15 alternative commands and ways to start macOS system

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Find out what to do if your Mac isn't working, freezes during startup, or has errors.

1. Force reboot

If your Mac is frozen and unresponsive, a forced restart should help. To do this, press and hold the power button until the Mac screen turns off, and then turn on the computer as usual.

Attention! With this shutdown, unsaved data in applications will most likely be lost.

2. Removing removable media

Eject (⏏) or F12

During a crash of a Mac with an optical drive and a disc inside, the system may fail to boot from it and freeze. Press the ⏏ (Eject) or F12 key on your keyboard, or press and hold the mouse or trackpad button to eject the media.

3. Selecting a boot disk

Option (⌥)

If you have multiple disks installed on your Mac and you cannot boot from the default disk, you can open the bootable disks selection dialog and select the desired media manually. To do this, press and hold the ⌥ (Option) key immediately after turning on the computer.

4. Boot from CD or DVD

C

Likewise, you can instruct your Mac to boot from disk from the built-in or external optical drive. In this case, press and hold the C key on the keyboard.

5. Download from server

⌥N (Option + N)

When there is a NetBoot server on the local site that has a bootable system image, you can try to start the Mac using it. To do this, press and hold the ⌥N (Option + N) key combination.

This boot method does not work on computers with an Apple T2 processor.

6. Run in Target Disk Mode

T

If your Mac doesn't want to start up, you can put it in Target Disk Mode and copy important files by connecting it to another computer using a FireWire, Thunderbolt, or USB-C cable. To start in this mode, press and hold the T key when turning on.

7. Run in verbose mode

⌘V (Command + V)

By default, macOS does not display a detailed startup log, showing only a loading bar. If problems arise, you can enable a verbose log to help you understand at what stage of the download the error occurs. To do this, when turned on, press the shortcut ⌘V (Command + V).

8. Start in Safe Mode

⇧ (Shift)

When your Mac won't boot normally, it's worth trying to launch Safe Mode. It checks the disk and turns on only the basic components of the system, which allows you to determine which named programs or services are causing errors. Press and hold the ⇧ (Shift) key to boot to Safe Mode.

9. Single user mode

⌘S (Command + S)

This mode starts the system in an even more stripped down version - only the command line is available in it. Nevertheless, with its help, specialists will be able to diagnose and correct errors if any. To start in single-user mode, press the keyboard shortcut ⌘S (Command + S).

This mode only works for macOS High Sierra and earlier.

10. Run diagnostics

D

macOS has built-in hardware diagnostic software to help diagnose hardware problems. Press and hold D to start diagnostics.

11. Run network diagnostics

⌥D (Option + D)

If the boot disk is damaged, then the diagnostic test will not work. In such cases, network diagnostics can help, allowing you to run the test over the Internet. To do this, press the combination ⌥D (Option + D)

12. Recovery mode

⌘R (Command + R)

When booted into recovery mode, you can access Disk Utility, reinstall macOS, and restore data from the created backup. Press and hold ⌘R (Command + R) to enter recovery mode.

If you have a firmware password set on your Mac, you will need to enter it.

13. Network Recovery Mode

⌥⌘R (Option + Command + R)

A mode similar to the previous one, which, in the presence of the Internet, allows you to reinstall macOS by downloading the system distribution kit directly from Apple servers. To use it, press ⌥⌘R (Option + Command + R).

fourteen. Resetting NVRAM or PRAM

⌥⌘PR (Option + Command + P + R)

If you have problems with the display, speakers, cooling fans, or other Mac components, you can try to resolve them by resetting NVRAM or PRAM. To do this, press and hold the ⌥⌘PR keys (Option + Command + P + R) at startup.

If you have a firmware password set on your Mac, this method will not work.

15. Reset SMC

A more radical way to reset is to return to the default System Management Controller (SMC) settings. It is applied if the previous method did not help. Resetting the SMC is done differently depending on the Mac model.

On stationary computers shut down your Mac, unplug the power cord, and wait 15 seconds. Then reconnect the cable, wait five seconds and press the power button to turn it on.

On laptops with a removable battery you must turn off your Mac, remove the battery, and then press and hold the power button for five seconds. After that, you need to install the battery and press the button to turn it on.

On laptops with a non-removable battery shut down your Mac and hold down Shift + Command + Option with the power button for ten seconds. After that, release all keys and press the power button to turn on.

On a MacBook Pro with Touch ID, the sensor button is also the power button.