Safe Mode For Mac

Safe mode (or safe boot) is a diagnostic mode of macOS. Starting your computer in safe mode is one of the most common troubleshooting and maintenance methods. This mode is designed to fix various macOS problems. Macreports has a lot of Mac troubleshooting articles. And most, if not all, suggest activating safe mode. It lets you troubleshoot what is preventing the operating system from functioning normally.

Safe Mode on Mac is different if you are using Windows because there won’t be any text on the Desktop telling you, you’re navigating in Safe Mode. You also won’t be limited to a low-resolution screen. Actually, if you’re not observant or you didn’t enter Safe Mode yourself or if someone you know booted your Mac in Safe Mode, it could. Safe mode is a diagnostic mode in computer operating systems like Mac and Windows, designed for troubleshooting purposes. By booting in Safe mode, you can start up your Mac to perform certain checks while preventing automatic loading or opening of some software. Holding down the shift key while turning a Mac on will boot it into Safe Mode. Here's how to start a Mac in Safe Mode and use it to diagnose issues.

See also: Binoculars Icon On Mac?

Safe mode has many background maintenance features. In safe mode, your Mac:

  1. will disable all startup apps and items so that they will not load automatically
  2. will run a file repair
  3. will only allow essential kernel extensions
  4. will only load the built-in fonts, only fonts located in /System/Library/Fonts will be loaded.
  5. will disable all login items
  6. will delete some cache files: kernel cache, system cache and all font caches stored in /Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS/(uid)/ [uid: user ID]

How to turn on safe mode

Starting mac in safe modeSafe Mode For Mac

Here is how you can boot into macOS safe mode:

  1. Turn off your Mac
  2. Turn on your Mac and immediately after hearing the startup tone, press and hold the Shift key.
  3. Keep holding the Shift key, wait for the login screen
  4. When you see the login screen, release the Shift key
  5. Your Mac is now in safe mode
  6. Log into your Mac

How to turn off safe mode

Here is how you can restore the system to its normal mode:

  • Restart your Mac normally without pressing the Shift key. If you cannot exit safe mode, please see this article.

How to know if your Mac is in safe mode

When your computer is in safe mode, your computer will appear the same. So you may suspect that perhaps your Mac is not in safe mode. So how can you tell? There are two ways:

Safe
  1. Your lock / login screen will say “safe boot” in red in the menu bar:
  2. The other method is to use System Information. Here is how:
    1. Press and hold the Option key
    2. While pressing the Option key, choose Apple menu > System Information. This will launch the System Information app.
    3. Click Software
    4. And check the Boot Mode section. If it says “Safe” then your computer is in safe mode.

Safe Mode For Mac

Mac

Safe Mode Mac Os Mojave

Safe Mode For Mac

Safe Mode For Mac With Networking

See also: Slow Mac?

Comments are closed.