In the issue of a serious problem with your Mac, you may need to reinstall your Mac operating organization. There's a simple style to do this using your Mac Recovery division or via Mac Cyberspace Recovery. You can access the Recovery mode via the keyboard combination Command + R on an Intel Mac (the process on an M1 Mac is slightly different every bit we will discuss beneath).

But what practise you practice if Mac recovery mode isn't working or Control + R doesn't work?

We'll look at the best solutions to these problems below. If y'all desire to larn how to reinstall Mac OS using Recovery Mode nosotros encompass that in a divide commodity (via the link above).

What is Mac Recovery?

A quick discussion on what Mac Recovery mode can do and how it works.

Nigh people don't actually call back about their hard drives (well, SSD these days) in terms of partitions. They only see the whole drive as one thing. A difficult drive is typically a single volume, only it is then carve up upwards into multiple areas, known as partitions or volumes. Think of your hard drive as the business firm, and the partitions equally unlike rooms. (Read: How to partition a Mac hard drive or SSD, or create a APFS volume for more than information.)

Y'all're used to merely seeing one room in the business firm, the i which has your Desktop, Folders and Applications. But there are actually 4 partitions, and one is used in extreme cases where yous may want to completely reinstall the operating organization macOS (or Mac Os Ten on really old Macs).

Even if you completely wipe your Mac, and start over again from scratch, the Recovery partition should nonetheless be in that location to brand information technology possible to reinstall macOS, restore from your Time Machine fill-in, and repair or erase your hard disk. We expect in detail at what you can exercise in Recovery manner here.

Information technology'southward a problem if you demand to reinstall the operating system from scratch and the Recovery division is missing or for some reason y'all tin can't access. A trouble, but luckily there are solutions available.

Back in the days before Mac OS X Lion launched in 2011 there wasn't a Recovery partition, instead yous needed to take a physical disc with the software on information technology and an optical drive to insert it into. These days information technology'due south rare to find a Mac with a optical drive, let lonely find someone who has their original discs - not that Macs accept shipped with install discs in recent times. Nosotros'll look at what to exercise if you lot fit into this category subsequently in this article.

Why is Command R not working?

At that place are a few reasons why you might find that Control + R doesn't work and your Mac won't start up in Recovery Mode:

  • Number 1 reason right now is that your Mac is a M1 Mac - 1 of the new Macs introduced since November 2020 which uses one of Apple's new processors rather than Intel. If that sounds like you there is a new way to enter Recovery on an M1 Mac. We cover this in new ways to do things on M1 Macs, merely we'll besides discuss it beneath.
  • If your Mac is really one-time - equally in then old information technology'south running Mac OS X Snowfall Leopard or older - it volition not have a Recovery sectionalisation, the just manner to reinstall the Os is to employ the discs that shipped with the Mac. We'll look at what to practise in that example after.
  • If your Mac is running a version of macOS older than Sierra (which launched in 2016) and so you won't take all the Recovery options available that you may have heard of.
  • The keyboard might be faulty or your Mac may non connect to it via Bluetooth - in which example, effort using another - we suggest 1 that plugs in direct.
  • Something might have corrupted your Recovery partition, or you might have deleted it while replacing your difficult drive, or installing Windows via Boot Camp.

M1 Mac

How to enter Recovery when Control+R doesn't piece of work

Follow these steps to find out why Recovery style isn't working for you.

Step one: Try once more

The first thing to try is to restart your Mac and press Control and R again equally yous boot up. It may work the 2nd time.

Step 2: Bank check your keyboard

Yous may also want to check your keyboard (especially if it's a Bluetooth keyboard). Attempt using a wired keyboard if possible. Possibly you can't enter Recovery because your keyboard isn't working.

Step 3: Make sure you are using the right Recovery command on an M1 Mac

You may likewise exist using the wrong control for your Mac. If y'all have an M1 Mac then you should follow these steps to beginning in Recovery mode:

How to enter Recovery on an M1 Mac:

  1. Turn off the Mac.
  2. Press the on button - and keep it pressed.
  3. When the Apple logo appears text will announced informing y'all that if y'all keep holding the power button you will be able to access startup options.
  4. Eventually you will be able to select Options > Continue and this will open up upward Recovery.

If Recovery mode isn't working on your M1 Mac then try 'fallback recovery mode'. This is a new feature for M1 Macs (detailed past Apple hither). It esseicnally replaces the Cyberspace Recovery option plant on Intel Macs.

To enter Fallback Recovery Fashion on an M1 Mac you need to:

  • Double press the power button: first press it, release, and so printing and hold down the power push.

This gives you access to a second re-create of the recoveryOS.

Pace 4: Endeavor culling Recovery options for Intel Macs

There are a few other ways yous might be able to force your Mac to start up in recovery mode if Control + R isn't working for yous. Apple has a couple of other commands that y'all could try:

You lot could use Net Recovery Fashion - an option that we volition discuss in more particular below. This method will download a version of macOS from the cyberspace, which might be a solution if y'all tin't access the Recovery partition on your Mac. We hash out Internet Recovery Manner in more detail in a section below.

