25-03-2021

Few things are as frustrating as trying to start your Mac and ending up with the dreaded Mac folder with a question mark. You’ve probably tried using keyboard shortcuts like CTRL+R, CTRL+Option+R, or Shift+CTRL+Option+R, but you still get the flashing folder icon on startup.

  1. 3 Format Factory for Mac (Yosemite & Mavericks included): Trim, Crop, Rotate vidoes, Add Watermarks & Subtitles 4 Format Factory for Mac(Yosemite & Mavericks included): Burn to DVD disk, DVD folder, ISO image file As mentioned above, it's the all-in-one and must-have Mac Format Factory that never ruins your movie night.
  2. Folder Factory is an elegant macOS application that enables you to completely change the looks of your folders. It comes with options to add any custom image on top of the folder and to insert custom text, too. The application was designed to help you bring more diversity on your Desktop and to make your.
  3. Get online help See more support pages for OneDrive and OneDrive for work or school. For the OneDrive mobile app, see Troubleshoot OneDrive mobile app problems. OneDrive Admins can also view the OneDrive Tech Community, Help for OneDrive for Admins. Contact Support If you still need help, contact support through your browser or shake your mobile device while you're in the OneDrive app.

While this may strike fear into your heart as a Mac user, there are known causes for it, and tried and tested solutions that will help you get your Mac back to normalcy.

Recover Deleted Files from Trash on Mac. The files that you put in the Trash stay there until you. Folder Factory is a neat little app for changing the design of your folder icons. It will help you to match similar folders by the color, text or picture and this will keep your Mac organized. The most important folders will be distinguished in your working environment like never before!

Follow along to find out why you’re getting the folder with the question mark in the middle of the screen, and how you can resolve the problem. While this is issue is more prevalent among older Macs, we shall try to address the same for new Mac models as well.

Also on Guiding Tech
#macbook
Click here to see our macbook articles page

Causes of Flashing Mac Folder with Question Mark

There are several reasons why the folder with a question mark appears on your Mac’s screen:

  • Your Mac can’t find a bootable volume. That means it can’t find its startup disk, so it can’t boot or start up. Probably you previously started up your Mac from an external disk and later unplugged it, or its hard drive just failed terribly, so it’s having trouble locating its system folder or boot directory.
  • Corrupt macOS.
  • Corrupt system files.
  • Hard disk drive has failed catastrophically.
  • The external disk you boot from may be off or disconnected.
  • The ribbon cable connecting the drive to the motherboard may be damaged. This cable sits between the bottom case and optical drive, and if the case has indentations in the same area, the cable may be the problem.
Also on Guiding Tech

Home Folder Mac

How To Create a Bootable Backup of Your Mac for Free
Read More

Boot Your Mac From an Install DVD (For Older Macs)

This process forces your Mac to boot from the install DVD placed in the optical drive. For that, you must follow these steps:

Step 1: Place the install DVD that came with your Mac in the optical drive and reboot. You can use that disc, or if you have a later macOS version, use a newer disc for the same purpose.

Step 2: Once you hear the boot chime, hold down C key on your keyboard or the Option key until you see the Install Disk or Apple logo show up.

Note: Boot from the recovery partition if you’re on 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain Lion or 10.9 Mavericks, and then repair the OS 10.7 or 10.8 partition using Disk Utility.

Step 3: When your Mac starts up, choose the language you’ll use, press Return on your keyboard, and an Installation window will open. Ignore this window and click Utilities and then click Disk Utility.

Step 4: If you see your hard disk on the list, click your macOS partition for the hard drive, and then select First Aid tab.

Step 5: Next, run Repair Disk. To enable this button, click on your hard drive’s macOS partition. If this fixes any issues, run it all over again until you see the green OK, and then run Repair Permissions.

Step 6: Finally, use the Startup Disk to select your hard drive to restart your Mac from the hard drive. If it’s not recognized under Disk Utility, it’s probably dead.

Also on Guiding Tech
How to Sync Folders Anywhere on Mac with Multiple Backup Services like Dropbox, Google Drive and More
SchoolRead More

Put Your Mac in Recovery Mode

If you’re trying to boot from your Mac’s internal drive, you need to shut down the computer and then start it up while holding down Command+R keys until the globe or Apple logo appears. That will put your Mac in Recovery Mode, and then you can change the startup disk by selecting the option from the Apple Menu.

Recovery Mode comes handy when your Mac won’t boot normally because the startup disk is damaged or corrupted.

That could be caused by corrupt files or mild power surges you’re not aware of, but it fixes the issue without you having to go to extreme lengths, such as performing a reinstall of your macOS.

Note: You can boot using an external Mac startup disk or bootable installer if macOS Recovery doesn’t work.

