A disk or volume may be connected to your Mac but unavailable in Finder. In that case, you may need to mount it in Disk Utility. When you are finished using an external disk, you should unmount or eject it before disconnecting it to reduce the risk of data loss. Quick Answer To mount a … Read more
You can start a Mac from a bootable USB installer by connecting the installer, opening the Mac’s startup options, and selecting the USB drive. The exact process depends on whether your Mac has Apple silicon—such as an M1, M2, M3, or later chip—or an Intel processor. A bootable installer can help you install macOS, repair … Read more
If you recently deleted a file, you can usually recover it by opening Trash, selecting the file, and choosing File > Put Back. The file returns to its original folder. You can also drag it from Trash to another location, such as the Desktop. If you emptied Trash, recovery becomes more difficult. Check Time Machine, … Read more
If your Mac displays a folder with a question mark, a circle with a line through it, or a message saying that no startup disk is available, it cannot find a usable macOS system. The cause may be a temporary startup selection problem, an unmounted APFS volume, a damaged file system, an erased drive, a … Read more
You can repair many common file-system problems on a Mac with Disk Utility’s First Aid feature. Open Disk Utility, select the volume you want to check, and choose First Aid. For the most thorough check, run First Aid on the volume, its container, and finally the physical disk. If the startup disk cannot be repaired … Read more
You can create a bootable macOS installer drive with a USB flash drive and Apple’s built-in createinstallmedia command. Download the macOS installer from Apple, erase and format a compatible USB drive in Disk Utility, then run the command for that installer in Terminal. A bootable installer can help you install macOS on a compatible Mac, … Read more
You can usually reinstall macOS without erasing your personal files. The safest method is to start macOS Recovery, choose Reinstall macOS, and install the system on your existing startup disk without using Disk Utility to erase it. A reinstall replaces macOS system files while normally preserving your user accounts, documents, photos, apps, and other data. … Read more
You can restore files from a Time Machine backup by opening the folder where the file was stored, entering Time Machine, choosing an earlier version, and selecting Restore. Time Machine can recover deleted files, replace a damaged file with an older copy, restore an entire folder, or help transfer your data to another Mac. Quick … Read more
Quick Answer To start an Apple silicon Mac in Safe Mode, shut down the Mac, press and hold the power button until Loading startup options appears, select a volume, hold the Shift key, and click Continue in Safe Mode. To start an Intel-based Mac in Safe Mode, shut down or restart the Mac, immediately press … Read more
Connect the USB flash drive directly to your Mac. Open Terminal, which is located in the Utilities subfolder of the Applications folder. Type or paste one of the following commands The installer must be located in the Applications folder. MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive. If the name is different, rename it … Read more