery HD system).
    Good Luck.

  • I can't restart my mac , I get a file with a question mark? Help

    Need help, what to do when I cannot restart my mac. I get a file with a question mark?

    That indicates that your Mac is unable to find a system to boot from
    This is usually caused be either a corrupt system file, corrupt ot dead disk drive
    Allan

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