What to Do if Your MacBook Air won’t Turn on. Here is the fix

When users plug their MacBook Air into Mag Safe power adapter and power it on, nothing happens. It responding to the power adapter. I mean light turned from green to orange. But won't turn on. Don't worry. Here is the article I will show you some solutions to fix this issue. Are you curious? Let's check it out.

Reported Devices: MacBook Air 2013, 2014, mid-2012, 2010

Solution 1: Shake your Mac

  • Keep the MacBook Air lid a little bit/slightly open. Firm grip and shake it.
  • Then press the start/power button. This will set off the Sudden motion sensor – SMS  and solve your problem.

Solution 2: Reset SMC

  • Do the SMC reset. Press and hold  Shift + Control+ Option+ Power buttons.
  • Release the keys at the same time. Then turn on your Mac.

Solution 3: Remove the Safety case on your MAC

  • If your MacBook Air has any safety case, take MacBook Air out of the case and try again.

Solution 4:- (One user suggested this method. Try with your own risk)

  • Take the bottom off and try to turn it on.
  • If you see the fan kind of twitching? Then stick your finger in and give the fan a bit of a flick.
  • If it started spinning normally and check the issue.

Solution 5: Reset PRAM

  • Reset the PRAM. This solved most of the MacBook Air's (which have a black screen with bootup chiming and fan running loudly) issue.

Solution 6: Use data cable

  • Press the Power button and attach your mobile through a data cable.
  • If your mobile starts charging, then your problem might be solved.

Solution 7: First-Aid your MAC

First-Aid is the best way to fix all start-up-related issues. So, try this one.

  • First, tap on the Apple logo.
  • And select the System Preferences.
  • then tap on Disk Utility.
  • At the top, you can see the First-Aid option just give it a click.
  • Tap on Run from the pop-up.
  • Once the process is completed tap on Done.
  • After that, your Mac will restart automatically. Now check whether you have still a face is the issue or not.

Are you still can't turn on your MacBook Air or power adapter light turned from orange to green, check your device warranty status. If it's cover under warranty, take it to the Apple service center. Then if you have any doubts or suggestions, tell us via the comment section below. Thank you.

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72 thoughts on “What to Do if Your MacBook Air won’t Turn on. Here is the fix”

    1. My macbook air 13" 2013 would not turn on. Took it to Apple store they told me my logic board was burnt they said $500.00 to replace the board. I looked on the internet someone posted try this… press shift, control, delete and the "power on" button at the same time and hold for 10 seconds approximately… IT WORKED!!!!!!!!! Thank Goodness!!

      1. YOU ARE GOOD! Shift+Control+Delete+Power (10 seconds) or may be Shift+Control+Option+Delete+Power (10 seconds).
        Now it black out again!!! I'll kill Steve MF Jobs again!
        Now the keys combinations function again…
        Let me see. Now I shut down the stupid computer.
        Now I press the power button and…CHIMES!!!!!
        It worked!
        I love you Robin. I'm not gay but I don't care, I really love you Robin!!!!

    2. I tried all of this and it didn't work. I had gotten it fixed after I spilled something on it and it was lying on the desk when I came home today. The charger had a green light here and there and it's fully green at the moment. The printer connected to the MacBook when I pressed power but I heard no fan or anything. What's going on?

    3. I have a MacBook Pro that would not turn on when the power button was pressed. I tried all kinds of different key combinations to get it to start, but nothing worked.
      I continued to search the internet and found this site and tried solution no. 1 and it worked like magic.
      Thanks for saving me a trip to the apple store.

  1. Hello, I have tried everything you suggested and no change. My computer had an orange light and will occasionally flash green. When I try everything you've suggested nothing happens. I hear nothing at all. Any suggestions? Thanks you.

  2. Hello, I have no change. tried everything you suggested and still no change. When I try everything that you suggested, I hear nothing and nothing happens. Any suggestions? Thanks

  3. My macbook air was updating to el capitan last night and it shut down during the download and won't turn back on, but when i plug it in, the orange light goes on with the charger…but the light has been orange for 12+ hours while plugged in and still won't turn on. help? i'm not under warranty anymore and i didn't do anything!

  4. Don't know if this will help, but after a month of frustration and 5 visits to the apple store, I think I solved the issue myself. Leave your mac open. Don't close it when you are done with it. I am taking it to the store for the 6th time, but the problem only occurs when I close the mac. by accident I left it open 4 days ago and the problem stopped. Will tell you what happens when I talk with them.