  • Press Pick/Alt + Command + R when you kick upwards to enter Internet Recovery Manner.

Once yous enter this mode you will be able to access an Apple server to download the version of macOS. This will be the latest macOS compatible with your Mac. Note: If you lot aren't running Sierra ten.12.4 of later, this will install the version that came with your Mac.

If you don't want to install the latest version of macOS endeavor this:

  • Shift + Option/Alt + Command R (if you are running Sierra 10.12.four of subsequently) will install the version of macOS that came with your Mac, or the one closest to information technology that is still bachelor.

Annotation that if your Mac has a T2 chip there may be a simple reason why Command + R isn't working for you. In that case:

  • Option/Alt + Control + R will install the latest macOS on your Mac if you have a T2 chip.

What to exercise if Mac recovery mode isn't working

Perhaps you have tried the above and had no luck. Or maybe you lot got into Recovery Mode merely for everything to freeze up.

Possibly your Mac'southward disc is beyond repair and Recovery Way inaccessible. In that case our article about How to recover information from a damaged Mac might be helpful. For ways to check whether your Recovery division is broken or missing jump to this section below.

There are some other options to try before you endeavour to set up your Recovery partition though. We explicate how to apply Internet Recovery on Intel Macs and Fallback Recovery on M1 Macs next. Nosotros likewise run through how to install macOS from a bootable USB stick below and in a split commodity here: How to create a bootable USB macOS installer.

How to utilize Cyberspace Recovery to reinstall macOS (Intel Macs)

How to restore a Mac without a recovery partition: Internet recovery

Here's what to do if yous oasis't got a recovery segmentation on your Mac and demand to reinstall macOS (in fact, even if you don't need to reinstall macOS yous probably should, because a missing Recovery Partition is non a good sign).

The get-go arroyo is to utilize a feature called Internet Recovery. Newer Macs are able to kicking directly from an internet connection, fifty-fifty with no Recovery segmentation available. Hither is how to use macOS Cyberspace Recovery:

  1. Close down your Mac.
  2. Hold down Command-Option/Alt-R and press the Power push button. (On some Mac keyboards the Option key volition be named Alt).
  3. Hold down those keys until you a spinning globe and the message "Starting Net Recovery. This may take a while".
  4. The message will exist replaced with a progress bar. Wait for information technology to make full. Expect it to take a while...
  5. Wait for the MacOS Utilities screen to appear.
  6. Click Reinstall macOS and follow the installation procedure.

If you have accessed Cyberspace Recovery mode it might be a very irksome procedure depending on your connection speed. When nosotros experienced this problem we connected our Mac to the hub via an Ethernet cable (y'all may need an adapter, such every bit this Thunderbolt to Ethernet Adapter from Apple tree, £29/$29).

How to use Fallback Recovery to reinstall macOS (M1 Macs)

If there is a problem with Recovery Mode on the M1 Mac there is a new 'fallback Recovery way', that is detailed by Apple here. In this case you lot double press the power button: first printing it, release, and and so press and concord downwardly the power button.

Fallback recovery fashion accesses a 2nd re-create of the recoveryOS on the SSD of the Macs with M1 Chip. Apple says the second copy is there for resiliency.

On M1:

  1. Shut downward your Mac.
  2. Press and concur the Power push button and wait while your Mac starts upwardly.
  3. Somewhen y'all volition encounter the Apple Logo. Once a "Loading Startup Options" bulletin appears y'all can permit go of the Power push.
  4. Now click on Options.
  5. This volition take you to the Recovery Mode.
  6. Choose your language and click on Next.
  7. Expect for the net recovery screen to load.

How to restore a Mac with no Recovery segmentation

It is possible to restore a Mac without a recovery partitioning, merely it can be catchy (especially on older Macs). You have a few approaches available:

  • Use Internet Recovery to reinstall macOS on an Intel Mac with a missing recovery segmentation. Leap to this section to find out how to exercise that.
  • Create a bootable macOS installer to install a copy of macOS from.
  • Utilise your Time Machine backup every bit your start-up drive.
  • You may as well exist able to create a Recovery partition, nosotros expect at how to do that hither: How to create a Recovery partition on Mac.

We're going to look at these options below - but first, a quick explanation of what a recovery segmentation is.

How to cheque if your Recovery partition is working

Recovery Mode macOS

First you should check that your Mac definitely hasn't got a working Recovery partition. It'due south possible that yous have been using the incorrect key combination, or that your keyboard wasn't working, for example.

Equally above, you need to follow the usual method to reach Recovery Mode. And so, on an Intel Mac press Command + R, and on an M1 Mac press On and go along information technology pressed until you see Option.

