Using your Mac in Recovery Mode is the remedy for various issues. In many cases, it is your last option to repair the startup disk, reinstall the operating system or reinstate your OS from a backup after any failure.
In this tutorial, we will show how to boot your Mac in Recovery Mode and how you can use your Mac in perfect condition.
How to enter Recovery Mode on your Mac?
First, you need to reboot your Mac or power on your Mac.
When your Mac restarts, keep holding the Command key and R key together when you hear that iconic startup chime. Keep holding both the keys until the Apple logo becomes visible. However, if you have a Mac notebook, press the keys from its built-in keyboard.
If you have not pressed down the keys early enough and your PC boots in the normal way, reboot the Mac normally and try again.
Depending on your PC’s configuration, you might have to enter your administrator username and password. After a few seconds, you will see the macOS utility window on your screen, and you have booted your mac successfully.
Now you can perform various tasks such as:
- Reinstate your mac from a previous backup.
- Reinstall macOS
- Use Safari Browser to get help online
- Use Disk Utility
If your Mac is frozen and you can’t choose Restart from the Apple menu, press and hold down both power buttons until it switches off. Don’t do this casually; instead, this is your also option. After doing so, wait for a few seconds and then power on your Mac again and hold the Command + R keys.
You will see Apple’s beautiful logo on almost all modern Mac machines, and at this point, you need to release the keys. However, if you see a small icon of a folder along with a question mark near to it, power off your Mac for around 10 seconds, and then repeat the same process. But this time, ensure that you hold down the keys together and release them when you see the Apple logo.
How to exit Recovery Mode
To exit macOS Recovery Mode, just click on the Apple icon, and click on the Restart or Shut Down button.
How Do I Boot an M1 Mac Into Recovery Mode?
If you are using the latest model of Mac along with an Apple-based processor such as the Apple’s M1 CPU or the Mac mini, the process of entering into recovery mode will not be the same; it will be slightly different. To boot your M1 Mac into the recovery mode, follow these simple steps:
- First, shut down your M1 Mac.
- Now, press and hold the Power button.
- Now you will see the message showing you can access Apple’s startup options as they appear. Don’t release the button.
- Now go to the Options and continue to open up Recovery Mode.
Why Won’t My Mac Go Into Recovery Mode?
If you are unable to boot your Mac into Recovery Mode through standard methods, try these simple hacks to force start your mac in recovery mode.
- First, restart your Mac.
- Now press down Option/Alt-Command-R or Shift-Option/Alt-Command-R keys to force your system to enter into Recovery Mode.
Hopefully, this method will give you access to Recovery Mode.
How to Boot Mac into Recovery Mode from Time Machine?
It is vital to have backups of your system, and for this purpose, Apple has the Time Machine feature. In our opinion, always keep your backup on an external drive to initiate Recovery Mode if your storage drive wipes out.
To boot your Mac into recovery mode from time machine, follow this method:
- First, you need to restart your machine.
- Now, keep holding the Option button when you hear that chimes sound.
- Now you can connect to Time Machine drive. Usually, it takes a couple of minutes to detect your drive.
- After that, you can enter your admin user and pass (if applicable).
- Now select the drive to use Recovery Mode.
After all these methods, you can boot your Mac into Recovery mode easily.
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