Replace the Disk

If the Mac folder with a question mark appears because of your disk has failed, the only thing you can do is to replace the disk and use the time capsule or another backup device you’ve been using to recover your data to the new disk.

Backup Data and Reinstall macOS

If Disk Utility can’t repair your startup disk, you may have to reformat it. Before doing that, take a backup of any important data from the disk before erasing everything stored on it. You can take the steps below to take a backup of your data to an external drive if you don’t have a recent data backup for your startup disk:

Step 1: Connect an external drive that’s similar in size or larger than your startup disk. Erase the external drive using macOS Recovery and then install macOS to it. Select the external disk that you want to erase, not your startup disk.

Step 2: Once macOS is installed, your Mac will restart automatically from the external drive. When you see the Setup Assistant, choose the option you want to use to move data from another disk, and select the startup disk on your Mac as the source from which to migrate data.

Step 3: After migration, follow the setup assistant instructions to the end, and when you see your desktop, confirm that all your data is present on the external drive.

Step 4: Erase your startup disk using macOS Recovery and reinstall macOS (don’t select your external drive). After erasing the disk and installing macOS, your Mac will restart automatically, and the setup assistant will appear. Copy your data to your startup disk by selecting the option to migrate data from a Time Machine backup or another disk, in this case your external drive.

Note: If you can’t erase the startup disk or reinstall macOS, take your Mac for repair to an Apple Genius or authorized service provider.

Get Your Mac Back

We hope you now know what to do when you find the flashing Mac folder with a question mark on your screen. Try the fixes above and let us know what worked for you.

Next up:Want to reduce boot time for your Windows PC? Our next article shows you how to do that using Quick Startup.


The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextHow to Use Quick Startup to Reduce Windows Boot TimeFactoryAlso See#apple #folder

Did You Know

In December 2009, the Apple version of WhatsApp was updated to include photo sharing features.

More in Mac

Top 4 Ways to Fix Mac Desktop Icons Missing or Not Showing

When your Mac runs increasingly slow, you may want to reset your Mac to give it a fresh restart but keep the files on it. To factory reset your MacBook or iMac without losing data, you can first back up your Mac, then reset your Mac, and last recover your files from the backup. Each procedure is detailed below. Follow to see how to factory reset your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, etc. on macOS Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or earlier operating systems with ease now.

Applies To: MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro; iMac, iMac Pro

Are you looking for a reliable and complete guide to factory reset Mac computer without losing any data? If yes, follow this page and you will go through a safe guide to manually reset Mac to factory settings with ease:

Workable SolutionsStep-by-step Troubleshooting
Part 1. Back Up MacUse backup software or Time Machine to back up important data on Mac in advance...Full steps
Part 2. Reset MacPrepare Mac ready by signing out of apps that are used or licensed > Reset Mac computer...Full steps
Part 3. Restore from BackupAfter resetting the Mac computer, restore Mac backup with Time Machine or backup software...Full steps

How to Factory Reset Mac Without Losing Data

Is your old Mac getting slower after installing the latest macOS Mojave? Have you ever thought about resetting your Mac such as MacBook Pro or iMac to the factory settings? Do you want to reset your Mac but keep the files on it? If your answer is 'Yes'. You are here at the right place for you will be presented the whole process of factory resetting your Mac without losing data. Follow to get things done.

Resetting Mac without losing data can be easily achieved by backing up the files on your Mac in advance and restoring the files after the resetting. To illustrate the process clearly:

Follow the guide below to reset your Mac to factory resettings without losing any data now.

Part 1: Back Up Your Mac to an External Storage Device

To avoid data loss due to factory resetting your Mac, you can make a backup of your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, or other Macs to an external hard drive with Time Machine or EaseUS file backup software for Mac.

Time Machine is the built-in backup feature of your Mac. With this utility, you can make a backup of all your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and system files to an external storage device. While the versatile file backup software - EaseUS Todo Backup provides you with more flexible backup solutions. There are some advantages of the third-party backup tool over Time Machine:

  • Back up the files on your Mac to internal or external drives - Time Machine only supports the backup to external drives
  • Selectively back up the content on your Mac - With Time Machine, you have to make a backup of all the supported content
  • Save more space on the target device - You can compress the backup to free up space on your disk.

Based on these features, I recommend you choose EaseUS Todo Backup for Mac as your backup option, which is easier and more flexible. If you prefer Time Machine, jump to the corresponding guide here.

Option 1: Back Up the Mac with EaseUS Todo Backup

Step 1: Connect an external drive with enough space (larger than the files you'd like to back up) to your Mac, launch EaseUS Todo Backup. Click the plus icon in the bottom-left corner to add a new project. Enter the name of the project and click 'OK'.

