About unexpected restarts
Rarely, your Mac might experience a software or hardware issue that requires it to restart. When it starts up again, you might see a message that your computer was restarted because of a problem.
- Reset SMC of a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro Retina, or MacBook Pro with an integrated battery First, shut down the device and connect the power adapter to the Mac. Hold down the Shift, Control and Option keys while clicking the power button.
- If your Mac still won’t shut down, the only thing left to do is to figuratively “pull the plug” and force a shutdown. This works on both desktop Macs and MacBooks. To do this, first press and hold the Control and Command keys, then hold the Mac’s power button.
If your MacBook Pro is not shutting down, and you are still facing issues, try the following hacks to get sorted. Have a look to resolve ‘Mac is not shutting down’ issue: How To Fix A Mac Won’t Shut Down 1. Turn Off Your Mac Properly. Image Source- How-To Geek.
Macbook Pro Not Shutting Down Completely
Unexpected restarts are usually caused by software installed on your Mac, or by devices connected to your Mac. If the issue causes your Mac to restart every time it attempts to start up, your Mac might eventually shut down. Use the steps below to check the software and hardware on your Mac.
Check your software
If the issue is caused by software on your Mac, one of these steps might help:
- Install all available software updates.
- If your Mac suspects that a particular app caused the restart, it might ask whether you would like to move the app to the Trash. Click Move to Trash, then contact the software developer to see if a software update is available.
- Use safe mode to try to isolate the cause of the issue.
- Reinstall macOS. If the issue continues after reinstalling macOS, check your hardware.
Check your hardware
Learn how to check your connected devices and other hardware.
Check peripheral devices first
If you don't have any devices attached to your Mac, skip to the next section.
- Shut down your Mac.
- Disconnect all peripheral devices, such as hard drives or printers. If you have a desktop Mac, make sure that only a display, keyboard, and mouse or trackpad are connected.
- Turn on your Mac.
- Use your Mac for the amount of time that it would usually take for an unexpected restart to occur.
- If an unexpected restart occurs, follow the steps to check the internal RAM and third-party hardware.
- If an unexpected restart doesn't occur, turn off the Mac and connect one peripheral device at a time until an unexpected restart occurs.
Check RAM and third-party hardware
Certain models of Mac computers have removable memory (RAM). If you recently installed memory or a hard disk (or SSD), make sure that it's compatible and installed correctly. If possible, remove it and test with the original memory or disk.
Learn more
- If you continue to experience unexpected restarts, contact Apple Support.
- If your Mac is frequently restarting unexpectedly, it's important to determine the exact steps that lead up to the issue. The next time that your Mac restarts unexpectedly, record the date and time it occurs. These questions might help you diagnose the problem:
- Was the computer starting up, shutting down, or performing a particular task when the unexpected restart happened?
- Is the computer restart random, or does it happen every time you do a certain task?
- Does the restart happen when a specific external device is connected to your Mac or to a specific port?
- Learn what to do if your Mac doesn't turn on or start up.
- Learn about the screens you see when your Mac starts up.
Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
Mac is usually known for its usability and strong tech-solutions. Apple's system is optimized to survey a clean, quality, and integrated product, with both hardware and software high-development features, working as one. But, sometimes, even their well-designed device may need repairs and knowledge on how to fix a Mac that won't shut down.
If you're trying to restart or shut down your Mac and the computer keeps getting stuck in the process, then it's time to consider taking a few steps on restoration. First, to discover how to fix a Mac that won't shut down, you need to take back and diagnostic:
- Is your Mac getting stuck on the desktop and not shutting down properly?
- DoFinder Menu and all apps disappear but the Mac is still on?
- Do you have to hold down the power button or to remove the battery to fully shut down?
Related: What if everything goes missing on the Desktop? Go there and get the fixes to'everything disappeared on Mac'.
Also, these complications often occur after an OS, hardware, or software update. So, if you're having similar difficulties, the scenario requires a quick step-guide to reset and clear the system processes to know how to fix a Mac that won't shut down.
Solution 1: Reset the Mac's SMC
The Mac's System Management Controller (SMC) is an integrated circuit (chip) located inside the computer logic's keyboard and responsible for energy inmost physical components. The management unit controls:
- Presses of the power button;
- Sleep and wake mode;
- Management of battery as well as thermal;
- Ambient light sensing;
- The backlighting of Mac's keyboard;
- Indicator for the status of the battery.
