Shortcut to start Mac

Booting the Mac is usually just pressing the power button and waiting for the login screen or desktop to appear. But sometimes, you might want something else to happen when you boot your Mac, perhaps to use one of the troubleshooting modes or use HD Recovery for example.

Using the boot shortcut allows you to change the Mac's default behavior at startup. You can go into special modes, like Safe Mode or Single-User Mode, both of which are special troubleshooting environments. Alternatively, you can use boot shortcuts to select a boot device other than the default boot drive you normally use. Of course, there are many boot shortcuts and the article will gather them all here.

Use wired keyboard

If you are using a wired keyboard, you should use shortcut keys immediately after pressing the Mac's power switch or, if you have used the Restart command , after the Mac's power lamp is off or the screen dark picture.

If you're having trouble with your Mac and are using boot shortcuts to help with troubleshooting, you should use a wired keyboard to remove any Bluetooth problems that may prevent Macs from using keys Turn off. Any USB keyboard can be used in this case, not necessarily an Apple keyboard. If you are using a Windows keyboard, learning about Windows' equivalent keys for special Mac keys can be helpful in finding the right keys to use.

Use wireless keyboard

If you are using a wireless keyboard, wait until you hear the boot sound, then use the shortcut key immediately. If you hold a key on the wireless keyboard before you hear the boot sound, the Mac will not correctly identify the key you are holding and may start normally.

Some Mac models from the end of 2016 onwards have no boot sound. If you are using one of these Mac models, press the appropriate boot key combination immediately after booting the Mac or if using the restart function immediately after the screen turns black.

These boot shortcuts are useful if you need to troubleshoot your Mac or just want to boot from a different volume than usual.

Shortcut boot

1. Hold the X key while booting. This will force the Mac to boot from OS X or macOS, regardless of which drive is designated as the boot drive. You may find this useful if the Mac is set to boot with a non-Mac volume, such as Windows or Linux. In some cases, an alternative operating system may prevent the normal boot manager of the Mac from running.
2. Hold C while booting to boot from a bootable CD or DVD or USB drive. If you created the Mac OS installer that can boot on the flash drive, this is an easy way to boot from the installer.
3. Hold N while booting to boot from networked computer with NetBoot volume. Volume NetBoot can be created with OS X or macOS Server, allowing you to boot, install Mac OS or restore Mac OS from the server on the local network.
4. Hold Option + N to boot from the default boot volume NetBoot.
5. Hold T during boot to boot at Target Disk Mode. This mode allows you to use any Mac with FireWire or Thunderbolt ports as the source for the system to boot.
6. Hold D during startup: Start with AHT (Apple Hardware Test) or Apple Diagnostics.
7. Hold Option + D during boot: Start with AHT or Apple Diagnostics over the Internet.
8. Hold down the Option key while booting: The Mac OS boot manager will appear, allowing you to select the drive to boot. The boot manager will search all volumes connected to the Mac and display the volumes with the boot operating system available on it.
9. Hold Shift while booting: This will start the computer in Safe Mode. Safe Mode disables unnecessary log entries and kernel extensions at startup.
10. Hold the Cmd(⌘) + R while booting: This will cause the Mac to use Recovery HD partition, allowing you to restore Mac OS or use many different utilities to troubleshoot Macs.
11. Hold down Cmd(⌘) + Option + R while booting: The Mac will boot from the Internet using an Apple server. A dedicated version of Mac OS will be run including a small set of utilities, with Disk Utility and the ability to download and install Mac OS or restore from a Time Machine backup.
12. Hold Cmd(⌘) key Cmd(⌘) + V during boot: Cmd key is a key with four-leaf clover. This shortcut will boot the Mac in Verbose Mode, with a description text sent to the screen during the boot process.
13. Hold Cmd(⌘) + S during boot: This shortcut will boot the Mac in Single-User Mode, a special mode used to troubleshoot and fix complex hard drive problems .
14. Hold down the main key of the mouse during startup: On the mouse two or three buttons, the main key is usually the left button. This shortcut will push the CD or DVD out of the optical drive.
15. Hold Cmd(⌘) + Option + P + R during boot: This removes PRAM (Parameter RAM), an option that longtime Mac users will remember. Press and hold the key combination until you hear the second sound, then PRAM will be returned to the default configuration for screen settings, video, time, holy day, speaker volume and zone settings. DVD.

Hope the above information is useful to you!