My Intel-based MacBook Air from late 2018 or mid-2019 was working normally yesterday, but now it gets stuck on the Apple logo during startup. I was trying to open a GarageBand project. Recovery Mode loads, but none of the available options seem to fix the problem. Safe Mode also does not work: holding S shows a brief screen of text before restarting, while holding Shift has no effect. Resetting the NVRAM and trying other startup key combinations has not changed anything either. I attempted to reinstall macOS, but Recovery says there is not enough available storage. I cannot figure out how to remove files from Recovery Mode, and I would prefer to recover the laptop and my music projects rather than pay for an expensive repair or trade it in. What troubleshooting steps should I try next?
2 Answers
Since this is an Intel MacBook Air from 2018–2019, start by opening Disk Utility from Recovery Mode and selecting View > Show All Devices. Run First Aid on the internal volume, then on the container and physical drive if they appear. If the drive is nearly full, you may be able to use Terminal in Recovery to remove large, nonessential files, but be very careful not to delete system files or your GarageBand projects. If the data matters, backing it up or having a repair shop copy it before erasing anything is safer.
A macOS reinstall normally does not erase personal files, but the installer still needs some free space to work. If Disk Utility reports errors or the internal drive is failing, the storage warning may not be the whole problem. Try Internet Recovery with Option-Command-R, run First Aid first, and disconnect any external devices. If it still cannot boot, the next practical options are a data backup followed by erasing and reinstalling macOS, or professional service—especially because these older Intel models may have limited repair support.
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