Mac OS - Boot Mac/MacBook into recovery mode

Mac OS - Boot Mac/MacBook into recovery mode

Problem

A Mac user encounters a problem where their Mac fails to boot properly into the Mac OS environment.  


Applies to

  1. Mac/MacBook

Resolution

  1. Recovery mode is a state that you can boot into that allows maintenance to be carried out to restore normal operation to a Mac which is equivalent to Safe Mode on a Windows computer.
  2. All Mac or MacBooks can both be started in recovery mode using the steps below.  However, depending on the type of machine you are trying to boot into recovery mode the steps differ.

Idea
Tip
If you are unsure what type of processor architecture Mac or Macbook Intel or Apple Silicon please see: check what type of Mac before proceeding with the steps below.  In general Apple Silicon Macs released from November 2020 onwards use Apple Silicon architecture.  Units shipped mid 2020 or earlier are typically Intel architecture.

Apple Silicon Mac

All Macs released after November 2020 are Apple Silicon Macs starting with MacBook Air M1 2020 and Macbook Pro M1 2020.

  1. If the Apple Silicon Mac/Macbook is currently running please shut it down.Turn off Mac.
  2. From a powered off state press and hold power button until the display shows the Apple logo and the text Options appears.
  3. Releawse the Power button, then click Oprions to enter recovery mode,.

Intel Mac

The last Intel Macs are were released in mid 2020 and earlier.

  1. If the Intel Mac/Macbook is currently running please shut it down.
  2. Press the Power button, then immediately press and hold the COMMAND+R.
  3. When the progress bar is displayed release COMMAND+R to boot into recovery mode.