Mac OS X Startup / Shutdown Shortcuts

Press and hold 'C' during startup

Start up from a CD / DVD that has a system folder.

Press and hold 'D' during startup

Forces internal disk to boot. (If system volume.)

Press and hold 'N' during startup

Attempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot).

Press and hold 'T' during startup

Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode (access through FireWire to a second computer, this computer acts like external HDD).

Press and hold 'X'  or  '-X'  (Command-X) during startup

Force Mac OS X startup.

Press and hold 'Z' during startup

Attempt to boot from first bootable partition (primary drive).

Press 'F8' during startup

Mac OS X boot partition selector.

Press and hold '⏏'  or  (Eject) [or 'F12' key] or [Command-E] or [Depress Left Mouse Button] during startup

Forces ejection of a CD / DVD.

Press and hold ''  (Option) during startup

Allows temporary selection of startup volume through the use of an icon lineup.

Press and hold ''  or  (Shift) during startup

start up in Safe Boot mode. (Temporarily disable login items and non-essential kernel extensions.  Mac OS X 10.2 and later.)

Press and hold ''  or  (Shift) after startup boot-screen

Overrides auto-login.

Press and hold ''  or  (Shift) after login

Safe login mode. (Disables user login items and non-essential user extensions.  Mac OS X 10.2 and later.)

Press and hold '-S'  or  (Command) - S' during startup

Start up in Single-User mode.

Press and hold '-V'  or  (Command) -V' during startup

Start up in Verbose mode.  (Displays console messages and disables user login items and non-essential user extensions.)

Press and hold '--O-F'  or  (Command-Option-O-F) during startup

Invokes Open Firmware.

Press and hold '--P-R'  or  (Command-Option-P-R) during Startup until a second startup sound

Resets Parameter RAM.

Press and hold '--N-V  or  (Command-Option-N-V) during startup

Resets non-volatile RAM.

Press and hold ' -  -  - '  or  (Option-Command-Shift-Delete) during startup

Bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD, DVD, or external disk).

Press and hold ' -  - ' and press the power button  or  ( Command-Control-Shift-Power) [while computer off]

Resets the power manager state to default.

Press '-⏏'  (Control-Eject)  or  Power button

Brings up the Restart, Sleep, or Shutdown dialog box.

Press '--⏏'  (Command-Option-Eject)

Fast sleep. (No confirmation)

Press '---⏏'  (Command-Option-Control-Eject)

Fast Shutdown. (No confirmation)

Press '--⏏'  (Control-Shift-Eject)

Display off.  (Note: Not secure.)