

There’s a chance that your Mac has a hardware problem. If your Mac gets stuck during a Safe Boot then contact an Apple Consultant or the Apple Store. If the Mac fails to start up then one of these devices is causing a problem. Reconnect your external devices and restart. If so, then most likely you had a corrupted cache or some damaged directories that were fixed by the Safe Boot. If your Mac completes a Safe Boot then restart it and see if boots normally now. Often it only takes a few extra minutes, but one client reported that it added 30 minutes! A Safe Boot takes longer than a regular boot. After releasing the Shift key, I recommend walking away to give your Mac extra time to startup.On newer versions of OS X the indicator is a grey progress bar. On older versions of OS X the indicator looks like spinning gear. Continue to hold the Shift key until you see the gray Apple logo and a progress indicator.Immediately after you hear the startup chime, press and hold the Shift key.

Disconnect any external hard drives and even the ethernet cable, if one is connected. Unplug everything you can from the back of the Mac, especially USB devices.If it’s on but unresponsive, you can force it to turn off by holding its power button for 5 seconds. Here are instructions to initiate a Safe Boot: Safe Mode can be useful for troubleshooting a number of problems. Once the Mac has finished safe booting it is in Safe Mode. It also forces an inspection of the hard drive. Safe Boot is the process of making your Mac start up with a bare minimum of system software. Does your Mac get stuck during the startup process? If so, then you might want to try Safe Boot to see if you can get your Mac to startup successfully.
