In today's technology era, new gadgets and gizmos with the most advanced features are being launched every day. While these innovations may have revolutionized every aspect of our lives forever, they come with their own set of pitfalls. MacBook, for instance, are one of the adequate computers ever made. But just like any other machine, they're not 100% free from error whatsoever. They can drive you insanely crazy sometimes with all the problems they come with, with refusing to a shutdown being the most common one. Well, if you're dealing with a similar issue, you can put yourself at ease because we have got you covered with the solution for What to do when your MacBook doesn't shut down! Turning off and shutting down a Mac is relatively easy. All you need to do is select the "Shut Down" option by clicking on the Apple logo on the menu bar at the top of your screen, wait for your currently-open applications and windows to close, and the screen must go black. However, if it shows reluctance while shutting down, it could be due to several different reasons. Depending on what's causing your Mac to freeze while you're trying to shut it down, we've listed a few solutions and steps to help you tackle the What to do when your MacBook doesn't shut down problem.

Read Also : How to Fix MacBook Air Trackpad?

What to do when your MacBook doesn't shut down problems?

Shut down problems occurring frequently indicates that something is wrong with your MacBook. There are various techniques and methods which you can try to tackle the What to do when your MacBook doesn't shut down problems. Few are relatively easy to perform, whereas others cause many inconveniences (e.g., reinstalling MacOS). 

What to do when your MacBook doesn't shut down

Let's look at various strategies you can follow in dealing with your MacBook shutting issues.

1.Close all the applications before shutting down

The first thing to try would be closing all of your applications which are blocking the shutdown process and causing What to do when your MacBook doesn't shut down issue. You can do this by right-clicking (or two-finger clicking) on their icons in the dock, and choosing "Quit." If any of the apps are unresponsive, you can also force-quit them by right-clicking on the app's icon, holding the Options key on your keyboard, and clicking on "Force Quit." After this, try shutting down again.

2.Unplug all external devices

Peripherals can also cause some issues when you are trying to shut down your Mac. You should try disconnecting any attached devices and remove all external drives by right-clicking on them and choosing "Eject [DISK]" or by clicking and dragging the volume to the Trash can. If you can't get a drive to eject, then that could be the possible issue. If you see a new window pop up with a choice to "Force Eject…", you can try that. Else, you can force eject via the Terminal with the following command (replace "DISK" with whatever your drive is called): diskutil unmountDisk force /Volumes/DISK

3.Presence of a crashed or frozen app

Very often, a frozen app causes intervention in shutting down of MacBook. If the app is not being closed normally, you need to force quit it. You can follow any one of the following steps for forcefully quitting the frozen app.

  • Open the Apple menu present in the upper left corner of the screen. A force Quit window appears. Select the app which you want to force quit and click Force Quit.
  • When you command-click (in simple terms, right-click) at the app's icon and along with it, press the Alt key. The quit option then changes to the force quit Click on it, and the app stops.
  • Press the following three keys simultaneously: command, option, and From the force quit window, select the app. Lastly, click Force quit.
  • You can also quit the app from Activity Monitor.
  • Command-clicking on the app's icon present in the dock also quits the app. Choose Force quit after command-click

Read Also : How to Fix MacBook Battery Not Charging Issue

4.Try giving Terminal a spin

Terminal assists you in plenty of tasks and troubles. Let's have a look at fundamental Terminal commands which can benefit you while solving shut down problems:-

  • For shutting down the MacBook immediately, you may use the command - osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to shut down.'
  • You can go for - sudo shutdown -h +the several minutes within a specific period of minutes to shut down the device. This is a risky option as it destroys all open processes and applications in your MacBook.
  • Another command, which you can use - sudo shutdown -h now. You can also go for the command - sudo halt. While using this option, you have to be careful as it gives you NO chance to preserve your data. All the open applications are killed when you use this command.

●    Use Terminal to repair disk. The Terminal can be used for repairing the disk. It helps in font maintenance and clearing out the cache data, which could help in fixing the shut down problem.

  1. Go to the "Finder" icon.
  2. In the upper menu bar, click "Go," then select "Utilities."
  3. After scrolling down, open the "Terminal" application.

Type the given commands in the window, one after the other in execution.

  1. rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*
  2. rm -rf ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/*
  3. sudorm -rf /Library/Caches/*
  4. sudorm -rf /System/Library/Caches/*
  5. atsutil databases -removeUser
  6. sudoatsutil databases -remove
  7. sudoatsutil server -shutdown
  8. sudoatsutil server -ping
  9. sudorm -rf /var/folders/*

After performing the last line, you can restart your Mac.

5.Check for any potential malware

Very often, the MacBook doesn't shut due to various malware threats. Use an anti-malware program for detection and removal of any malware.

