If Apple computers as a whole are characterized by something, it is by the great performance and user experience they give to all the lucky buyers of a laptop or tabletop from the Cupertino company. However, like all technological devices, situations can occur in which your Mac does not work as it should, and one way to know what is happening to your Mac is to start it in safe mode. If you do not know what it is, keep reading that we will tell you everything.
What is safe mode on Macs?
Mac safe mode is a different way in which you can start your computer in order to analyze the problems and errors that may be present in the operation of your Mac. When you start it in safe mode, what happens is that the autostart programs and some additionally installed programs on the system are temporarily disabled. What if you run are the essential drivers and software, in this way you can solve many problems on your Mac, especially those that you can not find a solution to in any way.
The list of actions that you can carry out when you start your Mac in safe mode is as follows:
- Load only essential kernel extensions.
- It deactivates those fonts that have been installed manually by the user.
- Check the startup disk, and if necessary, try to repair directory problems.
- Delete font caches, kernel caches, and other system cache files.
- Prevents both login items and login items from opening automatically.
Start your Mac in safe mode
This process is different depending on the type of chip that your Mac mounts, so if you have a Mac with an Intel chip, focus only on the steps that this type of Mac has to follow, and in the same way, if your Mac has with an Apple chip, just keep in mind the steps to follow to put the safe mode on your Mac with an Apple chip.
In case you are not sure if your Mac mounts an Intel chip or an Apple chip, you just have to click on the Apple logo located in the upper left part of your Mac screen, click on About this Mac and check, in the information provided, which manufacturer is the chip that mounts your Mac.
Process on Macs with an Intel chip
To boot your Mac with an Intel chip, you just have to carry out the following steps.
- On the Mac, select the Apple menu and turn off your computer.
- Once off, wait 10 seconds.
- Restart your Mac and immediately hold down the Shift key.
- Release the Shift key when you see the login window.
In this simple way you can start your Mac in safe mode. We repeat, this process is exclusive to those Macs that have an Intel chip, in case your Mac has an Apple chip, keep reading that we tell you what are the steps you have to follow to be able to start it in safe mode.
Process on Mac with an Apple chip
If you want to start your Mac with an Apple chip in safe mode, follow the steps below.
- On the Mac, select the Apple menu and turn off your computer.
- Once you have turned off the Mac, wait 10 seconds.
- Press and hold the power button on your Mac until the boot options window appears, showing the available boot disks and options.
- Select a startup disk.
- Hold down the Shift key, click “Continue in Safe Mode,” and then release the Shift key.
So you can boot your Mac with Apple chip in safe mode. We repeat that this process is exclusive for Mac models that have an Apple chip, if yours has an Intel chip, a few lines above you also have the steps to follow to be able to start it in safe mode.
Not sure if you are in safe mode? Check it
It is possible that when you start the Mac in safe mode you do not know if you have really carried out the process correctly and you want to verify that you have indeed started your Apple computer in safe mode. To do this, you just have to click on the apple icon located at the top left of the screen, click on About this Mac, then click on System Report and finally, click on Software, now you will see a section called Boot Mode, if you have done the process correctly, it should appear “Safe”, otherwise, it will mean that the steps to start your Mac in safe mode have not been carried out correctly.
Getting out of safe mode is that easy
In case you have started your Mac in safe mode and you want to return to the usual way of using your Mac, the process is really simple, and the only thing you have to do is restart the computer without touching anything at all, that is, restart your Mac as you normally would. In this way, you will leave the safe mode and you will be able to use your Mac in the normal way.