Step 2: Set up the backup destination and other backup settings. After that, click 'OK'.

Factory

Step 3: Click 'File+' to choose the files you'd like to backup. Click the Start button to begin backing up the selected files on your Mac to another drive or an external storage device.

With simple three steps, you can back up your important files on your Mac elsewhere and eliminate your worries of losing the data while resetting your MacBook or iMac.

Option 2: Back Up the Mac with Time Machine

Step 1: Connect a usable external storage device to your Mac.

Step 2: A window will pop up asking you how to use the drive. Select 'Use as Backup Disk'. If the window doesn't appear, go to Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Time Machine. Click Select Backup Disk and choose your external drive. (If the external hard drive shows up as 'Read Only' on your Mac or isn't formatted as required by Time Machine, you will need to reformat the disk.)

Step 3: Then Time Machine will back up your Mac automatically. Generally speaking, the first backup will take a long time. if Time Machine is stuck on preparing backup, check the fixed from the linked page.

After choosing one of the methods above to back up your Mac, now you can start resetting your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, or other Macs.

Part 2: Reset the MacBook/iMac

Resetting a Mac is not a simple thing like resetting your iPhone. You need to make preparations and then perform the resetting.

Phase 1: Set Your Mac Ready for Factory Resetting

Before resetting and erasing your Mac, make sure to sign out of the apps that are used or licensed.

1. Deauthorize iTunes

Open iTunes on your Mac > Click 'Account' and choose 'Authorizations' > 'Deauthorize This Computer' > Enter your Apple ID and password, click 'Deauthorize'.

2. Turn off FileVault

Go to Apple menu, click 'System Preferences' > 'Security & Privacy', tick 'FileVault' > Click the lock icon and unlock it > Enter your Administrator account and password, Turn off FileVault.

3. Disable iCloud

Go to Apple menu, click 'System Preferences' > 'iCloud' > 'Sign Out' and confirm that you want to remove data from your Mac.

4. Sign out of iMessage

Open iMessage and click 'Messages' in the Menu bar > choose 'Preferences' from the drop-down menu > select your iMessage account and click 'Sign Out'.

5. Erase Touch Bar Data

Turn on or restart your Mac and hold 'Command + R' keys > 'Utilities' > 'Terminal' > Type: xartutil --erase-all and press 'Return' > Type: yes and press 'Return' again > 'Terminal' > 'Quit Terminal'.

Phase 2: Reset Your MacBook Pro/MacBook Air/iMac and More

Now, you can get to wiping and resetting your Mac.

Step 1: Reboot Mac in Recovery Mode

  • Go to Apple menu in the top left corner of your Mac screen and click 'Restart'.
  • As the system restart, hold 'Command and R' keys together to bring up the macOS Utilities window.

Step 2: Erase Mac hard drive

  • Choose 'Disk Utility' and click 'Continue'.
  • Select your startup disk which is usually named Macintosh HD and click 'Erase' from the buttons at the top of the Disk Utility window.
  • Choose 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' from the menu and click 'Erase'.

Step 3: Reinstall macOS on your Mac computer

  • Go to Disk Utility in the top left corner of your screen.
  • Click 'Reinstall macOS'.
  • Confirm that you want to reinstall macOS and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.

Now you've successfully reset your Mac to factory settings. You can restore files from the backup to your Mac and then continue using them again.

Part 3: Restore Files from the Backup

Folders Factory For Mac

According to the backup scheme you choose in Part 1, carry out one of the methods below to get the files back to your Mac.

If you use EaseUS Todo Backup:

Step 1: Connect the external storage device that contains the backup to your Mac, then open EaseUS Todo Backup.

Step 2: Select the backup project you want to restore and click the 'Restore' button. (By default, the program selects the most recent backup in the menu. Make sure the correct backup is selected.)

Step 3: Select the files you want to restore from your external hard drive (use Cmd + Shift keys for bulk selection).

Step 4: Choose whether to restore to the original or to a custom folder.

Step 5: Click the 'Restore All' or 'Restore Selected' button to start the recovery process.

Folders Factory Mac Free Download

If you use Time Machine:

Step 1: Connect your Time Machine backup disk to your computer and turn on your Mac.

Step 2: Go to 'Finder' > 'Applications' > 'Utilities' > 'Migration Assistant' and click 'Continue'.

Step 3: In the Migration Assistant window, choose 'From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk' and click 'Continue'.

Application Folders Mac

Step 4: Select your Time Machine backup and click 'Continue'.

School Folder Factory

Step 5: Choose the backup you made in Part 1 from the list of available backups.

Folder Factory Canada

Step 6: Select the category/categories to transfer and click 'Continue'. Then wait for the process to finish.