How to Open a Stuck CD on Your MacBook: A Frustrating yet Resolvable Issue

Have you ever tried to eject a CD from your MacBook only to be met with an endlessly revving optical drive, as the disc is constantly spun up, remounted, and clicks repeatedly? This frustrating situation can occur when a disc becomes stuck in the drive for some reason. The issue is more common than you might think, especially if you have young children or pets that like to explore your computer.

In the past, Apple provided a manual eject button on Macs, which could be pushed in with a paperclip. However, this feature has been missing from newer Mac models released over the past few years. The problem is further exacerbated when someone inserts a DVD into a broken drive, making it impossible to eject it. I have personally experienced this issue with four of my Macs that have shot optical drives.

The reasons behind a stuck CD can be varied. In my case, it may be related to the amount of pet fur flying around or the frequent renovations that have been known to kick up dust. Whatever the cause, the optical drive is often the first thing to fail on Macs, at least in my experience.

Thankfully, there are a few methods you can try to open a stuck CD on your MacBook:

1. Force Quit: One way to resolve the issue is by force quitting any applications that may be accessing the disc. You can do this by pressing Command + Option + Esc and selecting the application from the list.

2. Eject with Terminal: Another method is to use the Terminal app to eject the CD. Press Command + Space, type 'Terminal,' and press Enter. Then, type 'drutil eject' and press Return.

3. Restart Your MacBook: If the above methods don't work, you can try restarting your MacBook. This may help resolve any software-related issues that are preventing the CD from ejecting.

By following these steps, you should be able to open a stuck CD on your MacBook and avoid the frustration of a constantly spinning optical drive.

Open cd on mac book