How to Boot into Safe Mode on Apple Silicon Macs If your Mac is powered on, shut it down ( menu -> Shut Down).

Safe mode is a powerful tool for troubleshooting driver issues or software issues. Here is how to start any Mac in safe mode.

How to Use Your Mac's Safe Mode Power on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up. Release the key when you see the login screen. Log in to macOS.

On an M1 Mac, you only need Safe mode when you are having problems with third-party kernel extensions, which some apps require to tap into low-level system resources.

What happens in Safe Mode Safe Mode is designed to launch your computer with the minimum necessary software to give you access to your operating system, such as Windows or MacOS.