By Macs are well-built machines, and macOS is a reliable operating system. But occasionally, Macs experience issues that are difficult to resolve. The Mac Recovery mode can get you back up and running in those circumstances. You can factory reset your Mac using Recovery mode, among other things, to get rid of many potential issues.
What is Mac Recovery Mode
Mac Recovery mode is intended to recover your Mac. In further detail, it is a software that can start before macOS, allowing you to troubleshoot issues with your Mac even if you can’t boot into the operating system.
Benefits of Mac Recovery Mode
The macOS Recovery mode has a variety of uses.
- You can do disk maintenance.
- Reinstall the operating system (macOS).
- Restore a Time Machine backup.
- Change the admin password and more from this mode.
- You can access the internet.
Recovery mode helps fix problems with Macs and downgrading macOS and wiping a Mac before selling it.
How to start Mac Recovery Mode
It’s simple to start a Mac in recovery mode. Nevertheless, the procedure varies significantly depending on whether you have an Apple M1-powered Mac or an Intel Mac.
M1 Macs
You must launch Recovery mode using a new technique if you own a new Mac with an Apple processor M1 Macs released in November 2020.
- Shut down your Mac.
- Click and hold the power button now.
- Hold it down until the startup choices start to load.
- Choose Options
- Select “Continue”
- Enter your admin password.
Intel Macs
Follow these instructions to enter Recovery Mode on a Mac with an Intel processor:
- Shut off your Mac and then turn it back on.
- As soon as it starts, hold down Cmd and R.
- You can relax once you see the Apple logo.
- You should now log into recovery mode on your Mac.
What you can do in Recovery Mode?
You have many options with your Mac after it enters recovery mode. Now let’s examine a few of them.
Factory Resetting your Mac
Factory resetting your Mac can assist if it’s having issues. If you’re planning to sell or give your Mac away, you might also wish to wipe, and factory reset it. Because deleted files can be retrieved, you can do so to safeguard your privacy and prevent others from viewing any of your personal information.
Additionally, you will typically need to use Recovery mode to clean your Mac’s hard drive before downgrading macOS.
Use a Time Machine Backup
One of the finest methods for backing up your Mac computer is Time Machine, a feature built into macOS. Both manual and automatic backups can be scheduled and executed. Then, you can restore your Mac using a Time Machine backup by using Mac Recovery mode. This allows you to take your Mac back to when you knew it was functional. You can use it to recover mistakenly deleted files as well.
Fix and Manage Disk Drives with Disk Utility
Disk Utility can be used in recovery mode to manage and repair disk drives. There are all the same features that you would typically find in Disk Utility. That implies that you can also wipe SSDs and hard disks.
Access the Internet
When your Mac starts in Recovery mode, you can still access the internet. You can obtain recovery files from the internet to restore various versions of macOS.
Wi-Fi networks can also be connected precisely as you would normally.
Get Assistance through Safari
You can start the Safari web browser when you restart your Mac in recovery mode. That’s beneficial since you can visit the Apple Support website to hunt for possible fixes to any issues your Mac might be experiencing. However, you won’t be able to use any Safari extensions or plug-ins. This is advantageous because extensions can potentially slow down Safari.
Transfer your important Files
There’s a strong probability your Mac is malfunctioning if it is in recovery mode. You might want to move critical files off your Mac in these circumstances. Sharing the drive of your Mac with another Mac is one technique to accomplish this. You can connect your Mac to another Mac with a USB or Thunderbolt cable while in Recovery mode by selecting Utilities > Share Disk.
How to proceed if Recovery mode won’t work
You may be in a problematic situation if Recovery mode fails to function. In that case, you should review all the typical reasons and solutions for Recovery mode problems. If all else fails, get in touch with Apple support or a reputable repair shop.