Start up from macOS Recovery

Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

• Apple silicon: Turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which includes a gear icon labeled Options. Select Options, then click Continue.
• Intel processor: Make sure that your Mac has a connection to the internet. Then turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold Command (⌘)-R until you see an Apple logo or other image.

If you're asked to select a user you know the password for, select the user, click Next, then enter their administrator password.

How to Create & Restore a Recovery Partition in Mac OS X. Missing a Recovery partition? Here is how you can quickly re-create one on a Mac: Download a copy of the “Install OS X” or “Install Mac OS X” from the Mac App Store under the “Purchases” tab which matches the version of system software on your Mac (for example, the “Install. Do you have another mac you can use? You can use your apple id to go to the app store and download yosemite. You can start your macbook into windows? Mac's need bootcamp to do that. You could use target disk mode between the two mac's, but you need firewire to do it. Available on newer Macs with OS X Lion or later, this mode downloads a Recovery System image from Apple’s servers, and then starts up your Mac from it. Internet Recovery provides the same utilities and options as macOS’ Recovery Mode on a startup drive, Disk Utility included.

Reinstall macOS

Select Reinstall macOS from the utilities window in macOS Recovery, then click Continue and follow the installer's instructions.

Follow these guidelines during installation:

• Allow installation to complete without putting your Mac to sleep or closing its lid. Your Mac might restart and show a progress bar several times, and the screen might be empty for minutes at a time.
• If the installer asks to unlock your disk, enter the password you use to log in to your Mac.
• If the installer doesn't see your disk, or it says that it can't install on your computer or volume, you might need to erase your disk first.
• If the installer is for a different version of macOS than you expected, learn about other installation options, below.
• If the installer offers you the choice between installing on Macintosh HD or Macintosh HD - Data, choose Macintosh HD.

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After installation is complete, your Mac might restart to a setup assistant. If you're selling, trading in, or giving away your Mac, press Command-Q to quit the assistant without completing setup. Then click Shut Down. When the new owner starts up the Mac, they can use their own information to complete setup.

Other macOS installation options

By default, macOS Recovery installs the latest macOS that was previously installed on your Mac.* You can get other macOS versions using one of these methods:

• On an Intel-based Mac, you can use Option-Command-R at startup to upgrade to the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac. Exceptions:
  • If macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later was never previously installed, you will receive the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
  • If your Mac has the Apple T2 Security Chip and you never installed a macOS update, you will receive the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac.
• On an Intel-based Mac that previously used macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later, you can use Shift-Option-Command-R at startup to install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
• Reinstall macOS from the App Store instead of using macOS Recovery. If you can't install the latest macOS, you might be able to install an earlier macOS.
• Create a bootable installer, then use it to install macOS on your Mac or another Mac.

* If you just had your Mac logic board replaced during a repair, macOS Recovery might offer only the latest macOS compatible with your Mac. If you erased your entire disk instead of just the startup volume on that disk, macOS Recovery might offer only the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.

What should you do if your MacBook Air cannot recover from Recovery Mode?

Recovery is a set of tools that you can rely on in the case of an emergency. This can include a drastic situation where you cannot get into OS X. Although it looks a great deal like OS X proper, Recovery’s capabilities are confined to essential maintenance tools to help you recover from a critical issue.

However, you may find that your MacBook Air or any Mac computer stuck in Recovery Mode. Here are some expert tips and advice on what to do if Mac is stuck on Recovery Mode.

What Is Recovery Mode?

macOS Recovery belongs to the built-in recovery system of your MacBook or computer. The different utilities in macOS Recovery help you:

• Get help online
• Reinstall macOS
• Restore stuff from Time Machine, and
• Repair or erase a hard disk

Without much difficulty, you can start up from it and use its utilities to recover from software issues or take other actions.

To use Recovery, just turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold Command + R. You may also use one of the other designated key combinations on your keyboard. Continue to hold until the Apple logo or a spinning globe appears.

Once you have started up successfully from Recovery, choose from the different utilities and then click Continue:

• Reinstall macOS or OS X – Download and then reinstall the Mac operating system.
• Restore from Time Machine – Restore your Mac from a Time Machine backup of your computer.
• Disk Utility – Repair or erase your startup disk or another hard disk.
• Get Help Online – Using Safari, you can browse the web to find help for your computer, including Apple Support. The system, though, disables browser plugins and extensions.
• Other Available Utilities – Firmware Password Utility, Network Utility, and Terminal are also available from the Utilities menu in the menu bar.

If you want to quit Recovery, you simply need to hit Restart or Shut Down from the Apple menu.

