I have a MacBook Pro (Intel, 2017), with a broken internal display and am trying to boot it in target disk mode through another machine. But every time I'm getting the black screen with the "your computer needs to restart bc. of a problem ..." I have successfully connected it in target disk mode and transfered all relevant files. But there are a couple of things (a few settings, licenses, etc.) that I'd like to access while being logged in. I am using a working machine that is exactly the same model (Intel from 2017, both have macOS Ventura installed) to boot the broken machine in target disk mode. After holding option key at startup to get the option to choose a startup disk, how can I then force to boot into safe mode from the external disk?

I am having a problem with my MacBook Pro “15 (A1398, Mid 2015) - during operation in normal mode, it sometimes and highly unpredictably freezes, and shuts down. When switched on, it boots but half of the time it does not boot correctly and you need to boot 2-3 times to make it to normal mode. It also shuts down when I send it to sleep. Also, I use it in clamshell mode, so have an external display. It behaves not very different out of clamshell mode too. An important point is that it works perfectly in safe mode (boots properly, doesn’t crash, and sleeps and wakes properly). So I think we can eliminate hardware issues.

I have recently noticed something weird. This MacBook Pro I now have is new, M3 Max (14-30), 16-inch, so I documented every step of its configuration. In System Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Apps Using iCloud, the starting list after the first boot contains 15 apps. Looking at the list now I have 22—which is irrelevant—but one of them is Dropbox, with the switch turned ON. Why on Earth would Dropbox need to use iCloud Drive? Shouldn't it be its own thing? I have turned the switch OFF for now, and Dropbox is still working fine, as expected, but something else strange happened: Time Machine backups are no longer completing. Browsing the log I could find several repeated entries pointing at something starting with com.dropbox.somethingElse and about the auto-backup starting but then always finding a reason not to complete. The UI in System Settings (as well as the menu bar) showed "Preparing to back up", and stayed there for the whole night. I forced the MBP to shut down, waited a bit, then booted in Safe Mode and successfully completed the backup there. Browsing the log again with the T2M2 & Mints apps showed 2 backups in the last 24h which had completed successfully, so I wonder what made it get stuck.

When I power on my MacBook, it boots in safe mode without me pressing or holding any keys. What could be causing this issue?

I want to restart a MacMini with macOS Sierra in safe mode, but I have only remote access. You can do this with this: sudo nvram boot-args="-x" (source: https://support.apple.com/en-sg/HT201262) . But for macOS Sierra this gives an error: > nvram: Error setting variable - 'boot-args': (iokit/common) not permitted You have to start in RecoveryMode to be able to do this. Is there a way to restart in Safe Mode remotely?

I am the admin of my son's Mac. When he boots into Safe Mode, the parental control software is disabled and I am not able to block certain apps, or websites or track his web activities. Apple Screen Time doesn't provide the kind of information I get from the 3rd-party parental control software.

I opened my Macbook Pro to discover it was off, I pressed the power button and it had the AHH and the apple symbol and loading bar. However, the screen is covered in alternating bars of pink and blue. After the loading bar was almost full, the mac suddenly went to a very dark blue (but not black) screen. After 30 seconds, there is a power off click and the screen goes black for a few seconds before rebooting again. It is trapped in an infinite loop. I reset NVRAM, SMC, no effect. I shut it down to stop the loop, but the loop just restarts. Booting to safe mode breaks the loop... by taking me to a blank white screen until I shutdown. Booting to recovery mode simply traps me on the loading screen, but there is no loading bar or apple logo, just an eternal circle with a line through it. Please help. I tried booting to Verbrose Mode, here is a video. After the text stopped, the screen turned solid gray and the text disappeared, and a few minutes later it rebooted again back into the loop. https://streamable.com/e/m4xuku I used option D to run a test, it found nothing wrong.

I bought a new Macbook Pro with Monterey 12.5 and migrated all data from an 11.4 Big Sur using Migration Assistant. When starting up the new Macbook I could not connect to internet even though I was connected to various wifi connections (which were all in good working order). I ran wireless diagnostics and received a DNS resolution failure issue. Things I have tried: - Restarting laptop - Changing DNS to Google and OpenDNS addresses - Renewing DHCP - Deleting a bunch of apps which I thought could cause an issue (Cisco webex, Epress VPN) - Tried creating another user and logging in with another credentials - Ultimately re-installed Mac OS I also started up in safe mode. And that time the internet worked! However, when coming back out of safe mode, the issue persists. What are your thoughts on the actions that I should take?

My teen son is highly addicted to porn. After tons of research, I have set up very strong DNS filtering and powerful website and app blockers on his computer. These launch on login and are are unable to be killed because Activity Monitor and other workarounds are blocked. I have admin rights, he is a standard user. However, he's figured out how to start the Mac in Safe Mode, which doesn't launch the website and app blockers on startup and thus are rendered useless. My son has a Macbook Air with an M1 chip. And yes, we're working on other methods to get him to stop. He has no phone, for example. As we work through parenting - is there a way to disable or block Safe Mode from being used?

