FLASH: Updated 11/9/22 with a tutorial on how to obtain installers for macOS Ventura 13.0 and many older macOS versions.
FLASH: Updated 10/25/18 with NEW INSIGHTS on how to deal with the prohibitory symbol. When installing the macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 11 and then the public macOS Mojave 10.14, I ran into the prohibitory symbol again, actually twice during both installations, but got through to the final install in both cases. You should read this entire article, but if you’re in a hurry, jump to the section covering working around hitting the prohibitory symbol twice.
TOP NEW TIPS
- If you get the prohibitory symbol multiple times, you may have to shut down and restart your Mac multiple times.
- Boot into another APFS-based partition, like High Sierra (macOS 10.13), run Disk Utility, and then run First Aid on the Mojave partition. If Disk Utility reports that it fixed the Mojave partition — or even if it just gave the partition a clean bill of health — I’ll bet your problems will be solved.
Over the last week, I encountered the dreaded Apple “prohibitory symbol” — do not enter sign or stop sign — twice: once when just booting into macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 4 and again when updating to macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 8. Here’s what my MacBook Pro’s screen showed me:
The is one of the symbols that users of Apple products running macOS rightfully fear. Of course, we’re talking about products like the Mac Pro, Mac mini, iMac, MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro.
When you see the prohibitory symbol, please don’t panic. Please don’t go through any lengthy reinstalls or plunge down the troubleshooting rabbit hole before you hear me out. Apple says you should “try reinstalling macOS using macOS recovery.” Another Apple support page suggests that you “revert to a previous version of macOS if you experience trouble after installing an update” (using Time Machine). Several Apple forums advise booting from a recovery hard drive, reinstalling macOS, repairing your hard drive with Disk Utility… These are all valid solutions… ones you should only use after trying something simple first.
I was able to solve both my boot problem and update problem with simple solutions. Let’s talk about what I did.
Prohibitory symbol displayed when booting into macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 4
When I saw the prohibitory symbol, I held down the power button until the Mac shut down. I waited at least one minute. I pressed the power button to start my MacBook Pro, used the Startup Manager to select my macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 4 startup disk so an arrow appeared pointing to that bootable Mojave startup drive, clicked on the arrow, and macOS booted up perfectly. You should use the Startup Manager as described here:
- Press and hold the Option key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
- Release the Option key when you see the Startup Manager window.
If your Mac is protected by a firmware password, you can release the key when you’re asked to enter the password. - Select your startup disk, then click the arrow under its icon, or press Return.
If you press and hold the Control key during this step, your selection is saved in Startup Disk preferences, so it persists until you change it.
IMPORTANT: When you first see your bootable devices show up, you may not see all of them immediately. Always be patient so that the Startup Manager has time to scan for all connected drives and display them on screen.
That was easy. Perhaps there was a glitch while my Mac was initially looking for a bootable drive. These things happen. That’s why you should never panic.
Prohibitory symbol displayed when updating from macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 4 to macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 8
I had heard that Apple had released versions of Mojave newer than the one I initially installed. I had been promoted several times by Mojave to update, but ignored those prompts for severals weeks. Earlier today, I decided it was time for me to be running the latest version of Mojave beta. Here’s what happened:
1) I initiated the update process by going to the Apple menu and selecting About This Mac. The About This Mac window opened with the Overview tab highlighted. I then clicked on Software Update… (highlighted in red):
2) The Software Update window opened and informed me that “macOS Mojave Developer Beta 8” was available. I clicked the Update Now button (highlighted in red):
3) I was prompted with an informative confirmation screen. I clicked the Install Now button (highlighted in red):
4) I was prompted with a dialog which informed me that “To update, you must restart your Mac.” I clicked the Restart button (highlighted in red):
5) My MacBook Pro restarted and then showed me the generic Apple progress bar:
6) I patiently waited… UNTIL I GOT THE DREADED … prohibitory symbol:
7) Instead of panicking, restoring from backup, reverting OS version, running diagnostics, etc., I trusted my instincts. I pressed the power button until my MacBook Pro powered down.