6.Check file vault

Sometimes file vault can cause problems. It should be turned off in case your MacBook doesn't shut down. For checking the file vault, go through the following steps:- 1.Go to the Apple menu and select System Preferences. 2.Choose the Security and Privacy pane. Then select the file vault tab. 3.Check whether the File vault is on or off. If it is on, then turn it off.

7.Force restart your Mac

Finally, the last alternative you can try if all others fail would be Force shutting down your Mac. To do this, first press and hold the Control and Command keys, then have Mac's power button. If you don't have a power button, you'll need to hold Control and Command plus the Eject button or the Touch ID button instead. Keep the button held down for around 10 seconds, after which your Mac's screen should go black. Wait about 30 seconds before starting your machine up again. A restart must fix most of the issues that were preventing your Mac from shutting down properly. However, if you've been facing this What to do when your MacBook doesn't shut down problem with your MacBook more frequently, it might not hurt to take it to a technician for some professional help. It wouldn't be wrong to run some checks to find out what was causing the problem.

Read Also : Common MacBook Laptop Problems and Solution

How to prevent future shut down problems

If it's a software issue, you can rectify it using specific steps. Without running the problem causing software, try restarting your MacBook. If an app was hindering the shutdown procedure, you must try "Check for software updates." You can also use an alternative app and ditch the existing app if it favours you. 

prevent

You need to update the MacOS to prevent any issues regularly. Checking the software updates is an easy-breezy task which consists of just two steps: Go to System Preferences and select Software Update.

●    Boot using Safe mode

For preventing the same problem in the future, you should restart your MacBook in Shut Down.,click Continue in Safe Mode.">safe mode. This reduces the chances of shutting down issues to a great extent. Safely, scanning of the startup disk is done for different topics. The Mac operating system tries to fix any detectable problems. Various kernels, font, system caches, and few other things are also deleted in safe mode. For booting your MacBook into safe mode, follow the given steps:-

  1. Turn off your Mac. (either commonly or force shut down if required)
  2. Press the power button; after that instant, press and hold either of the shift keys.
  3. When the login window appears, release the shift key. Afterward, log in as you usually do.

Read Also : How to Take Screenshot on Apple MacBook Air & Pro

●    Reset your SMC

SMC refers to the System Management Controller, which holds the responsibility of low-level functions on the MacBook. It is a chip placed in the MacBook's logic keyboard. It is accountable for keyboard backlighting, battery charging, and power management. Often, the SMC causes power issues in your MacBook. If you face chronic shut down problems, you can try to reset the SMC and see whether it works. For Macbooks with removable batteries:-

  1. Turn your Macbook off.
  2. Remove the battery.
  3. For five seconds, press and hold on the power button.
  4. Reconnect the battery as well as the power.
  5. Turn on your MacBook.

For MacBook without removable battery:-

  1. Unplug the power
  2. hut down your MacBook.
  3. Hold these keys together- Shift(left), Control, Option.
  4. Press and hold the power button down
  5. For 10 seconds, keep all the four keys pressed down. After that, let go simultaneously.
  6. Turn on the Mac after plugging in the power cable.

●    Reset PRAM/NVRAM

The Mac uses parameter RAM and Non-Volatile RAM for storage of various setting, which includes: Display resolution, time zone information, and startup disk preference. Although generally, PRAM/NVRAM doesn't affect the shutting down of your Mac, it's with giving a shot for future prevention. Resetting of both PRAM and NVRAM is similar and consists of the following steps:-

  1. Firstly, power off your MacBook.
  2. Press and instantly release the power button(In some MacBook, the power button is the Touch ID button).
  3. Immediately press and hold the following keys: Option, Command, P, and R.
  4. Release the keys after approximately 20 seconds. Your MacBook will start up as usual.

Read Also : MacBook Screen Replacement Cost in India | 13 | 15 | 16 Inch

Conclusion

Frankly speaking, it becomes quite frustrating and exhausting when the MacBook repeatedly causes problems in shutting down. This article offers you various solutions for "what to do when your MacBook doesn't shut down". I hope you find this article helpful in dealing with MacBook shutting down issues.

NSS- Laptop Service Center

You can reach out to the NSS Laptop Service Center, one of the most trustworthy go-to places for your laptops and other gadgets. It brings you facilities like online booking for repair, pickup and delivery, full diagnosis and repair of your computer or another device, and paying for the service when you receive an electronic item at your doorsteps. They have had a great experience working and resolving problems for a range of brands and electronic items. The services they provide are Laptop repair, Motherboard repair, printer repair, Desktop repair, etc. All these services at affordable prices. It is a one-stop place if you have issues with your laptops, desktops, printers, etc.

Here is the List Apple MacBook Authorised Service Center in India :- 

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