How to Fix Mac White Screen of Death? [macOS Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur]

The Mac white screen of death can occasionally occur when a Mac is booting up. Your Mac appears broken, but a few easy solutions can fix the situation. Wondering what to do when the Mac shows you the Mac white screen? Check here for quick navigation.

When your Mac displays a white screen at startup, something is wrong with your Mac. If your Macbook is frozen at the login screen, it won't switch on, and you won't be able to access the information it contains. On your Mac, in addition to the white screen, you can also see a Mac black screen of death.

This frequently happens following the macOS won't boot after update. The white screen of death indicates that a process is still running on your Mac and that it needs to finish before it can decide what to do next.

Why Has My Mac Stuck on a White Screen

Although Macs are dependable computers, occasionally, they may have issues and not load. When the Mac models' design defect occurs, the users may encounter a blank or white screen. Here are the usual causes of this problem:

• Power outrage
• Improper connections
• Hardware corruption
• Software incompatibilities and bugs

This white screen issue typically occurs after installing a new version of your operating system, while dealing with mismatched drivers, or when some apps fail to upgrade. This causes your Mac to have a white screen on startup until you take action to restore it to working order.

Recover Files from Mac White Screen of Death

Regardless of the cause, consider your data security when you apply any approach to fix a Mac that won't boot and has a white screen, for there is a chance that data loss could occur if your Mac has issues and is unable to boot normally. Your files and data might be lost if you force the device to reboot several times.

Thus, the recovery of data from the unbootable Mac should be your priority. We recommend EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Bootable Media to create a bootable disk when your Mac won't turn on and has a white screen problem.

Here are the steps for using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Bootable Media for Mac to recover deleted files.

Step 1. Install and run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac on another Mac computer, and select "Unbootable Mac > Start".

Step 2. Then, choose a prepared USB drive to create the bootable disc. Select "Next" to start creating the bootable disk.

Step 3. The program starts to create a 2GB space and save the boot files. The rest space on the USB can be still used for storage.

Step 4. Once it completes, please follow the guide to boot the corrupted Mac from the bootable disc and start the recovery. We suggest you restore the data to an external hard drive.

Step 5. After booting the Mac, launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. Select the disk location (an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Then, this recovery tool will scan for lost files automatically.

Note: Before data recovery, you'd better create a backup of your Mac to avoid further data loss. After backing up, the software can recover data from the Mac backup, and your computer can wirte new data again.

How to Fix Mac White Screen on Boot

So, how to fix Mac's white screen of death? We have five practical ways that should help Mac users resolve the problem:

Method 1. Disconnect All Peripherals

Some peripherals may have failed if a white screen appears when your Mac boots. Check your Mac's hardware systematically by disconnecting the peripherals is easy to isolate and pinpoint what causes the problem.

Peripherals include your keyboard, mouse, and external drives. Later, you can restart the Mac and reconnect one device at a time.

Therefore, turn off your Mac and disconnect all wired and wireless peripherals aside from your keyboard, mouse, and anything else needed to reboot before taking drastic action and trying safe Mode or other measures.

Method 2. Boot Your Mac in Safe Mode

Often, booting your device into Mac Safe Mode will be the most straightforward solution to fix your Mac's white screen of death problem. Here are the steps:

• When you hear the startup chime, press the power button and hold the shift key.
• When you see the Apple logo and progress bar, let go of the shift key.
• Once the Mac has entered Safe Mode, navigate to the Applications folder to remove any outdated software before emptying the trash.
• Restart your Mac.
• If the Mac can start up properly, consider cleaning the unnecessary caches, duplicates, and garbage files.

Safe Mode prevents external factors, such as printers or drivers, from interfering with your startup process. Additionally, Safe Mode reduces the amount of work the Mac must do to reach the login screen by disabling some macOS features to fix the "white screen of death."

Method 3. Use Disk Utility to Repair Disks

A white screen could appear due to a malfunctioning hard disk. To perform repairs, use the Disk Utility and adhere to these guidelines:

Step 1. Restart your Mac.

Step 2. Press and hold down the Command + R keys.

Step 3. When you see the Apple logo, release the keys.

Step 4. Click "Disk Utility" in the macOS Recovery window and locate the drive you want to repair.

Step 5. Select "First Aid" to improve the hard drive.

After it is finished, the Disk Utility will indicate the drive's state. Disk Utility can resolve various disk issues, including Mac's white screen of death.

Alternatively, you might delete the volume and restore it from a backup if this is the first time an error has happened on that drive.

Method 4. Reset the PRAM or NVRAM

Your boot problem might be fixed by resetting NVRAM or PRAM. NVRAM (non-volatile random-access memory) is a small portion of the memory on your computer, which keeps particular settings, including screen resolution, startup disk option, and recent kernel panic information.

Here's how to clear your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM:

• Restart the Mac, then press and hold down the Command + Option + P + R keys.
• When you hear the startup chime, release the keys.
• Wait for the Mac finishes booting.

Resetting PRAM or NVRAM may be helpful when your Mac's memory contains the settings that could be at fault for your computer's white screen of death.

Method 5. Reinstall or Upgrade macOS

You might need to reinstall your operating system if all other fixes don't work and the white screen on your Mac remains.

If possible, back up your data and files before reinstalling macOS to ensure that it can fix any corrupted software without wiping out your files and data. When prepared, adhere to these guidelines:

• Hold down Command + Option + R or Command + Option + Shift + R after powering your Mac, which will launch Mac Internet Recovery Mode.
• When you see the Apple logo, let go of the keys.
• Select "Reinstall macOS" from Utilities menu after the Mac has finished booting up, then click "Continue".
• Until the process is complete, adhere to the instructions that appear.

To Sum Up

If your Mac, MacBook Pro, or Mac Book Air boots into a white screen of death, either the hardware or software may be the cause. To solve the issue, you should be patient and examine each separately. Don't forget to recover from your Mac using professional data recovery software. Or you'll lose your info forever.

Mac White Screen FAQS

1. What is the white screen of death?

If the Mac starts up with a white screen, there is likely a monitor issue causing broken disk permissions, a software error, and other issues with your MacBook.

2. How do I fix it if my Mac starts up with a white screen and a question mark?

You can try these fixes if you see your Mac flashes a folder with a question mark.

• Fix the startup disk in Mac Recovery Mode.
• Reset your Mac's NVRAM.
• Reformat Mac Startup Disk
• Restart macOS

3. What causes the white screen of death on Mac?

When your Mac first starts up, it may be impacted by issues with the hardware, software, or even a flaw in the design of certain Mac models. Additionally, if your Mac has incompatible drivers, it could occasionally get stuck on a white startup screen.

4. How do I restart my Mac when the screen is white?

• Press the power button down for a few seconds.
• Wait more than 20 seconds after your Mac turns off.
• Restart the device by pressing the power button.