8) I waited a bit longer than a minute.
9) I pressed the power button and my MacBook Pro powered on. I used the Startup Manager as described above (and at the link), holding the option key down as soon as I heard the Apple chime.
10) Remember to give the Startup Manager enough time to scan for and show all your connected bootable drives.
11) When it was time for me to pick a boot partition/drive, I did not select the one with macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 4 installed. I selected the one named macOS Installer:
11) Now that the arrow was pointing to macOS Installer, I clicked it to finish the probably failed or interrupted macOS update process.
12) The installer showed me that it was calculating how much time it estimated updating would take. Then it showed me progress as it performed the update:
13) BE PATIENT. The update process may take awhile. When the progress bar reaches the end of the estimated processing time marker, the screen may go black. In fact, the screen may go black at several points during all these steps. BE PATIENT.
14) Look ma! I’m all updated to the currently latest available version of macOS, Mojave 10.14 beta 8!
Prohibitory symbol displayed when updating from macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 8 to macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 11 and then to public macOS Mojave 10.14
When updating from macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 8 to macOS Mojave 10.14 beta 11 and then to the public macOS Mojave 10.14, I ran into the prohibitory symbol two times during each install. Here’s what happened and how to get around it in both cases (and again, BE PATIENT):
1) After starting the installation, my MacBook Pro rebooted, showed the generic Apple progress bar, and then stopped at the prohibitory symbol.
2) I pressed the power button and my MacBook Pro powered on. I used the Startup Manager as described above, holding the option key down as soon as I heard the Apple chime.
3) Remember to give the Startup Manager enough time to scan for and show all your connected bootable drives.
4) When it was time for me to pick a boot partition/drive, I did not select the one on which macOS Mojave 10.14 beta/public is installed. I selected the one named macOS Installer.
5) Now that the arrow was pointing to macOS Installer, I clicked it to finish the probably failed or interrupted macOS update process.
6) The installer showed me progress as it performed the update.
7) I got the dang prohibitory symbol AGAIN.
8) I pressed the power button and my MacBook Pro powered on. I used the Startup Manager as described above, holding the option key down as soon as I heard the Apple chime.
9) Remember to give the Startup Manager enough time to scan for and show all your connected bootable drives.
10) When it was time for me to pick a boot partition/drive, I DID select the one on which macOS Mojave 10.14 beta/public is installed. The one named macOS Installer was NOT available.
11) BE PATIENT. You’ll see the progress bar and the screen may go black.
12) Finally, the macOS login screen appeared on my MacBook Pro. Success!
Conclusion
Hope this helps. With software, being patient and not panicking are virtues. I know it’s a fast-paced world out there, but fretting won’t doing anything for you but waste energy.
Im updating to mojave from high sierra
however im now getting the prohib symbol
when i hold the option key on boot it only shows my standard drive, it doesn’t show the macOS installer, i waited for about 10 minutes both after shutting down and starting up and in the disk selection menu
it doesn’t work for me
Try running Disk Utility and check your partition(s) for any problems. Then try starting the whole process over again…
Jim:
I experienced the same thing you did and figured out a workaround. You should re-read the entire article, but click here if you want to go straight to your particular scenario.
Thanks!
Thank you very much for this post! Holding down option did the trick.
P.D.
Glad I could help. Sometimes it’s the littlest things that make the difference, like holding down the option key. Keep a log of your troubleshooting efforts and always keep a record of these little things that make the difference, and you’ll become a better developer, user, instructor — whatever.
– Andrew
YES I LOVE YOU. Pressing option and re-establishing the boot partition/dosk did the trick. When you reset PRAM I guess it defaults the bootup volume. If it wasnt for your site I would have totally re-installed Catalina!! Thank you, I would buy you a beer sir.
I was in the process of reinstalling MacOS as I read this article. Decided to try this fix and it worked, thank you so much!
Thank you is a small word. I draged mac OS 10.12 into applications for and prohibited 🚫 symbol show on the screen and not letting me in. I thought i lost everything. Your advice to hold “option key” button to chose which drive to boot help me pick the drive to boot and then it let me in. Thank you.