Hot Keys For Mac

 admin

Sometimes your Mac isn't running properly, so you need to reset the NVRAM and PRAM. Sometimes you need to boot in Recovery Mode in order to reinstall an OS or recover your hard drive via the internet. Whatever your needs, you can boot your Mac in a variety of modes in order to complete a task before startup; all you need to do is press some keys down and wait for the chime (unless you have a later MacBook Pro, in which case I'm sorry).

The most complete list of Mac keyboard shortcuts, keystrokes, tips, and tricks.

  • The Mac keyboard shortcut command P will perform the Print action. Print is a global Mac keyboard shortcut that is usually located in the File menu. This keyboard shortcut for Print is available in Mac OS X and may also be available with other versions of Mac OS. App: Operating System. Operating System: Mac. Mac Version: Mac OS X.
  • For a nice reference you can bookmark, here are 50 common keyboard shortcuts that all Mac users should know. System keyboard shortcuts. Navigate your Mac with shortcuts that let you put your Mac to sleep, shut it down, and force restart. Put your Mac to sleep: Option + Command + Power button; Put your display to sleep: Control + Shift + Power button.
  • If you use multiple input sources and have designated Command-Space bar and Option-Command-Space bar as shortcuts for switching between input sources, you must change the Spotlight shortcuts. On your Mac, choose Apple menu System Preferences, click Keyboard, click Shortcuts, then click Spotlight. Open the Shortcuts pane for me.
  • If you are new to Mac OS X, it can be frustrating to learn some of the hot-keys that you were used to on Windows. While there isn't always an exact equivalent, there are a few shortcuts that are.
  • Mac offers several hot-keys for screen shots: Shift-Command-3 takes a screen shot of the entire screen Shift-Command-4 takes a screen shot of an area Shift-Command-4-Space takes a screen shot of a.

Here are all the keyboard shortcuts you can use when starting up your Mac!

Safe mode: shift

Safe mode is a way of starting up your Mac that makes sure it performs certain checks and prevents certain software from loading or opening automatically. Here's what it does according to Apple:

  • Verifies startup disk and tries to repair directory issues if needed
  • Loads only required kernel extensions
  • Prevents Startup Items and Login items from opening automatically
  • Disables user-installed fonts
  • Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

How to start in Safe Mode

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold shift on your keyboard.
  2. Release the shift key when you see the login window.

You can leave safe mode by restarting your Mac without pressing any keys during startup.

Startup Manager: option (alt)

The Startup Manager lets you choose a different startup disk during boot. So if you have your Mac partitioned in order to run Windows or a macOS beta, for example, you can choose that startup disk instead of the default disk.

How to start the Startup Manager

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold the option key on your keyboard.
  2. Release the option key when you see the Startup Manager window.
  3. Select a startup disk.
  4. Click the arrow or press return on your keyboard.

Start up from an available external disk: C

You can start up your Mac from an available CD, DVD, or USB drive that contains a valid operating system for your Mac (you can also just use Startup Manager.

How to start up from an available external disk

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold the C key on your keyboard.
  2. Release the C key when you see the Startup Manager window.
  3. Select a startup disk.
  4. Click the arrow or press return on your keyboard.

Start up from Apple Hardware Test or Apple Diagnostics: D

If there are issues with your Mac that you think may be related to the hardware, you can run the Apple Hardware Test. You can run Apple Diagnostics once you think you've isolated the issue to a possible hardware issue.

How to start up from the Apple Hardware Test or Apple Diagnostics

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold the D key on your keyboard.
  2. Release the D key when you see the choices appear.
  3. Select Apple Hardware Test or Apple Diagnostics.

You can also hold option-D to start up from either utility over the internet.

Start up from a NetBoot server: N

Booting from a NetBoot server allows you to boot from a network, rather than a local hard disk or optical disk drive. Your Mac must have capable firmware in order to boot from a network.

How to start up from a NetBoot server

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold the N key on your keyboard.
  2. Release the N key when you see the choices appear.
  3. Select a network.

Reset the NVRAM and PRAM: option-command-P-R

Sometimes certain processes on your Mac just don't work. It can be any random issue from iCloud not allowing you to sign in, to certain apps just not opening. One of the first fixes you'll find on any forum is resetting the NVRAM (nonvolatile random-access memory). This is a small amount of memory that your Mac uses to store settings that it wants to access quickly.

