How to Fix Mac Can’t Find The Startup Disk or Fix Question Mark Folder on Mac

Troubleshoot Mac Can’t Find The Startup Disk: When I attempt to open my Mac, it just shows a ‘?’ file; why? It implies that Mac can’t find the startup disk and, in this manner, boot up effectively. 

Fixing this issue includes placing your Mac into Recovery Mode and selecting the right startup disk, which will be the Macintosh HD. Here is a definite walkthrough on the best way to solve the issue.

Booting automatically a flashing folder with the question mark essentially implies that you Macan’t’t find the startup disk.

We’ll be talking about quite possibly the most dreaded maverick problem. At the point when you notice the folder with the lashing question mark during startup. This issue typically shows up when you turn on your Mac, however, as opposed to regularly booting a flashing folder with the question mark.

Essentially, It means that your Mac can’t find the startup disk. And the result is a boot failure.

In casyou’rere experiencing a similar issue on your Mac. There is a huge chance that the hard drive on your macOS has failed. So you should realize how to fix this issue.

Why this error?


There are a few reasons why your Mac can’t find the startup disk. A corrupt version of macOS can make the Mac show the flashing folder with the question mark.

Aside from Mac, if the OS files are corrupted, you are probably going to get this problem. Also, in case you’re booting from an external drive that probably wasn’t connected appropriately, this could cause another purpose behind the folder with that question mark. 

Equipment issues could likewise be the issue, not only software. For instance, harmed cables that connect the motherboard to the drive or the drive itself are harmed.

Moreover, if you are getting this problem in the direct outcome imaginable, Your logic board may likewise have a defect that causes the Mac cancan and the startup disk. There is no compelling reason to freeze as there are some methods to fix this issue. 

So we should rapidly discuss the different working answers for fixing your Mac flashing folder with the question mark, or Mac cannot reset the startup disk.

1. Choose startup disk:


When the menu of things shows up, click on the Apple menu and select ‘Startup Disk,’ At that point, select your Macintosh HD and afterward click on the ‘Restart’ ‘button.

Method 1 in Details:

In case you are using an internal drive to boot your Mac. You are able to use the startup manager as your drive, perhaps booting into some incorrect partition or drive once the MacBook boots into the startup manager. You can, without much of a stretch choose the startup disk from theMenu” to start a normal boot.

Power-off The Mac
Power-off The Mac
  1. First thing first, you need to shut down your Mac by pressing the power key. At that point, press and hold the “lt + option” key until the Apple logo fires up on your screen. You can see a pop-up that is called Mac startup manager.
Choose the Startup Disk
Choose the Startup Disk

2. Choose the startup disk utilizing the arrow keys and press enter whenever you have selected the correct drive. Your operating system will fire up regularly without the flashing (?) question mark folder.

Quick Restart
Quick Restart

I3. In the event that you can’t find the startup disk in the recovery window, iit’slikely to happen that the hard drive has crashed for some reason; if it is the situation, at that point, you can plainly follow the next method. 

2. Disk Utility


This allows you to dispatch the Disk Utility application to erase or fix a disk and a solution if Mac can’t find the startup disk.

Method 2 in Details:

Straightforwardly use the disk utility option in the recovery window. Disk utility is a built-in feature of Macintosh OS. that is programmed to repair and detect a harmed hard drive first automatically. 

We want to get into recovery mode to power off your Mac by pressing the power key.

Now time to power on your Mac and immediately press and hold the “Command +”R” keys. Re”ease the keys when you see the Apple logo turning the globe or some other startup screen that you may have on your operating system.

You might be prompted to type a password, for example, a client who is the owner of the MacBook. Type the mentioned password to continue when the startup is finished.

Disk-Utility-via-Recovery-Mode01
Disk Utility via Recovery Mode

1. You can see the Utilities window; at that point, select “Disk Utility” from” the MacOS Utilities window.

Choose Macintosh HD and First Aid

2. Choose the startup disk, which is normally named “Macintosh HD”. Snap on the “First Aid” ta” repair symbol and click on “Run” to”fix the startup disk.

Sit tight for the repairing process to finish, and afterward restart your Macintosh. What If it boots into the correct drive? At that point, utilize our previous step to choose the correct drive and afterward boot in.

Fixed the Startup Disk

3. After completing, click on the “Show Details” option to check the updated data. If you see this line “The volume /dev/**** appears “to be OK,” it means that the operation is successful.

You won’t see the MacBook flashing folder with that question mark any longer. If none of the past techniques work, the only useful arrangement that will help fix the problem is to follow the next strategy simply.

3. Reinstall macOS


If there are important problems with your Mac’s operating system, at that point, reinstalling it might resolve the issue. 

Method 3 in Details:

Reinstall macOS from scratch; however, this strategy will erase everything from your hard drive. This implies that it’s truly significant for you to back up your data to an external hard drive. 

So, yodon’t’t need to manage any data loss after erasing the startup plate. You can utilize a data recovery tool to recover the entirety of the documents from your internal hard drive to an external storage gadget once.

The data has effectively recovered. You can place your Mac into recovery mode and reinstall macOS first once more. 

Power-on

We need to ensure that the Mac is completely powered off. So ensure that you hold the power key until it’s completely off at that point, power it on, and quickly press the “Command + “ keys to place your Mac in recovery mode.

Select the Reinstall macOS. Mac can't find the startup disk.
Select the Reinstall macOS

On the macOS utility window, Select the “reinstall macO” option and then click continue in the following window. Select the Macintosh hard drive and delete the previous startup disk. At that point, just plainly follow with on-screen guidelines to reinstall macOS into your MacBook.

Keep this method as your last option since you are probably going to lose the entirety of your important data. If yodidn’t’t taken any backup previously. 

In any case, this is the best way to fix the issue. At that point, please ensure that you utilize recovery software to restore the entirety of your documents and files prior to reinstalling macOS.

4. Restore your Mac


Restore your Mac. Then, you can tap on the ‘Restore from Time MacMachine’tion from the menu and restore from your most recent backup. (See How to backup using Time Machine).

5. Reboot in Recovery


Hold down the power option to close down your Mac, and afterward, press the power button to reboot it while holding the cmd+R keys until you see the Apple logo. Your Mac will currently boot up in Recovery Mode.

6. Browse Safari


You can likewise dispatch Safari while in Recovery Mode to browse the Apple Support pages to get some help with your issues.

If you like the above methods to solve the issues that Mac can’t find the startup disk or you see a folder with the flashing question mark, please give us feedback.

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