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The Daily Insight

How do you get to the dual boot menu on a Mac?

Author

Mia Phillips

Updated on March 02, 2026

To do this, press the Option key on the Mac while it’s on the blank white boot screen. Within a couple of seconds, the Mac should present the two partitions to you on the screen. Use the arrow keys to select a partition, and press Enter to boot to it.

What is the boot menu key for Mac?

You can hold down the C key on your keyboard to instantly boot to a Mac OS X or other bootable disc in your Mac.

  • Press D During Startup.
  • Press Option + Command + P + R.
  • Press Option During Startup.
  • Press T During Startup.
  • Press Command + R During Startup.

How do you select the boot menu on a Mac?

Use these steps to choose a startup disk with Startup Manager:

  1. Turn on or restart your Mac.
  2. Immediately press and hold the Option key.
  3. Use your mouse or trackpad, or left and right arrow keys to select the volume you want to use.
  4. Double-click or press the Return key to start up your Mac from the volume you selected.

How do I change my default Mac to dual boot?

Helpful answers

  1. In macOS, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Startup Disk.
  2. Select the startup disk that has the default operating system you want to use.
  3. If you want to start up using the default operating system now, click Restart.

What is recovery mode Mac?

Recovery Mode is a special mode that loads macOS’ built-in recovery tools from a special disk partition that holds a recovery image along with a copy of the macOS installer. Scan, verify and repair connected drives with Disk Utility. Erase, install or reinstall factory-preloaded OS X version.

How do I dual boot on a Mac?

Download Mac OS X Lion from the Mac App Store. Navigate to Applications>Utilities> and double-click Disk Utility. Select your hard drive in the left pane of Disk Utility followed by the “Partition” tab from the right pane. Click the “+” button to create a new partition and give it a name format and size.

How do I boot from USB on a Mac?

You’ll see the boot options menu appear. Select the connected USB drive. The Mac will boot the Linux system from the connected USB drive. If your Mac just boots to the login screen and you don’t see the boot options menu, reboot your Mac again and hold down the Option key earlier in the boot process.

Why wont my Mac turn on?

1) Press the power button on your Mac. Every Mac has a power button, usually marked with a power symbol. Then check for signs of power such as these: – Sounds, such as from a fan, hard disk, or other startup sound- Lights, such as from a backlit keyboard, Caps Lock key, or sleep indicator light 2) If your Mac has no signs of power, start by making See More…

What to do when your Mac won’t start up?

Ensure It Has Power. Ensure your Mac is plugged into a power source.

  • Check the Hardware. Assuming you’re using a Mac desktop,check that all its cables are correctly seated.
  • Perform a Power-Cycle.
  • Reset the System Management Controller Firmware.
  • Use Disk Utility From Recovery Mode.
  • Restore From Recovery Mode.