Use macOS Recovery
macOS Recovery provides tools to reinstall macOS, use Disk Utility, or access the Terminal. You could guide a user to use macOS Recovery to perform system maintenance, troubleshooting, and security configuration.
macOS Recovery system startup options
macOS Recovery provides several system startup options to help troubleshoot and manage a system. You can access these options with these steps:
Turn off the Mac.
Press and hold the power button until “Loading startup options” appears.
Click Options, then click Continue to enter macOS Recovery.
Option | Function | Description |
|---|---|---|
Disk Utility | Lets you repair or erase the internal storage and connected devices. | Use First Aid to check and repair file system errors, and also erase and reformat storage. |
Install or Reinstall macOS | Installs the current version of the most recently installed macOS. | If you installed a macOS upgrade and then used Disk Utility to erase the disk, you might get the macOS that you were using before upgrading. |
Recovery Assistant | Recovery identifies and attempts to resolve any issues it discovers. | This Mac encountered an issue while starting. The recovery process looks for any problems and attempts to resolve them if found. If you still need help, see support.apple.com/mac/recovery. |
Web Browser | Browse Apple’s Support site or other resources | This option is a limited browser that’s useful for troubleshooting or looking up Apple Support articles during recovery. |
Share Disk | Share a Mac computer’s internal storage with another Mac. | Allow file transfers between connected Mac computers using a supported Thunderbolt or USB cable. |
Startup Disk | Choose the device you want to use to start up a Mac. | This option is useful if you have multiple macOS installations. |
Startup Security Utility | Manage security policies for a Mac. | Adjust security policies to allow any version of signed operating system software ever trusted by Apple to run. |
Terminal | Change settings using the command line. | Use the |
macOS Recovery logs
The recovery log contains messages logged by macOS Recovery. You can specify the types of messages to display:
In macOS Recovery, choose Window > Recovery Log.
Click the Detail Level pop-up menu, then choose which messages to display:
Show Errors Only: Choose this option to display only error messages.
Show Errors and Progress: Choose this option to display error messages and progress messages.
Show All Logs: Choose this option to display all messages.
You can also filter messages to search for specific text and save the recovery log to a file.
In macOS Recovery logs, you can view entries that give you insight into system activities such as network access, installation logs, Disk Utility activity, and more.
Here are a few common error messages you might encounter:
APFS container corrupt: Could be a disk issue. (Consider Disk Utility ordiskutilto repair.)startosinstall failed with exit code 1: Invalid install target or issue with the install media.Volume could not be mounted: Damaged volume.
Note: Depending on your organization’s data security and recovery policies, many of these issues might need to be escalated.
If you can’t access macOS Recovery
What to look for:
Mac won’t start up or shows error symbols during startup.
What’s happening:
The Mac may have hardware issues or corrupted system files preventing normal Recovery access.
Steps to take:
Hold the power button for 10 seconds to completely shut down, then try the startup process again.
Use another Mac to create a bootable installer if Recovery fails.
Contact Apple Support if hardware service may be required.