If your Mac starts up to error -1008F

Your Mac tried unsuccessfully to start up from macOS Recovery over the internet.

A globe with an exclamation point means that your Mac tried to start up from macOS Recovery over the internet, but couldn't. If this is shown with error -1008F, one of these solutions should help.

macos-catalina-recovery-alert-1008f

Start up using Option-Command-R

  1. Press and hold the power button on your Mac for up to 10 seconds, until your Mac turns off.

    • Every Mac has a power button. On laptop computers that have Touch ID, press and hold Touch ID.

  2. Turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold Option-Command-R to start up from the latest version of macOS Recovery. Don't use Shift-Option-Command-R, because your Mac will start up from an earlier version of macOS Recovery and the error will occur again.

Or disable Activation lock

Learn how to disable Activation Lock

After disabling Activation Lock, you should be able to start up from macOS Recovery without a -1008F error. When you're done using macOS Recovery, you can enable Activation Lock again.

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