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Legacy guideHardware & printing

Troubleshoot a Mac that starts to a gray screen

Use this original production-Mac checklist when startup stops on a solid gray screen.

In this article

Gray-screen guide

Legacy documentationThis procedure is preserved for systems that still run this software or hardware generation. Confirm the application and macOS version before making changes.

HARDWARE PROBLEMS - GRAY SCREEN (NO ICONS)
Gray Screen at startup often indicates a graphics card issue with the computer.

  1. Turn off everything (including printers, etc.) and restart
    • Isolate if there has recently any change to equipment, and then go over connections, terminations, and power.
  2. Turn off and unplug everything (including keyboard, mouse, & monitor) and restart
    • Check equipment for possible damaged connectors / pinds etc
    • Turn on equipment and add peripherals (50%)
  3. Reset NVRAM / PRAM(instructions).
    • Power off your Mac.
    • Press your Mac’s power button and then immediately hold these four keys at the same time:
      ⌘ + option + P + R.
    • Continue holding the keys until your Mac restarts for the second time. On older Macs, the chime will sound upon restart. On newer Macs, the Apple logo will appear and then disappea
  4. Restart the computer in safe mode (instructions).
    • Power off your Mac.
    • Press your Mac’s power button and then immediately press and hold left shift button as the computer turns on.
    • If your machine powers on at this point, it indicates there is an extension or application that may be causing the issue.
  5. If still gray screen, then a hardware repair is likely. Contact or visit an Apple Store or Apple repair specialist to fix your computer.
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