How, why and when to boot your Mac in Safe Mode

Most of the time, your Mac with Apple silicon or an Intel processor “just works.”

But there will be times when a rogue app, a misbehaving service, outdated caches, and other issues will cause your Mac to slow, stop starting up or exhibit other unwanted symptoms. Thankfully, Apple has provided a way to boot macOS computer in safe mode.

Here’s what you need to know about safe mode on Mac, when you should use it, and how to start up any M1 or Intel Mac in safe mode and get back to normal.

Start up you Mac in safe mode

What is safe mode?

Like safe mode on Windows, macOS’s safe booting mode is designed for troubleshooting purposes. Not only does starting up in safe mode help isolate software issues from hardware failures, but it is a recommended way of diagnosing problems should you encounter problems that cannot be fixed any other way.

What happens in safe mode?

In safe mode, your Mac prevents some software, such as startup items, from loading. What does get loaded are the bare minimum level of drivers and essential software. This is by design to help you troubleshoot your Mac and isolate the cause of a software conflict. As a bonus, booting in safe mode also forces a check of your startup disk.

How to start up your Mac with Apple silicon in safe mode

Follow these steps to boot your M1 Mac in safe mode:

1) Shut down your Mac by clicking  > Shut Down.

2) Press and then quickly press and hold your Mac’s power button and release it when “Loading startup options” appears on the screen.

3) Select a startup volume. You will see Continue below it.

4) Press and hold the Shift key and Continue will change to Continue in Safe Mode. Click Continue in Safe Mode. You may have to enter your Mac’s password.

Start Apple silicon Mac in Safe Mode

Now, your Mac will now boot in safe mode. You will see the words “Safe Boot” in Mac’s menu bar and System Information.

How to boot Intel-based Mac in safe mode

Follow these steps to start up your Mac with an Intel processor in safe mode:

1) If your Mac is awake, shut it down by choosing Shut Down from the Apple menu. Otherwise, just power it on and proceed to step 3.

2) After your Mac shuts down, power it on again.

3) Immediately press and hold the Shift key.

Do not press the Shift key before you hear the startup chime (if you normally hear the start up chime on your Mac). You would ideally hit Shift as soon as possible after you hear the start up tone.

Tip: If you use the FileVault feature to encrypt the entire startup disk, release the key when your Mac prompts you to unlock the disk, type in your password, and press Enter.

4) Release the Shift key when the desktop or Mac’s login screen appears.

3 ways of telling if you’re started in safe mode

If you’re unsure whether or not you’re in safe mode, take note of the following signs that give it away.

1. Menu bar reads “Safe Boot”

The first indication that you’re starting up in safe mode appears when you land on the login screen. If you’re in safe mode, the words “Safe Boot” in red letters will appear in the menu bar in the upper right corner of the screen.

2. Slower overall performance

Past the login screen, you’ll notice slower overall performance. Graphics will no longer be accelerated as default drivers are loaded. The menus, windows, and the Dock appear solid even if Translucent Menu Bar is selected in System Preferences.

Your screen might blink or tear during the login process. Menus, the Dock, your desktop, and other aspects of the user interface won’t have as many visual effects, and translucency will be disabled.

And as mentioned further below, several macOS features might be unavailable to you in safe mode, like watching movies in the DVD Player app, capturing video, connecting to Wi-Fi networks, etc.

3. Boot Mode in System Information reads “safe”

Another method of determining the status of your boot mode involves using the System Information application.

1) Open System Information from Applications > Utilities. You can also choose About This Mac from the Apple menu () and then click the System Report button in the Overview section.

2) In the lefthand column, locate and click Software. You should see a couple of related items listed on the right side of the System Information window.

If the Boot Mode is listed as “Safe,” you’re started in safe mode. If it reads “Normal,” you’re in macOS’s normal-boot mode.

