I am having problems starting up my Macbook Air with Mac OS 11.6.7. I have the older version of the Macbook Air (purchased in February 2014) and there's no T2 chip. If I try to start up using the "Startup disk" option in the Recovery mode menu, will I lose my data?
Starting in Recovery Mode will not erase your internal storage. You will be able to reinstall MacOS, and keep your files.
The Startup Disk option is just where you choose a startup disk. Unless you have a bootable installer on removable media, the internal drive will be your only option for starting up (other than Recovery Mode).
Use macOS Recovery on an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support
Starting in Recovery Mode will not erase your internal storage. You will be able to reinstall MacOS, and keep your files.
The Startup Disk option is just where you choose a startup disk. Unless you have a bootable installer on removable media, the internal drive will be your only option for starting up (other than Recovery Mode).
Use macOS Recovery on an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support
Yes, Big Sur has safe mode:
Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
Yes, you can restore from that TM backup. Obviously, you'll lose everything since the backup.
Thank you. When I've tried to start up "normally" it goes into a loop displaying a black screen with, "Your computer restarted because of a problem. Please press the key or wait a few seconds to continue starting up." in white lettering in many languages. I follow the instruction, it tries to start up, but the message displays again. And sometimes it displays a black screen with a white circle with a diagonal line through it and "support.apple.com/mac/startup" underneath on the bottom. When I had a similar problem on Snow Leopard I used to be able to start up in Safe Mode with the Shift key and could do some work. But I can't seem to do that with Big Sur. All I can do is get into Recovery mode with the Recovery menu with 4 options: Restore from Time Machine, Reinstall Big Sur, Safari, and Disk Utility (where I ran first aid). And then under the Apple logo drop down the options are Startup Disk..., Restart, and Shut Down.
Does Big Sur have a Safe Mode option?
Also, I have a month-old backup. Would I be able do a Time Machine data backup from the "Restore from Time Machine" menu option on the Recovery menu?
Problem starting up my MacBook Air
