How To Start a Mac in Internet Recovery Mode [2026]

If your Mac won't boot and you need to reinstall macOS or repair critical disk errors, macOS Internet Recovery lets you restore your Mac directly from Apple's servers — no local recovery partition required. This guide explains how it works and gives step-by-step instructions for both Apple silicon and Intel-based Macs.

What Is Internet Recovery Mode on a Mac?

macOS Internet Recovery (launched in 2011 with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, renamed OS X in 2012 and macOS in 2016) lets you troubleshoot problems online and restore data from the cloud. It offers the same features as standard Recovery — the only difference is you need an internet connection.

What You Can Do in Mac Internet Recovery Mode?

Internet Recovery Mode on Mac computers offers the following features:

Users with an Apple silicon Mac can also share the startup disk, seamlessly transferring files between Mac computers.

Whether you wish to reinstall macOS from Internet Recovery or use another feature, you must meet specific network requirements. Here's what they are.

Network Considerations When Accessing Internet Recovery Mode on a Mac

Before starting MacBook Pro Internet Recovery (the device doesn't matter), check your network configuration to ensure you can access the desired utilities.

The following security mechanisms, protocols, and networks will prevent you from accessing Internet Recovery on macOS:

Your network must use DHCP (Ethernet or Wi-Fi); for Wi-Fi, set WPA or WPA2 security.

How To Start Internet Recovery on Apple Silicon macOS

Internet Recovery for Mac M1 and M2 chips using Apple silicon offers the same features as its Intel-based counterpart. The only difference is how you access it.

Here's a step-by-step guide on starting Internet Recovery for Mac M1 (Pro, Max, and Ultra) and its M2 equivalent:

1. Go to the Apple menu and shut down your Mac to boot into Internet Recovery.

   

2. Long-press the Power or Touch ID button until you see the loading startup screen. Click Options > Continue.

   

3. Select the desired disk, click Next, log into your admin account (if necessary), and hit Continue to enter Internet Recovery Mode.
4. Choose a macOS utility from the available options, click Continue, and follow the on-screen instructions.

   

As you may have noticed, the process is identical to accessing standard macOS Recovery. Apple streamlined it on Apple silicon computers.

How To Start Internet Recovery on an Intel-Based Mac

Starting Internet Recovery on a Mac with an Intel-based processor is slightly different. Here's what to do:

1. Restart your Mac computer.
2. Once it starts powering on, long-press the Option + Command + R or Option + Shift + Command + R keys to access macOS Internet Recovery. The former keyboard shortcut lets you upgrade your macOS to the latest compatible version, while the latter limits you to your computer's original OS or its closest available edition.

   

3. Release the keys once you see a black screen with a spinning globe and this text: "Starting Internet Recovery. This may take a while."

   

4. Your Mac will ask you to choose a network if you've connected via Wi-Fi. You might also need to provide your Mac password.

   

5. Once your computer connects to the internet, you'll see your macOS starting Internet Recovery.

   

6. Pick the desired macOS utility once the following screen appears, click Continue, and follow the on-screen instructions.

   

What To Do if Your Mac Won't Access Internet Recovery Mode

Here's what to do if you can't enter Internet Recovery Mode on your Mac.

If you still can't boot your Mac in Internet Recovery, disk corruption might be at play. A professional repair service can help you diagnose and resolve the problem, but we highly recommend recovering data beforehand. Here's how.

Bonus Advice: How To Recover Data if Your Mac Can't Access Internet Recovery Mode

If you can't enter Internet Recovery Mode, your startup disk may be corrupted or damaged, or the Recovery partition may be missing. Before repair attempts, use a reliable data recovery tool like Wondershare Recoverit to salvage files from corrupted, malware-infected, or inaccessible drives.

In such cases, it's essential to have a reliable data recovery solution to retrieve files. Recoverit data recovery for Mac is among the leading solutions for salvaging data from corrupted, malware-infected, or inaccessible drives.

Here's a video tutorial that demonstrates how to fix Mac Internet Recovery not working.

If your Mac is still functional and you've only lost some important data due to software-related issues, the data recovery process is simpler:

1. Download, install, and launch Recoverit for Mac.

   

2. Select the drive — click Hard Drives and Locations and choose the drive where you lost files.
3. Scan — let the program scan; use the search bar and filters (type, size, tag, modification time, status) to find files faster. You can pause or stop anytime.

   

4. Preview and choose — preview images, videos, documents, presentations, emails, audio, and other data, then select what to restore (or Select All) and hit Recover.

   

5. Save — choose a destination (preferably different from the original path) and click Save.

   

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Conclusion

Internet Recovery Mode is an excellent macOS feature for restoring backed-up system files, modifying various settings and security policies, eliminating disk errors, and reinstalling macOS.

However, it has specific network requirements, so check them beforehand to ensure you can access it. If a problem like disk corruption prevents you from accessing macOS Internet Recovery, use trusted software like Wondershare Recoverit to retrieve files to a safe location.