Mac Takes a Long Time to Start: 8 Possible Solutions

Every device, be it a MacBook Pro or an iMac, eventually slows down after a certain period of time. It usually happens when you turn on your device. It needs to load the operating system along with some system settings from the hard drive.

It usually takes a couple of seconds, depending on whether you're using a solid-state drive or a hard drive. If it takes longer than that, there's definitely something wrong with your Mac. Wondering what to do when Mac takes a long time to start up? Read on to learn the best ways to fix the Mac slow startup problem.

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Why does Mac take a long time to start up?

If you're trying to turn on your Mac and it just won't work, it's easy to panic. But don't worry, there are ways to fix it. But before we give you some ways to do it, we'll show you the possible causes:

• Third party peripherals: The first thing you should do if your Mac is taking a long time to start up is check power and internet. A printer, mouse, or adapter could be the reason why your Mac is stuck on the Apple logo.
• Post-update issues: If you've been restarting your Mac after a major macOS update, the update is likely to be causing the problem. Perhaps some drives or apps aren't compatible with the new system and are preventing your Mac from starting up normally.
• You're running out of memory: Maybe your Mac will give you a signal: You must perform a cleaningWe'll talk about how to do that in a moment.
• Problem with the power button: Normally, you have to shut down or restart your Mac by choosing the option from the Apple menu. Some simply press the power button. And that's wrong! The power button method works to force a restart and if you use it incorrectly too often, it could cause issues with your Mac. Boot.

Mac takes a long time to start: Solutions

While it's quite difficult to know exactly what's causing your Mac to not start up fast, there are things you can do to fix it. Below, we've outlined all the troubleshooting methods you should try one by one. At some point, one of them will work for you and Your Mac will start up completely.

1. Give it some time

Sometimes your Mac takes a few seconds to start up. Other times, it takes minutes. It can even take hours. For example, if you've been installing a macOS update, it will take a long time for your Mac to restart after the installation is complete.

For this reason, it is recommended to perform updates at night, after the work is done. In such cases, you don't need to worry about your MAC running slow; it just needs some time.

2. Force restart your Mac

If you've given it some time and nothing has happened, i.e. the progress bar isn't moving, you can force restart your Mac. Hold down the power button for 10 seconds until your Mac turns off. Wait a few seconds and press the power button again to restart your Mac.

3. Boot into safe mode

Restart your Mac in safe mode can help fix the problem in case your computer is experiencing file system issues or running out of disk space. Make sure you have at least 10GB of disk space. storage free on your disk; you can check it through the menus iStat with one click. If you don't have enough disk space, run a quick cleanup with CleanMyMac X and your Mac will be up and running again in no time.

Here's how to start your Mac in safe mode:

• Step 1: Press (and hold) the power button to turn off your Mac.
• Step 2: wait a few seconds, then press the power button and the key Shift simultaneously.
• Step 3: Once you see the login screen, release ShiftPlease note that it may take some time for your computer to reboot into Safe Mode.

4. Reset PRAM/NVRAM

PRAM and NVRAM are related to memory. It includes display resolution, sound volume, time zone, and more. If there is any problem with the memory settings on your Mac, it could cause the Mac not to boot beyond the Apple logo issue. Here is how to reset the PRAM/NVRAM settings:

• Step 1: turn off your Mac.
• Step 2: hold down Command + Option + P + R until you hear the startup sound.
• Step 3: Release the keys. After this, restart your Mac again.
• Step 4: If your Mac restarts successfully, be sure to adjust your sound and display preferences after they have been reset to default.

5. Reset SMC

If your Mac is taking a long time to start up, check if your problem is related to SMC, the system management controller that is responsible for things like power, fans, and battery. Here's how to reset SMC for Mac with a non-removable battery (MacBook Air/Pro released after 2009):

• Step 1: Press and hold the power button to turn off your Mac.
• Step 2: hold down Command + Shift + Control for about 10 seconds.
• Step 3: hold down Command + Shift + Control + Power button for 10 more seconds.
• Step 4: After a few seconds, proceed to turn on your Mac.

Here's how to reset SMC for Mac with a removable battery (iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook Air/Pro released before 2009):

• Step 1: If your Mac does not start after the Apple logo, turn it off and remove the battery
• Step 2: Press and hold the power button for about 5 seconds and then reinstall the battery.
• Step 3: Turn on your Mac by pressing the power button.

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6. Run First Aid on your disk in recovery mode

We have found that most likely when your mac takes a long time to start up you are dealing with a problem hardware. It is possible that your disk permissions are broken or there is some other problem with your disk. Let's try to fix it:

• Step 1: Press the power button and then press Command + R simultaneously to go into recovery mode.
• Step 2: The Apple logo will appear, followed by the macOS Utilities window.
• Step 3: go to Disk Utility and select your head unit.
• Step 4: click First aid and confirm your action in the new dialog window.

7. Run Apple Diagnostics

If your Mac still won't boot normally, you should use Apple's diagnostic tool to scan it for other hardware issues. Here's how to do it:

• Step 1: Unplug everything from your Mac (except power and Internet).
• Step 2: Press (and hold) the power button to turn off your Mac.
• Step 3: turn it back on and then press and hold the key D until you see a screen to choose your language.
• Step 4: Then, you will see the progress bar that says “Checking your Mac«
• Step 5: Once the process is complete, you will see the list of issues with error codes.
• Step 6: Take a picture so you can investigate those issues later and restart your computer.

8. Recover lost data and take preventive measures

Hopefully, the Mac freezing on startup issue doesn’t damage any files stored on your Mac. But if it happens, there’s no need for you to worry. Disk Drill will help you with this. This is a great utility for Mac. It has the ability to recover any file that has been accidentally deleted due to software or hardware issues. And not only that! It cleans up your disk, extracts data from your Time Machine backups, finds duplicates, and more.

Here's how to recover deleted or lost data with Disk Drill:

• Step 1: open the app and click Storage devices en Data recovery in the left sidebar.
• Step 2: select your unit and then go to Find lost data.
• Step 3: When everything has been scanned, press Recover everything o Review the found items (Please review them before retrieving them if you wish).

To avoid data loss in the future, back up the files you really care about with the app Get Backup ProUnlike Time Machine, it doesn't require you to back up your entire disk and it doesn't consume a large portion of your storage space creating backups.

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Final thoughts

In the above article, we have compiled the best ways to fix Mac slow startup. You can opt for any of these methods to fix it. Improve your Mac's performance. Use various built-in processes like Application Manager to terminate and remove unnecessary applications running in the background. Apart from the pre-installed software, you can take help from an efficient Mac care tool to improve the speed and performance of your Mac. How do you find our article? Drop us a reply in the comment section below. Also, follow us for more related articles.