Learn about the Mac features and tools you can access by pressing and holding one or more keys during startup.
On a Mac with Apple silicon
Find out if you have a Mac with Apple silicon
Turn on your Mac and press and hold the power button while your Mac boots up.
Release the power button when you see the Startup Options screen, which shows your startup disks and a gear icon called Options.
From this window you can boot from another drive, start in safe mode, use macOS Recovery, and more.Learn more about these options.
On an Intel-based Mac
If you're not using a Mac with Apple Silicon, you're using an Intel-based Mac.
Guidelines for using these key combinations
Hold down all the keys in the combination, not one at a time.
If a key combination doesn't work when you restart your Mac, first shut down your Mac. If you can't shut down, press and hold the power button for up to ten seconds until your Mac turns off. Then press and hold the key combination after pressing the power button to turn on your Mac.
You may need to wait a few seconds before pressing any keys to give your Mac more time to recognize the keyboard when it starts up. Some keyboards have a light that flashes briefly at startup, indicating that the keyboard is recognized and ready to use.
If you're using a wireless keyboard, connect it to your Mac if possible. Or use your built-in keyboard or a wired keyboard. If you're using a keyboard made for a PC, such as one with a Windows logo, try a keyboard made for Mac.
Some key combinations won't work if your Mac uses a firmware password.Disable the firmware passwordFirst.
If you use Boot Camp to boot from Microsoft Windows, set this upStartup disk preferencesto boot from macOS instead. Then shut down or restart and try again.
Keyboard shortcuts for an Intel-based Mac
Commando (⌘)-R: Boot from the built-in macOS recovery system. Or use Option-Command-R or Shift-Option-Command-R to boot from macOS Recovery over the Internet.macOS Recovery installs different versions of macOS, depending on the key combination you use.
Option (⌥)ofAlt: Startup toStartup Manager, which allows you to select other available boot disks or volumes.
Option-Command-P-R:Reset NVRAMof PRAM.
shift (⇧): Start on isafe condition.
D: Startup toApple Diagnosticsbenefit. Or use Option-D to launch this tool via the Internet.
N: Start fra and NetBoot server,if your Mac supports network boot volumes. To use the default boot image on the server, hold Option-N.
Kommando-S: Boot into single user mode. Disabled in macOS Mojave or later.
T: Start on itarget disk status.
Kommando-V: Start in i verbose mode.
Eject (⏏)ofF12ofmouse buttonoftrackpad button: Eject removable media, such as an optical drive.
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