You may need to put your MacBook Skilled, MacBook Air, Mac Mini or iMac in restore mode if it has become unstable and is experiencing problems.
Start your Mac in recovery mode
Every time you start a Mac in Recovery mode, it boots from a recovery partition that contains a recovery image, a macOS installer, and built-in recovery and diagnostic tools.
Once your Mac enters recovery mode, you can reinstall macOS, restore your Mac from a Time Machine backup, use Disk Utility, and use other tools to fix problems with your device.
Beyond the Mac in Restore mode, the steps vary depending on whether your Mac has a processor Intel, an Apple M1 processor or an Apple T2 chip.
1. Start your M1 Mac in recovery mode
Optionally, you can examine the type of processor installed in your Mac by clicking Apple Brand in the top menu bar and choosing About this Mac in the drop-down menu.
If your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or Mac Mini has the Apple M1 processor, you can follow the steps below to enter recovery mode.
1. stop the Mac (If open).
2. Hold the button Power button to start up your Mac and continue holding the power button when your Mac starts up with the Apple branding.
3. Launch the Power buttonif you see a “Loading startup options” message on your computer screen.
4. Allows all home icons to appear on the screen and press Choose to enter the restore mode screen.
5. On the next screen, select Language and click the button Next arrow.
6. On the next screen, you will see the following options: Reinstall macOS, Restore from Time Machine, Disk Utility, and other options to troubleshoot your gadget.
2. Start your Mac (Intel) in recovery mode
If your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or Mac Mini has an Intel processor, you can follow the steps below to enter recovery mode.
1. stop the Mac (If open).
2. Push the button Power button to start your Mac and hold down instantly Command + R keys
3. Press and hold the power button until you see the macOS Utilities screen.
3. Boot your Mac with the Apple T2 chip into recovery mode
If your Intel-based Mac doesn't enter recovery mode when you press the same Command + R key combination, it most likely has the Apple T2 chip.
To try it, click on Apple Brand > About this Mac > system data. On the next screen, click Controller in the left pane. In the right pane, you can see if your Mac has Apple T2 chip.
If your Mac is equipped with the T2 chip, follow these steps to put your Mac into recovery mode.
1. stop the Mac (If open).
2. Push the button Power button to start your Mac and hold down instantly Choose (Alt) + Orders + R keys
3. Keep saving all the keys until you see the macOS Utilities screen.
Restore mode is not activated on the Mac
If regular restore mode doesn't work on your Mac, the next option is to use Internet Restore mode, which provides the same tools to restore through Apple's servers.
You can find the steps to enter Internet Restore mode in this information: Tips for starting your Mac in Internet Restore mode.
- Tips for backing up your Mac to an external hard drive using Time Machine
- Tips to reset NVRAM or PRAM on Mac
My name is Javier Chirinos and I am passionate about technology. Ever since I can remember, I have been interested in computers and video games, and that passion has turned into a job.
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