You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Mac mini start up with no keyboard

Trying to set up used Mac mini but get ? Inside a folder. There is no keyboard connected

Posted on Sep 26, 2021 10:28 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 26, 2021 10:41 AM

The question mark folder displayed by a Mac at startup indicates that the computer cannot find a valid startup disk or macOS software. Maybe the disk is damaged or the software has been corrupted. It's irrelevant that the keyboard is not connected at this point.

If your Mac starts up to a question mark - Apple Support


To fix this problem you will need to connect a keyboard to the mini so that you can restart in Recovery mode and reinstall the macOS. Best to use a USB wired keyboard and mouse for this.

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support


Restart you Mac mini by pressing the power button, and when you hear the startup chime press and hold the Command-R (⌘R) keys until you see the Apple logo and progress bar. When the macOS Utilities window appears, use Disk Utility to ensure the drive is formatted properly and run First Aid on the startup drive. When that is complete, exit Disk Utility and launch Reinstall macOS. Follow the prompts to completion.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 26, 2021 10:41 AM in response to Sierradrums

The question mark folder displayed by a Mac at startup indicates that the computer cannot find a valid startup disk or macOS software. Maybe the disk is damaged or the software has been corrupted. It's irrelevant that the keyboard is not connected at this point.

If your Mac starts up to a question mark - Apple Support


To fix this problem you will need to connect a keyboard to the mini so that you can restart in Recovery mode and reinstall the macOS. Best to use a USB wired keyboard and mouse for this.

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support


Restart you Mac mini by pressing the power button, and when you hear the startup chime press and hold the Command-R (⌘R) keys until you see the Apple logo and progress bar. When the macOS Utilities window appears, use Disk Utility to ensure the drive is formatted properly and run First Aid on the startup drive. When that is complete, exit Disk Utility and launch Reinstall macOS. Follow the prompts to completion.

Mac mini start up with no keyboard

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.