I'm told I need to get into Windows 10's Safe Mode running under Boot Camp, but I'm on a Mac Book Pro, 2016 model, which does not have function keys at start up. How can I force Safe Mode for Windows 10 on the most recent MBP? Previous Question: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/273512/cant-boot-windows-10-past-loading-animation-under-bootcamp

I have a MacBook Pro 15” mid 2014 (running Mojave) which has been stuck for a day on loading bars. It all started after the computer shut down despite being at around 60% of the charge. I have tried to boot in every possible mode unsuccessfully: - In recovery mode it gets stuck on apple logo at 1/3 of the bar. - In internet recovery mode, it gets stuck immediately after passing the waiting with the globe. It stays on the apple logo stuck at the beginning of the bar. - In safe mode (shift + power button) it gets stuck at 100% of the bar in the user entry page. after option + power button, I can select the drive but after that it gets stuck again on the bar. - In single user mode I typed /sbin/fsck -fy and got the message that the volume is okay. After typing reboot nothing changed though. - I also ran verbose mode. I can’t upload a picture for the moment but I got few messages with written: failed to get apfs volume keybag and failed to initialize volume keybag. I also ran diagnostic and got Reference Code: PPT002. About the battery that needs to be replaced soon. In all the modes except when I am trying to log in normally, after being stuck for around 20 minutes or more, the computer turns off despite being charging. I also tried resetting SMC and PRAM. I can hear the fans working, keyboard’s light and its commands are working too. I really don’t know what else to do. Hope someone can help. thanks a lot!!

I ran a terminal command to delete the folder since it was taking up 30% of my 128SSD MacBook. I needed to transfer some big files to my laptop Big mistake. I can't login in anymore. I also can't boot into Safe mode. - I can boot into recovery mode to try and reinstall the OS, but of course I don't have enough space only 8gb free. - My screen is also broken and messed up so I'm using an external display - I can boot into single user, but single user doesn't output to external display. What options do I have now?

Is there a way to prevent a standard user from signing into safe mode and only allow the admin of my mac to boot/sign into safe mode?

I jailbroke my old iPod Touch 3rd Generation, with IOS 5.1.1, using the latest version of absynthe. It worked for several months, but then it randomly stopped. It went into safe mode, but the touch screen wouldn't work. It showed the lockscreen, but nothing worked at all, except for the physical buttons. The only way to reboot is to follow the same steps as DFU mode (Hold power button 3 sec, then home button AND power for 10, then just home for 8)... However, it always boots right back into Safe mode. I had to restore, and once rejailbroken, it worked fine, until I installed SBsettings. Then it did the EXACT same thing, and I had to restore and re-jailbreak AGAIN! The other day, I finished installing ALL of my extensive list of tweaks, and got it to about where I wanted it, when lo and behold, it booted to safe mode again. I have spent so much time on this, and I do not want to do it again. Does anybody here have any knowledge on the topic? Is there a program I can run from my computer to manually control the device or kick it out of safe mode? Is there some other method of doing this? I am looking for any solution OTHER than restoring. I have done that several times. Also, I know the problem isn't with my jailbreak. It worked for several months before, then one day stopped. Now, it has the problem within a day of rejailbreaking, OR instantly if I install SBsettings. I re-installed the jailbreak, and applied the new one as well, and that didn't work. I have given up, and don't want to go through the painful process of restoring, rejailbreaking, and re-installing all of those tweaks again. Also, because I can't get into my iPod, I can't provide a list of tweaks. I would if I could, but it just can't happen unless I can get in there.

As part of trying to repair my Macintosh HD boot volume I have tried to boot into Safe Mode as well as Single User mode. However, when I boot the computer using either of the proper keypress combinations, after a short wait I get this screen. Running High Sierra on a pre-Metal Mac Mini. I have used Bootcamp previously and a corruption of the Windows installation is what started this rabbit hole. The primary macOS Volume does appear when I hold down the Option key at startup but DiskUtil and 'fsck' are having issues verifying/repairing it and it will not boot at this time. Neither will the Bootcamp Windows 10 volume. I did unplug the computer to reset the SMC with no change. How can I properly start my Mac in macOS Safe mode or Single-User mode instead of Windows Recovery?

Recently I upgraded to Big Sur on my MacBook Air (13 inch, early 2015 model) and it worked fine for a couple of days. Suddenly the left Shift key shows some random behaviour. Sometimes, it is always on leading to Safe Boot. Some times it is disabled. This behaviour appears randomly and creates a lot of trouble. I checked Internet and tried a few suggestions like installing keymap applications, removing the shift key physically etc. Nothing gave a permanent solutions. Then I removed MacOS completely and installed Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and all keys including the SHIFT key worked perfectly. Which implied that there is no hardware issue with the key. I again installed MacOS (Big Sur) and now the issue (the random behaviour) is back. Is it due to some virus attack? Any solutions? As per Tetsujin's suggestion I installed Key Codes. The left Shift key didn't give any response. The right Shift key response is shown in the figure attached.

