Your Mac must have capable firmware to boot from a system.

(Image credit: iMore / Gerald Lynch) Start up from a NetBoot server: Nīooting from a NetBoot server allows you to boot from a network, rather than a local hard disk or optical disk drive. You can also hold option-D to start up from either utility over the internet.

Select Apple Hardware Test or Apple Diagnostics.

Release the D key when you see the choices appear.

Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold the D key on your keyboard.

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

Click the arrow or press return on your keyboard.

Release the option key when you see the Startup Manager window.

Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold the option key on your keyboard.

So if you have your Mac partitioned to run Windows or a macOS beta, for example, you can select that startup disk instead of the default disk. The Startup Manager lets you choose a different startup disk during boot. You can leave safe mode by restarting your Mac without pressing any keys during startup.

Release the shift key when you see the login window.

Start or restart your Mac and immediately press and hold shift on your keyboard.

Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files.

Prevents Startup Items and Login items from opening automatically.Verifies startup disk and tries to repair directory issues if needed.On MacBooks with physical function (F1–F12) keys, the power button is the key in the upper right corner of the keyboard (if it's an older Mac with an optical drive, this is also the Eject button). If the system shutdown dialog appears, select Restart from the available options. Otherwise, try holding down the Control (Ctrl) key and pressing the power button. If the OS is frozen but the mouse cursor still responds, click the Apple () symbol in the upper left corner of the screen and select Restart.

If it's just an application that's frozen rather than the operating system, hold down the Option (⌥) key then right-click the offending app's icon in the Dock and select Force Quit.

Force restarting a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro is generally considered a last resort, but if the worst happens and your machine freezes up, it's the quickest way of getting things running again.īefore taking this extreme option though, it's worth making sure that you've exhausted all potential software solutions.

Macbook restart keyboard shortcut