Boot Keys for Mac OS X System Start
Apr 26, 2010 - 3 Comments
Here’s a list of system startup hot keys to press while Mac OS X is booting, and their various effects:
- C – Boot from a CD/DVD
- T – Boot in Target Disk mode (FireWire only)
- N – Boot from an attached network server (NetBoot mode)
- X – Attempt to force Mac OS X to boot
- Shift – Boot up in ‘Safe Mode’ which has limited functionality
- Command+V – Boot into Verbose mode
- Command+S – Boot in Single user mode
I find myself using target disk mode, boot from cd, and verbose mode all relatively frequently in Mac centric IT work.
Option key (alt) : Boot on USB device
@Juava: Actually, Alt-boot scans *all* buses (SATA, USB and Firewire on Intel Macs, IDE and Firewire on PPC Macs) and displays all bootable volumes for you to choose from. I probably use this the most.
Don’t forget Command-Option-P-R: resets the parameter ramp.