If you're having an inexplicable issue with your Mac, this is a good place to start.

How to reset the NVRAM and PRAM on your Mac

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold command-option-P-R on your keyboard. You'll probably have to use both hands.
  2. Release the keys after about 20 seconds. If you have a Mac that plays a startup chime, you can release the keys after you heard it a second time.

You may have to go back into System Preferences and adjust settings like volume and display resolution to your liking, since they get reset when you reset the NVRAM.

Hot Keys For Mac

Boot in Recovery Mode: command-R

Sometimes, as a last-ditch effort, you need to boot in Recovery Mode and either repair a disk or (NOOOOO!) reinstall macOS. You may also need to restore from a Time Machine backup. If any of that is the case, then here's what to do:

How to boot up your Mac in Recovery Mode

  1. Start up or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold command-R on your keyboard.
  2. Release the keys when you see the Apple logo or a spinning globe.
  3. Click an option.
  4. Click Continue.

Start up in single-user mode: command-S

If you're comfortable with UNIX, sometimes you may want to boot your Mac in single-user mode, which lets you try and isolate startup-related issues. You'll want to be an advanced user if you're considering this move.

How to boot up in single-user mode

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold command-S on your keyboard.
  2. Release the keys when you see white text on the screen.

Start up in target disk mode: T

Target disk files allows you to share files between two Macs that are connected via FireWire, Thunderbolt 2, USB-C, or Thunderbolt 3. One Mac basically shows up as an external disk on the other Mac, so you can browse and copy files over like you would from a hard drive.

How to start up in target disk mode

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold T on your keyboard.
  2. Release T after about 20 seconds.

After your Mac starts in target disk mode, you'll see it as a desktop icon on the other Mac. You can treat it just like an external hard drive and drag it to the trash when you want to 'eject' it.

Start up from the macOS startup disk when other disks are available: X

Hot Keys For Macbook Pro

Tightvnc. If your Mac would normally start up from a non-macOS startup disk, like a Windows partition, then you can hit X to start from the macOS startup disk. Sims for mac free. (You can also do this in Startup Manager.)

How to start up from the macOS startup disk when your Mac would otherwise start from a non-macOS startup disk

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold X on your keyboard.
  2. Release when you see the Apple logo.

Start up in verbose mode: command-V

Verbose mode is another startup mode for advanced users, which allows you to enter UNIX commands in order to try and isolate startup-related issues.

How to start up in verbose mode

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold command-V on your keyboard.
  2. Release the keys when you see the white text on the screen.

Eject removable media on startup: ⏏, F12, mouse button, or trackpad button

If you don't want an external hard drive to mount on startup or you simply want your CD or flash drive out as quickly as possible when you turn on your Mac, you can eject it right on startup.

How to eject removable media on startup

  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold the eject button (⏏), F12, your mouse button, or your trackpad button. Press and hold one of these.
  2. Release when your removable media is ejected.

Reset the SMC in MacBooks: shift-control-option

The SMC (system management controller) is a system that controls the hardware in your MacBook that the main part of your system isn't responsible for. These include things like cooling fan speeds, power, display management, port illumination, and more. There are many things you should try before resetting the SMC, but if you're at the end of your rope, then reset it.

How to reset the SMC in your MacBook

Note: If the battery in your MacBook is removable (older MacBooks), then just take it out, press the power button for 5 seconds, and put the battery back in and turn it on again.

Hot Keys For Mac
  1. Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold shift-control-option on the left side of your keyboard and then press and hold the power button at the same time. Hold the three keys and the power button for 10 seconds.
  2. Release all the keys.
  3. Press the power button to turn your MacBook on.

Questions or tips?

Got any questions or other startup keyboard shortcuts to add? Sound off in the comments below!

Updated December 2017: These are still all the keyboard shortcuts to use when starting up your Mac.

macOS Catalina

Main

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

Apple Arcade

Hotkeys For Mac

STELA for Apple Arcade is a shallow, sadistic, totally fun game

Excel Hot Keys For Mac

Can you outrun killer dark shadows? Take leaps of faith into the unknown? Traverse a world where nothing is what it seems? STELA will test your mettle.