  5. When you observer that I can’t turn on my MacBook Air then check the power connection of system. change the power code or adapter. If the problem is still same and you lost the data then take help of Mac data recovery software.
    To know more
    http://www.macfixz.com

  6. I tried #1, no luck with that. Then I tried #2. Remember to release the buttons at the same time and then turn power on. Whew! That was a relief! It was after I had closed it last night it did not turn on. Even with charging all night long the light was still orange. When I unplugged and rep lugged the charger the light turned green for a second then orange again.
    Thanks for these suggestions!

  7. MacBook Air was not turning on at all. By was working fine the previous day. My friend tried a couple things and got it to switch on (fan started running after pressing power button) but screen was still black and there was also no sound.
    I tried a PRAM reset thing an now it's just not turning on again. Charger light is orange. When I hold down shift + ctrl + options + power then let go. The charger light goes green for 2 seconds then goes orange again.
    It still won't turn on.

  8. Please help! I tried all of them except the one with the fan because I didnt want to damage it even more. It worked fine and I took it out of my backpack and turned it on and I think I heard a chime. This was about two hours ago and it still doesnt turn on and the charger light is green menaing its 100% charged.

  9. Few times step 2 worked form me and again it is turning off randomly. After that tried step 6, mobile is charging for 2-3 sec and then not charging. please help in fix this.

  10. My Macbook Air was not booting. Tried all listed remedies but no success. After overnight charging ( still showing orange), disconnected charging and attempted solution 1 and it worked ( just now). The charge shows just 13% but now it is steadily showing increasing charge. That means overnight charge did not charge the battery. I am not sure what made it to start as same solution 1 previously did not solve the issue.

  11. When I turn my 2013 MacBook Air on, I get a grey screen with an apple symbol and a spinning indicator, but even after a half hour nothing opens.
    Have tried all these solutions, but it seems like its a different booting problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

  12. A few days ago my macbook air died and so I put it on the charger and it did not light up at all. I let it sit on the charger for a few hours and then the charger lit up green. I pressed the power button but it still didn't turn on.

  13. I've tried all the solutions except for the one opening the back and none of them have seemed to work. The charger has a green light meaning it's 100% charged. Can someone help me please.

  14. My laptop was all good until one time I closed it, it didn't turn on. So I charged it until it was full, and it turn on. But it happened again and this time I tried like I did the first one but it didn't work. So it seems like weverytimw I close it it just doesn't turn on. I tried all the solutions and they didn't work

  15. My Macbook air of 2013 is refusing to turn on. When I attach the adoptor, the light green appears but immediately turns orange. Apple store says problem with logic bvboard and quoted a charge of $900.I tried the process suggested in forums by pressing the shift, control, option buttons along with power button at same time and holding for ten seconds and releasing all buttons at once. Then I tried to start bu tapping power button but no luck. Can any one help?

  16. I initially chuckled at solution number one. As a pediatric nurse practitioner the first thing I thought of was shaken baby syndrome. But I thought what the heck, I followed the directions exactly. Closed the lid just a bit, gave it a little shake, and lo and behold, it powered up. Y'all are awesome! Thank you so much! If only this same method would be effective on the work computers after one of the many software failures during the week…

  17. None of the options are working for me. When I try option 2, my light turns green on my charger, but nothing happens on screen and there is no sound. Should I just go ahead and bring it to the Apple Store?

  18. Same problem I have.
    I got folder icon blinking error at startup and no apple icon appeared so that macbook air mid 2011 doesnt turn on. Then I shut down and press again power button, sometimes it turns on and sometimes it doesnt. For example, it doesnt turn on 30 minutes and I got folder blinking errors. If it turns on, I can restart and turn on again – no problem. But if I shut down it normally, cycle start and sometimes it turns on and sometimes it doesnt. Also, my battery is dead and my macbook air only works max. 10 minutes with only battery / no charge.
    What will be the problem? Can it be wire connection problem or battery problem? I read some blogs that it may be occured because of wire connection problem. They suggest that open your macbook screws and control the wire connections.
    Thanks,
    Serkan

  19. 2012 macbook air was booting to gray screen and loud fan but nothing else. Then charger light wouldn't turn on orange or green so I thought it was the charger but didn't know.
    Tried everything but nothing worked until what one of the comments above says:
    shift + control + delete + power for 10 seconds (NOT shift + control + option (alt button) + power – that didn't work)
    First my charger lit up again to orange, then the computer booted normally and showed charging from 0% so it's either the battery or the charger as peripheral probably, I don't know, but it was cheaper than being told hundreds of dollars at the genius bar. (!)
    Hope this helps someone.