As time goes by, the SMC's configurations may be disabled and generate operating anomalies on the computer, like an inability to turn on or off the system, to awake from sleep mode or to charge the battery, for example. To reset the SMC, choose one of the aspects below:
1. How to reset the SMC on Mac notebooks?
Mac Pro Not Shutting Down Properly
First, the solution to how to fix a Mac that won't shut down, according to your Mac model, depends on whether the battery is removable. Then, if the battery of the dead Mac is nonremovable:
- Unplug the battery charger from the device;
- Using the built-in keyboard, press 'Shift + Control + Option' on the left side of the keyboard and compress the power button at the same time;
- Hold these keys and the power button for 10 seconds;
- Let go all keys;
- Thrust the power button once again to switch on your Mac.
If the battery of the Mac that can't be turned off is removable:
- Take out the battery and unplug the battery charger;
- Press and hold the power button for ten seconds;
- Reinstall the battery;
- Hold down the power button again, but this time to switch on your Mac.
2. How to reset the SMC on Mac desktop computers
Macbook Pro Not Shutting Down Properly
Follow these steps to resolve how to fix a Mac that won't shut down for iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro, and Xserve.
- Unplug the power cord;
- Wait 15 seconds;
- Plug the power cord back in;
- Wait 5 seconds and press the power button to turn on your Mac.
Solution 2: Reset NVRAM
NVRAM (nonvolatile random-access memory) is a small amount of special memory that your Mac possesses. The NVRAM is required to store certain settings and access them quickly, some examples are sound volume, display resolution, startup disk selection, time zone, and recent kernel panic information. If you are experiencing issues related to these settings, like how to fix a Mac that won't shut down, resetting NVRAM may also be necessary, as featured below:
Related: What is Kernel Panic and How I canfix Kernel Panic errors on Mac.
- Now turn it on and instantly hold down four keys together: Option + Command + P + R.
- Keep holding the keys for almost 20 seconds during which your Mac might appear to restart;
- Wait for your Mac to finish starting up.
Why My Mac Is Not Shutting Down
Note: after doing the procedure, you might want to open System Preferences and adapt any settings that were reset, like sound volume, display resolution, startup disk selection, or time zone.
Solution 3: Try the Safe Boot
![Macbook pro 2016 not shutting down Macbook pro 2016 not shutting down](/uploads/1/3/7/7/137767801/892127915.jpg)
This is another method for how to fix a Mac that won't shut down. When you turn on your Mac in Safe Boot mode, it deletes system caches, which may help after an updating process or a crack with software issues. Also, it is the only way to discover if the problem is global or user-guided. Knowing that is worth to have a try and run the Mac in his safe mode, with these steps:
- Wait 10 seconds and press the power button again;
- Instantly after you hear the startup beep, hold down the 'Shift' key
- Let go of the Shift key once you can see the Apple logo and a progress indicator on the display.
This guarantees that your Mac starts into safe mode. However, it takes longer than usual to reach the login screen or your desktop, so give it time. If your Mac works alright after turning on in safe mode, try to restart your Mac and see if an unexpected shutdown happens again.
Solution 4: Repair Disk with Terminal
You can even use the terminal to repair the disk. It has an interface that helps control the UNIX-based operating system that runs below Mac OS X and helps out with many such tasks and problems that are not intuitive. In this case, we are putting it toclear out all the cache dataand font maintenance, which may help in how to fix a Mac that won't shut down.
- Go to your 'Finder' icon;
- Click 'Go' in the top menu bar and then 'Utilities';
- Scroll down and open the 'Terminal' application.
After opening, type all the following commands in the window, one-by-one in execution.
- rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*
- rm -rf ~/Library/Saved Application State/*
- sudorm -rf /Library/Caches/*
- sudorm -rf /System/Library/Caches/*
- atsutil databases -removeUser
- sudoatsutil databases -remove
- sudoatsutil server -shutdown
- sudoatsutil server -ping
- sudorm -rf /var/folders/*
After you perform the last line, restart your Mac.
Conclusion
The tutorial offers a four-step guide with multiple solutions for how to fix a Mac that won't shut down. Read them with patience and calm before doing the tread. Each part contains different approaches to the repair service, divided into:
- Reset both SMC and NVRAM (step 1 and 2);
- Perform a Safe Boot (step 3);
- Repair Disk with Terminal (step 4).
Also, you may need to observe day by day if everything's hardware or software related is working fine. Whatsoever, with all of the actions, you should be able to solve the problem out.
By the way, the Recoverit Mac data recovery toolhelps you recover all kinds of files on Mac, even from an unbootable Mac. Go further and get the ways ofrecovering data from crashed Mac.
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