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Recovery mode on Mac with 3rd party or wireless keyboard

Is there a way to instruct my Mac to restart in Recovery mode or Safe mode without relying on keyboard shortcuts? I’ve frequently come up against the frustrating problem of a wireless or 3rd party keyboard not being recognised on startup. It’s as if Apple has completely forgotten that not everyone uses a MacBook or Apple keyboard and mouse. Mac users for decades have had good reason to prefer a 3rd party option for these peripheral devices. Surely there could be a Utility to allow you to choose startup options BEFORE shutting down? Or an options tab next to the startup command in the Apple menu where you could select Recovery, Safe, Alternative Startup volume etc.?

Please tell me I’m missing something!

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Dec 10, 2021 5:12 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 10, 2021 8:41 PM

And you can't access anything but the latest Mac OS in the App Store.

That is incorrect. See: How to get old versions of macOS - Apple Support.


Jack

12 replies

Dec 11, 2021 4:34 PM in response to tbirdvet

“I always have a wired keyboard and mouse as backup just in case…”

Exactly. And when every new Mac has shipped with wireless keyboard for many years, should that kind of precaution be necessary or expected, or should Apple include a Restart utility with options to restart the machine in Safe or Recovery or Bootable Disk options?

Dec 11, 2021 4:44 PM in response to Matt (Guitar) Roberts

How hard is it to press and hold the shift key as power is applied? I consider this a Restart Utility. Every electrical device ever created has a restart utility, it's call the power button.


I like being responsible for learning a few "alternate methods" as opposed to being spoon fed everything.


There are bootable disk options, I have five of them. The fact it's via a 3rd party app is on no consequence. In, fact I like that too. Inventive ingenuity is fostered and not concentrated in one walled garden.

Recovery mode on Mac with 3rd party or wireless keyboard

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