HOW TO Use Safe Mode >

Boot your Mac

Turn off your Mac, wait 10 seconds, then turn it on, holding down ß (Intel) or the power button (M1). On an M1 Mac, select your startup disk, hold ß and click ‘Continue In Safe Mode’. Your Mac will boot with non-essential items disabled.

Look at logins

A common cause of problems is unwanted login items, which load when your Mac boots. Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > [Your name] > Login Items and remove any you don’t want. This disables but doesn’t delete them.

Find the folder

If you’re not sure what something is, right-click and choose ‘Show In Finder’. This enables you to see where the item lives on your Mac. You might need to enable the status bar in Finder > View to see the breadcrumb trail.