How to Get Out of Recovery Mode

There are times, however, when you get stuck in Recovery Mode for an unclear reason.

Newer Macs and certain older ones automatically attempt to start up from macOS Recovery over the internet when they fail to start up from the built-in recovery system. In this instance, a spinning globe shows up instead of an Apple logo when it’s startup time.

Some MacBook and Mac users have reported that they got stuck in Recovery Mode. One was in the process of installing macOS High Sierra on his MacBook Air. Suddenly, his computer restarted and couldn’t boot up. He was then trapped on the Recovery page and couldn’t reinstall any operating system at all.

According to the system, there isn’t enough storage on his hard drive. To make matters worse, he didn’t have any Time Machine saved OS either.

The main problem here is when you are stuck, you cannot re-download an operating system. Relax, though, because we just might have an expansive list of potential solutions for you.

Before getting to work with these solutions, make sure to always clean up your Mac using a reliable Mac optimizer tool. This will help avoid junk files and other space hogs from getting in the way of your Mac’s processes and causing errors.

Try the fixes we listed below to get out of the Recovery rut:

Restart Your Mac

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Shut down your machine, wait 30 seconds, and then restart it. You may also start your computer in Safe Mode, and then restart normally afterwards. Note that this is slower than your standard computer startup.

Create a New User Account

Follow these steps:

1. Open Users & Groups Preferences.
2. Click on the lock icon. Afterwards, enter your Admin password once prompted.
3. On the left side under Current User, you’ll find an Add [+] button under Login Options. Click on it.
4. Create a new Admin user account.
5. Once done, log out of your current account and log into the new one.

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If the problem stops, you might want to try migrating to the new account, transferring your files there.

Reset Your PRAM and NVRAM

Macbook Air Recovery Mode

Nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM) is a small amount of memory. Macs use it to store settings and access them right away. Settings stored in NVRAM include sound volume, time zone, display resolution, and startup-disk selection.

Parameter RAM (PRAM) stores similar information. Take note that you need to follow the same steps to reset both.

Here are steps to reset your NVRAM properly:

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. While turning it on, immediately press and hold the Option, Command, P and R keys together. Release these keys after 20 seconds. During these times, your computer might appear to restart.
3. Once your Mac has started up, open System Preferences. Adjust any settings that have been reset, such as sound volume and display resolution.

Reset the System Management Controller

The System Management Controller (SMC) is responsible for a number of functions on Intel-based Macs. These functions include responding to power button presses, battery management, thermal management, and ambient light sensing. They also include keyboard backlighting, battery status indicator lights, and Sudden Motion Sensor (SMS).

There are several indicators that it’s time to consider resetting the SMC. These include your Mac not responding when you press the power button. A reset is also potentially helpful in certain situations, such as when your Mac:

• Sleeps or shuts down unexpectedly
• Performs unusually slowly
• Gets stuck in Recovery

On a Mac notebook with a removable battery, restart the SMC with these steps:

1. Shut down your MacBook.
2. Remove the battery.
3. Press and hold the power button for some five seconds.
4. Reinstall the battery.
5. Press the power button again to turn on your machine.

On a MacBook with a non-removable battery:

1. Select Apple menu > Shut Down.
2. Once your machine is off, press Shift-Ctrl-Option on the left side on the built-in keyboard. Press the power button simultaneously. For 10 seconds, hold the keys along with the power button. If you’re using a MacBook Pro with Touch ID, Touch ID also serves as the power button.
3. Release the keys.
4. Press the power button once more to switch on your Mac.

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Find other instructions for resetting the SMC here.

Erase and Install OS X

Here are steps you should follow:

1. Restart your computer.
2. Immediately after the chime, hold down the Command + R keys until you see the Apple logo.
3. Once the Utility Menu appears, select Disk Utility. Click Continue.
4. When Disk Utility loads, choose the drive (out-dented entry) from the Device list.
5. In Disk Utility’s toolbar, click on the Erase icon. You will see a drop down panel.
6. Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
7. Click Apply, and then wait for the Done button to activate. Click on it.
8. Quit Disk Utility.
9. Return to the Utility Menu.
10. Choose Reinstall OS X. Click Continue.

If you find the compelling need to reinstall macOS, you may also use a bootable installer. Here, you can use an external drive or secondary volume as a startup disk from which you can install the operating system. Follow the steps straight from Apple Support.

Final Notes

Recovery is a set of tools that aids you through an emergency. These dire situations include a critical problem that you need to recover from. MacBooks and other Mac machines, however, can get stuck in Recovery Mode and encounter boot-up problems. Use the solutions above to find the best fix for your specific case.

Have you ever come across this fairly common issue with Recovery Mode? Let us know more about your experience!