I have an older 2009? 27” iMac. Doing a OS update has given me the error “macOS could not be installed on your computer. An error occurred while updating firmware…” So, attempting to boot in safe mode, I turn on, holding down the shift key. After a few seconds, it reboots, and continues to reboot every 6-8 seconds, never attempting to start. If I let off the shift key it starts only to ultimately bring me back to the macOS error message. I have files I really want to save, so reformatting is not a preferred option. Any ideas on how to get into safe mode? Or fix the error?

This is a MacBook Pro, 13 inches, from 2016, running Mojave 10.14.3 First I noticed that the mouse moved in a jittery fashion, like if it bounced around the point I wanted it to be instead of simply being there. Then the computer became excessively slow. Opening a new tab to google the problem took several minutes, and loading each site with possible answers took also a long time. I tried many things, I checked the memory (I have like 30 GB of free space), I turned it on in all the possible modes, and odly enough in Safe Mode the mouse moves normally... but it is still quite slow. There are no Apple stores where I live, but the guy who saw it noticed that it had too much dust inside, and that the battery was expanding. His diagnostic was that because it had so much dust inside it overheated and that damaged the computer somehow. We took the battery out and I'm gonna buy a new one but running my computer in normal mode is VERY difficult. I could use it in regular mode, my job right now is to edit video and you need audio to do that and there is no audio in Safe Mode. Also, in Safe Mode it works at almost normal speed, the mouse never bounces, so it's not a hardware problem... but there is this general slowness to everything that gets much worse in regular mode, plus there is that mouse bouncing that makes clicking on anything extremely hard. I've checked Activity Monitor a thousand times and there is nothing weird. I have run Malwarebytes and it found nothing bad. Except for the battery the computer is perfect in every test I can make... but it still takes like a minute for System Preferences to open. What could be wrong?, how could I fix it?

I'm running an old Mac Pro (early 2009) with Lion 10.7, 650GB hard drive near full. This morning the computer became unresponsive besides the mouse and showed columns of light gray lines across the screen. I rebooted and since then the Mac will show a kernel panic on the gray screen after the spinning for several seconds. Troubleshooting: - Safe Boot fails, it hangs at 20% progress bar - I reset the PRAM a couple times, no change - Recovery mode (option key) shows my drive and the recovery drive, but the recovery drive doesn't boot up either. The spinner will eventually freeze with both regular boot and Safe Boot - Pulled power cable for SMC reset, no change - Target Disk mode seems to work (Firewire icon shows) but I can't connect with it via Ethernet and I don't have the cable to connect it with any of my other Macs - Verbose mode output is shown in image below, it hangs at this point - Single User mode seems to work OK. fsck reports my main HD is OK and I was able to enable diskutil and verify it there too. While I was in I deleted about 10GB of data (rm -rf) hoping it just needs more disk space to boot, but I see no change. I'm to the point where I suspect a graphics hardware issue, needing to do something so the HD can reclaim the emptied space, or Firefox left some corrupted tmp file or something. That's the one app I had running at the time.

# The issue Regularly, the following happens: 1. A Mac computer, running mac OS 10.15.3 (19D76), with Filevault enabled, is turned on, 2. If the user logs in immediately, everything is normal. 3. Otherwise, after a couple of minutes, the following message appears: > If you’re having a problem entering your password, press and hold the power button on your Mac to shut it down. Then press it again to start it up in the Recovery OS. 4. After ~5 minutes, the screen goes black. 5. Then, the screen can not be brought back up. Pressing keys or touching the touchpad does not bring back the screen. 6. The only way to interact with the computer again is by hitting the "Power" button. Once hit, there is a ~2 minutes waiting time, and the "Reset password wizard" appears. 7. Since we do not want to reset the password (after all, we know it!), we have to reboot the computer, which takes some time, and to go back to step 1. **Can you make password recovery starts only if explicitly asked, and not if this time limit, or whatever it is, was triggered?** # What I've Tried - Reset [NVRAM an PRAM](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063) , - Updated all software, - Plugged in a keyboard at start up, - Ran [diagnostics](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731) , - Ran [disk utility](https://support.apple.com/guide/disk-utility/repair-a-storage-device-dskutl1040/mac) , - Deleted all the preference files. None of that raised any issue nor changed this behavior. # Related Questions The process looks fairly similar to [what's described here](https://derflounder.wordpress.com/2015/05/27/stopping-your-mac-from-booting-to-the-filevault-2-reset-password-wizard/) . I'm assuming this comes from some time-delay we trigger, but it is annoying. We are not not entering the password because we forgot it, but simply because we were doing something else at the time. [This question](https://apple.stackexchange.com/q/262964/136563) is loosely related, and suggests that this behavior comes from enabling Filevault. I do not want to deactivate it, but would like for the log-in screen to "simply come back" when the mouse is moved or a key pressed, without having to exit the "reset password wizard" and rebooting.