How to revive or restore an unresponsive Mac from another Mac

Despite our best efforts, sometimes a macOS update goes wrong, such as the power going out in the middle of the process. Other glitches can occur, including ones that are undiagnosable.

If your Intel Mac with a T2 security chip or any M-series Apple silicon Mac won’t start up normally or through recoveryOS, you can try to revive it by fixing the firmware inside these chips that handles aspects of security and startup management while preserving all your files. If that fails, you can opt to restore it, which wipes the machine clean, but will get it working again. Both processes are made for system administrators but can be used by anyone.

(You launch recoveryOS by starting up or restarting an Intel Mac with Command-R held down, or shutting down your M-series Mac completely, then holding down the power button for about 10 seconds, until the Options gear appears.)

This revive or restore process works only for Intel Macs with the T2 chip, which includes all Intel models shipped starting in 2018 plus the 2017 iMac Pro, and with the M-series Macs released in 2020 or later. Of all those models, only the 2019 Mac Pro provides a visual indication that something’s wrong with its firmware or startup process: its status light turn amber and flashes SOS in Morse Code (three short, three long, and three short) if it needs to be revived.

Apple provides complicated instructions for applicable Intel Macs and all M-series Macs, which are aimed at school and business computer professionals. It’s a lot to wade through for “civilian” users, so here’s a simplified guide that should help you through it. You only need to consult Apple’s more exhaustive guide if you want to look up the Thunderbolt port locator illustrations described below.

First, you need to obtain Apple Configurator 2, a free utility from Apple designed to deploy and manage Apple devices (requires macOS Catalina or later).

Next, you need to make sure you have the right cables. Apple requires the Mac being revived be plugged into power, including laptops, after the initial special restart mode, and that power can’t be provided from another Mac over USB-C. However, you also need a USB-C data cable to connect the two Macs, and it has to be plain USB-C designed for USB 3.1 Gen 2 or later, not a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 cable. ( Here’s how to figure out if your cable with USB-C tips is Thunderbolt 3/4 or not.)

Now you can set up the revival process.

Revive your Mac

In none of the below cases will you see anything on screen until after Configurator gets to work. Follow these steps:

1. Install Configurator 2 onto the Mac you’re going to use to revive your unresponsive computer.
2. Disconnect your unresponsive Mac from power, whether it’s an AC-powered iMac, iMac Pro, or Mac mini, or a laptop plugged into a power adapter. On a laptop, hold down the power button for about five seconds to ensure it’s powered down. If it’s a Mac mini or iMac Pro, make sure there’s a monitor attached so you can see progress later, during revival (or restoration). You’ll need to plug your Mac back in during step 4 at the appropriate point in the sequence for your model.
3. Connect the Mac that’s reviving the other via a particular port on the unresponsive Mac. One Thunderbolt port on every Mac covered by this technology is specially equipped to allow revival or restoration. See the list at the bottom of this article to find yours.
4. Now start it up in a way that varies by model while restoring power to it. In some cases you’ll need to plug in power while holding down the power button—you might plug your Mac into a power strip or surge protector so you can just flip a switch at the appropriate moment instead of trying to hold the power button and plug an AC cord into a socket. The instructions are grouped by models below:

• Intel Mac mini, iMac, or iMac Pro: Hold down the power button, plug it into power, and keep holding down for three seconds. B
• Intel Mac laptop (any model): Plug your Mac in, and then hold down the power button and the left Control key, the left Option key, and the right Shift all at once for about three seconds.
• M1 iMac: Disconnect from power, hold down the power button, plug the computer into power, and after at least three seconds, release the button.
• M1 Mac mini or Mac Studio: Making sure the power has been disconnected for more than 10 seconds, hold down the power button, plug the computer into power, and release the button. Its status light should glow amber now and a DFU icon should appear onscreen.
• M1 or M2 laptop: With the Mac plugged back into power, press and release the power button, then immediately hold down the power button along with the left Control key, the left Option key, and the right Shift for about ten seconds. Release Control, Option, and Shift, but keep holding down the power button for last 10 seconds until a DFU icon appears in the Configurator app on the attached Mac.

Now you can attempt to revive the firmware, which keeps all your files intact:

1. On the Mac running Configurator, in its device window, your other Mac should appear if you have the cables connected correctly. Select the Mac you’re connected to, and then choose Actions > Advanced > Revive Device and click Revive.
2. The unresponsive Mac will show an Apple logo intermittently during revival. If successful, it will reboot.
3. macOS may still not be working correctly, even if the revive functions. In that case, however, the Mac is now responsive and has recoveryOS correctly installed. You can restart into recoveryOS as described above, and then reinstall macOS without erasing any of your files.
4. You can disconnect cables from the other Mac

Restore your Mac

If this process fails, you may be unable to recover any data from that Mac, and it requires a complete restoration, which resets the Mac and erases its contents. It’s a last-ditch process, and if you have unique data not backed up on that Mac, you should determine whether there’s any other way to get data from it before proceeding.

To restore your Mac’s firmware, after ensuring you have made every effort to extract needed files: On the Mac running Configurator, in its device window, select the Mac you’re connected to, and then choose Actions > Advanced > Restore and click Restore. The unresponsive Mac will show an Apple logo intermittently while restoration proceeds. If successful, it will reboot.

With an Intel Mac: now hold down Shift-Option-Command-R to install the version of macOS that your Mac shipped with or the oldest version still available. After reinstallation, you can upgrade to a later macOS.

With an M-series Mac: macOS Setup Assistant appears to guide you through installing Big Sur.

You can disconnect cables from the other Mac.

Which port to use

Apple snuck in a special feature on one Thunderbolt port on every Mac covered by this revival and restoration feature. Here’s the rundown, which you can also see in graphical form in the support document for Intel Macs and M-series Macs. In cases of left and right, you have the ports facing you directly so left and right are your left and right.

• Intel Mac mini: Rightmost Thunderbolt port

• Intel Mac laptops: when looking at the left side of the laptop, the Thunderbolt port at right

• Intel 2020 iMac or iMac Pro: the rightmost Thunderbolt port on the back of the unit, whether it’s four (iMac Pro) or two (iMac)

• Intel 2019 iMac Pro (tower): the Thunderbolt port farther away from the power button on the top of the computer

• Intel 2019 iMac Pro (rack mounted): the Thunderbolt port closer to the power button

• M1 Mac mini: the Thunderbolt port on the left, furthest from the HDMI port

• M1 iMac: Rightmost Thunderbolt port (on back)

• M1 and M2 Mac laptops: On the left side of the laptop, the Thunderbolt port on the left

• Mac Studio: Rightmost Thunderbolt port on back

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