Verify whether Mac is in Safe Mode or not

How to leave safe mode

To exit safe mode, restart your Mac like you normally would (choose Apple menu () > Shut Down), but don’t hold down any keys during startup. You should be back on your desktop in normal mode.

Keep in mind that leaving safe mode might take longer than it does to boot in normal mode. Just be patient and don’t interrupt the process or hold down the power button to hard-reset your Mac.

Is your startup disk encrypted with FileVault?

If you are using FileVault (macOS’s built-in disk encryption feature that protects your data from prying eyes), you can still start up in safe mode by holding down the Shift key immediately after powering on your Mac. However, you might be prompted to log in twice: first to unlock the encrypted startup disk, and one more time to log into the Finder with your user account. If you’re booting in safe mode with FileVault enabled on the startup disk, you can let go of the Shift key after you see the first login screen.

Is your Mac taking longer than usual to boot in safe mode?

Don’t worry, this is normal. Your Mac performs a directory check of your startup disk as part of safe mode, so it will take a significantly longer time than usual to reach the login screen or the desktop.

Things your Mac does in safe mode

Starting up a Mac in safe mode does the following:

  • Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed.
  • Loads only required kernel extensions.
  • Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically.
  • Disables user-installed fonts.
  • Deletes font caches, Kernel cache, and other system cache files.

macOS features unavailable in safe mode

Booting in safe mode starts only essential services, so some macOS features and apps might not work correctly.

These are some of the features that are unavailable to you in safe mode:

  • Movies in the DVD Player application won’t play.
  • Video in iMovie and some other video apps cannot be captured.
  • Some audio input or output devices might not work.
  • Some USB, FireWire, and Thunderbolt devices might not be available.
  • Wi-Fi networking might be limited or unavailable, depending on the Mac and macOS version you’re using.
  • Safe mode in OS X v10.6 or later disables File Sharing.

More features not listed above might be unavailable in safe mode as well.

When should I start up in safe mode?

Although booting in safe mode on a daily basis or whenever an insignificant problem arises isn’t recommended, there are definitely instances when starting up in safe mode could be your last resort.

Here are some of the typical scenarios:

If your Mac doesn’t finish starting up:

Certain issues might keep your Mac from completely starting up, and using safe mode can help you resolve them.

If an app is causing issues:

An app you recently installed might be the culprit, especially if it came outside the Mac App Store. Starting up in safe mode might help isolate the misbehaving app as it prevents certain software from automatically loading or opening.

If your Mac has slowed:

Though not as pronounced as on Windows, your Mac amasses temporary files in various caches over time which might slow down the overall performance of the operating system and apps. You can clean up your Mac thoroughly using specialized software like MacPawn’s CleanMyMac.

Or, you could see if booting in safe mode and then back to normal does the trick. As part of starting up in safe mode, macOS deletes font caches, Kernel cache, and other system cache files, which might speed things up a bit.

If your Mac has directory issues:

Many but not all issues with your Mac’s startup disk can be resolved using the built-in Disk Utility application. If you’re plagued with an issue that cannot be reproduced in safe mode but appears to be resolved when you start up normally, chances are it was caused by a cache or a directory issue with your startup disk that safe mode fixed.

Help, my Mac auto-restarts in safe mode!

Just don’t panic.

Sometimes macOS might find an issue that it thinks might be fixed in safe mode, so it’ll decide to restart your computer in safe mode. If it finds an issue, the operating system will then repair the directory structure on your startup disk and restart your Mac.

Tip: Should your Mac repeatedly restart during safe mode, it could be suffering from a hardware problem, in which case you should contact Apple Support.

Still having issues?

Safe mode isn’t magical and won’t fix all the problems you may encounter in daily use. If booting in safe mode doesn’t help resolve whatever issue might be plaguing you, try disabling Startup Items.

We have a full tutorial on that, but it boils down to this: Open System Preferences, choose Users & Groups, and select items under the Login Items tab, then click on the “” icon to remove them one by one.

Restarting upon removing each item is a great way to identify the misbehaving app.

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