All the same, despite pressing these key combinations the Mac boots up to your normal view, or you're faced with a completely blank screen, then yous haven't got a Recovery partition.

If your Mac does kicking into macOS then y'all tin can at least check Terminal to run across if you have a recovery partition, hither'southward how to do that:

  1. Open Final.
  2. Enter diskutil list.

You should run into a list of all the volumes and partitions on your reckoner. The showtime drive (/dev/disk0) should have a partition (typically listed every bit "three" with Apple_Boot Recovery HD after it). Endeavour using the Command-R process again.

You could also these tips to see if it makes your Recovery sectionalisation miraculously appear.

  • Reset your PRAM or NVRAM: If you have an Intel Mac you lot could shut down your Mac and hold down Control-Option-P-R during boot. Wait for the chimes and permit go. (This isn't really an option on M1 Macs though, NVRAM does be in M1 Macs, but it's not the same - we exercise discuss how to reset it here though if yous want to try: How to reset NVRAM on an M1 or Intel Mac).

Okay, so either your Recovery Sectionalisation is missing, or doesn't piece of work and you've tried everything. So it'due south time to look at reinstalling macOS without it. First, if it's an choice here, you should have time to back up upwardly your Mac using Time Machine. This will enable you to restore all your files, folders and apps once you lot've reinstalled macOS.

Create a macOS bootable installer on a wink drive

Terminal createinstallmedia

If you can't admission Cyberspace Recovery, then you lot are left with the option to create a bootable installer from a flash drive (at least 12GB in size). Annotation that this completely erases the USB flash bulldoze, so be careful to remove any files from information technology outset. We cover how to create a bootable installer for macOS here, but we'll give an overview of the method below.

The simplest style to create a USB flash installer it to use Terminal:

Open up your Applications folder and wait to see if y'all have the Install files for the version of macOS or Mac Bone X you require. In the case of Sierra or High Sierra you lot''ll see: something like this, for instance.

Install files for macOS

If you don't take the files read near how to get older versions of macOS or Mac Bone X here.

When you have got hold of the installer for the version of macOS that you require, follow these steps:

  1. Attach your USB flash drive to your Mac.
  2. Open Disk Utility.
  3. Select the volume (under External) in the sidebar. The Volume is the top role, not the partition (which is underneath).
  4. Click Erase.
  5. Make certain it says "Untitled" in the Proper name field. Don't change this. Click Erase.
  6. Open up Terminal.
  7. Cutting and paste the right createinstallmedia text into Terminal (the code will depend on the version of macOS, so we suggest getting it from this commodity: createinstallmedia commands for versions of macOS. It will wait something similar the below image.)
  8. You'll then need to enter your admin password. And then enter "y" and printing Return. It will first wipe your flash drive, then turn it into a bootable installer.

How to restore a Mac without a recovery partition: Create installer media

Look to wait a while for the procedure to finish.

Install macOS from the bootable installer

Now you can follow these steps to use the bootable installer:

  1. Make sure the bootable installer (USB flash drive) is connected to your Mac.
  2. Shut down your Mac.
  3. Concur downward Pick/Alt and printing the Power button.
  4. The startup device list window should appear displaying a yellow drive with Install (software name) beneath information technology.
  5. Select it and press Return. Await for the progress bar to fill.
  6. Select Disk Utility.
  7. Select the drive under Internal (your main hard drive).
  8. Click Erase.
  9. Give the drive a name; "Macintosh Hard disk drive" is traditional simply y'all tin can choose. Ensure that the Format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and the Scheme is GUID Sectionalisation Map.
  10. Click Erase.
  11. Click Done.
  12. Choose Deejay Utility > Quit Disk Utility.
  13. Select Install macOS and click Continue.
  14. Follow the install macOS options.
  15. Select Macintosh HD equally the installation disk, when presented, and click Install.

MacOS will now be installed on your hard drive from the bootable installer. The whole process can take around half an hr. After this has finished you will take a new installation of macOS along with a Recovery division.

Y'all may become the message: "This re-create of the Install [macOS proper name] awarding tin can't be verified. Information technology may have been corrupted or tampered with during downloading." If so you need to adjust the date and time in macOS.

How to reinstall Mac OS Ten on an older Mac without Recovery mode

As we mentioned higher up, if your Mac is running Snow Leopard or older, it won't have a Recovery partition. And so if everything goes pear shaped and you need to reinstall your operating organization what can you do.

If y'all have the original discs that shipped with the Mac, you should exist able to use them.

If you don't take those discs, you may be able to purchase them from Apple. Apple used to sell Snow Leopard until relatively recently for £19.99 only information technology is no longer available here. Apple does still explain how to become older Bone Ten versions here.

You can however buy a copy of Lion from the Apple Shop hither, but what you will receive is a download code, rather than concrete discs.

Once you have the Mac App Store on your Mac you lot will be able to get a newer version of macOS.