  20. My MacBook Air slid off my bed and hit the ground really lightly right where the screen and keyboard connect, and now the screen is black. I can hear everything working and the keys light up but the screen stays black. Does anyone know how to fix this??

  21. I woke up this morning and my Macbook Air refused to turn on. I have tried all of these tricks and it still won't go. Also whenever I plug in my charger, the light might shine a little bit at first but usually nothing! The light won't shine at all. I know the charger isn't broken because when I plugged it into my brother's Macbook Air, it worked! Any ideas on how to save my Macbook?

  22. hi. its funny that apple has the wrong Vulcan Death Grip on their help sites.
    had a "dead" macbook air 11"
    the shift + control + option + delete + power worked, but I held
    the keys down for 15 seconds just because i'm superstitious…
    Thanks loads!
    the real Davesky

  23. hey guys my brother's mac stopped working all of a sudden. i tried everything. When i plug in the charger it says it's fully charged. Can someone help?

  24. Rusty Thompson

    Nothing, absolutely nothing. Even when I plug my charger up to my MacBook Air there's no light, be it green or orange. Tried pressing most of the option buttons y'all have suggested, no luck. Made sure I had good power source, yes I did but ineffective on my Air, closed the lid to almost closed and gave it a shake, nothing. On a side note, I plugged in my iPhone 6s last night as it needed charging to the same outlet, could that have had a negative consequence? Please help this guy.

  25. I have a Macbook Air A1534 here that was on about 5 weeks ago, then it was turned off, but now when trying to turn it on, it does absolutely nothing. No sign of any lights anywhere. The charger works as it was able to send power to another USB Type C device. I have tried the Shift+Control+Option+power, Control+Option+Delete+Power, and the Control+Option+R+P, Control+Option+Power. I have also tried shaking the thing silly, and also have opened up the back and disconnected the battery. But still no sign of life. Seems strange that it would just die like that from not being used for a month.

  26. @ mwcelldep I met with the same issue. My MacBook air is not turning on after using it last on June 22nd, it has been little over a month. I wonder why this occurred, tried all the solutions. The laptop is charging properly though.

  27. My macbook is not opening at all i have tried everything but its not even making any sound i dont know what to do please help is there any other way it was working perfectly till morning but it got hanged and after that it is not opening at all what do i do

  28. I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. GREEN LIGHT BUT IT WOULD NOT TURN ON… IN MY DESPAIR I READ ARTICLES AND SAW TUTORIALS ALL SUGGESTING DIFFERENT THINGS, YOU WON`T BELIEVE WHAT ACTUALLY MADE MY SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKE UP… HAIR DRIER… I WARMED IT UP, PRAYING GOD AND BINGO…

  29. Ive tried all of these and nothing seems to happen. When i turn it on normaly the keys light up and it makes the power on sound as usal but the screen and apple logo wont seem to turn on, the buttons for the keyboard lights still work but i cant seem to find any solution to the problem, if someone knows how to help fix this please.

  30. I had my doubts about Solution 1. Didn’t think a good shake was a wise thing to do. But after trying every other solution I gave it a good shake and wonders of wonders it worked!!
    Thanks!?

  31. Kamal Mustafa

    Try ALL solution and it doesn't work.(Macbook air)gave up.Will never again us any apple product.Told all my children to not purchase Apple phone (they have lots of problems with their iPhone 6/7)Its funny as if it is being set to stop after certain time.

  32. I have been to several chat lines. Everyone says if your charge light turns green, to take it to the Genius Bar for repair. I don't understand the lack of common sense here!!! When the computer battery is low or charging the light will be ORANGE NOT GREEN!!! Once it has reached full charge, the light will turn GREEN NOT ORANGE!!! If your light is green but still won't start, YES take it in to the Apple store. If your light is on solid green, it means your battery is fully charged. That's usually a GOOD thing. Mine is having that problem. No resets work at all!! Just remember, orange is charging or low charge, solid green is fully charged, NOT the other way around. Several are getting this mixed up!

  33. Oh my gosh! I’m literally crying right now. I’ve done everything and nothing’s works! I have no green or orange light, no login screen, no power up sound, no Apple logo, NOTHING!! Someone please help me. I really can’t lose this MacBook!?

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