Restart your Mac in macOS or Windows

After installing Microsoft Windows on your Mac, you can choose whether your Mac starts up in macOS or Windows.

How to start up in macOS from Windows

1. From the notification area on the right side of the Windows taskbar, click to show hidden icons.
2. Click the Boot Camp icon .
3. From the menu shown, choose Restart in macOS.
   If you haven’t installed the latest Boot Camp updates, you might get the message ”Could not locate the OS X boot volume.»
   

Or use Startup Manager as your Mac starts up:

1. Restart your Mac from the Start menu in Windows.
2. Press and hold the Option (or Alt) ⌥ key as your Mac begins to restart.
3. Select your Mac startup volume (Macintosh HD) in the Startup Manager window, then press Return or click the up arrow:
   

How to start up in Windows from macOS

• Use Startup Manager to choose your Windows (Boot Camp) volume during startup.
• Or select your Boot Camp volume in Startup Disk preferences, then restart.

Learn more

• If you’re having difficulty using VoiceOver or another screen reader to complete these steps, please contact Apple Support.
• Learn how to install Windows 10 on your Mac.

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Connect to a Windows computer from a Mac

You can connect to Windows computers and servers on your network from your Mac.

For instructions on setting up the Windows computer, see Set up Windows to share files with Mac users.

Connect to a Windows computer by browsing

In the Finder on your Mac, choose Go > Connect to Server, then click Browse.

Find the computer’s name in the Shared section of the Finder sidebar, then click it to connect. You may need to click All to see all the shared computers.

When you locate the shared computer or server, select it, then click Connect As.

In some cases you need the network area or workgroup for the shared computer. If you don’t have this information, contact the computer’s owner or your network administrator.

If necessary, enter your username and password, then select volumes or shared folders on the server.

Passwords for Windows computers and servers are often 14 characters or fewer. Check with the owner or administrator to be sure.

To make it easier to connect to the computer in the future, select “Remember this password in my keychain” to add your username and password for the computer to your keychain.

Connect to a Windows computer by entering its address

In the Finder on your Mac, choose Go > Connect to Server.

Type the network address for the computer in the Server Address field using one of these formats:

For information about the correct format for network addresses, see Network address formats for shared computers and servers.

Follow the onscreen instructions to type the workgroup name and a username and password, then choose the shared folder you want to access.

If you don’t know the workgroup name and the network name (called the computer name) for the Windows computer, contact the person who owns the computer or your network administrator.

If necessary, enter your username and password and select volumes or shared folders on the server.

Passwords for Windows computers and servers are often 14 characters or fewer. Check with the owner or administrator to be sure you have the correct password.

To make it easier to connect to the computer in the future, select “Remember this password in my keychain” to add your username and password for the computer to your keychain.

Connect using an Ethernet cable

Connect your Mac to the Windows computer using a standard Ethernet cable. If your Mac doesn’t have an Ethernet port, try using a USB-to-Ethernet adapter.

Connecting the two computers creates a small local network that consists of just the two computers.

On the Windows computer, turn on file sharing. Refer to the instructions that came with the Windows computer if you’re not sure how to do this.

Make sure the Internet Connection Firewall is turned off on the Windows computer, or if it’s on, make sure TCP port 445 is open to allow sharing connections.

For more information, refer to the user manual and onscreen help for the Windows computer.

On your Mac, choose Go > Connect to Server, then click Browse, or type the network address for the computer in the Server Address field.

Reconnect to recent computers or servers

Here are some ways to make it easy to reconnect to shared computers and servers you frequently use:

On your Mac, choose Apple menu

> Recent Items, then choose from the list of recent servers.

In the Finder on your Mac, choose Go > Connect to Server, click the pop-up menu to the far right of the Server Address field, then choose a recent server.

Add shared computers, network areas and workgroups to the Finder sidebar. Select the item, then choose File > Add To Sidebar or press Command-T.

Add a shared computer or server to your list of favourites. In the Finder on your Mac, choose Go > Connect to Server, enter the network address, then click the Add button .

If you can’t locate a shared computer or server or connect to it, it may not be available, or you may not have permission to connect to it. Contact the person who owns the computer or the network administrator for help.

Start up your Mac in Windows or macOS with Boot Camp

After you use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows on your Intel-based Mac, you can set the default operating system to either macOS or Windows. The default operating system is the one you want to use when you turn on or restart your Mac.

Set the default operating system

In Windows on your Mac, click in the right side of the taskbar, click the Boot Camp icon , then choose Boot Camp Control Panel.

If a User Account Control dialog appears, click Yes.

Select the startup disk that has the default operating system you want to use.

If you want to start up using the default operating system now, click Restart. Otherwise, click OK.

You can’t change your startup volume to an external drive while you’re using Windows.

To learn how to change the default operating system using macOS, see Get started with Boot Camp.

Restart in macOS

In Windows on your Mac, do one of the following:

Restart using Startup Manager: Restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Option key. When the Startup Manager window appears, release the Option key, select your macOS startup disk, then press Return.

If you’re using a Mac notebook computer with an external keyboard, make sure you press and hold the Option key on the built-in keyboard.

Restart using Boot Camp Control Panel: Click in the right side of the taskbar, click the Boot Camp icon , then choose Restart in macOS.

This also sets the default operating system to macOS.

For more information about restarting in macOS, see the Apple Support article Restart your Mac in macOS or Windows.

Start up your Mac in Windows or macOS with Boot Camp

After you use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows on your Intel-based Mac, you can set the default operating system to either macOS or Windows. The default operating system is the one you want to use when you turn on or restart your Mac.

Set the default operating system

In Windows on your Mac, click in the right side of the taskbar, click the Boot Camp icon , then choose Boot Camp Control Panel.

If a User Account Control dialog appears, click Yes.

Select the startup disk that has the default operating system you want to use.

If you want to start up using the default operating system now, click Restart. Otherwise, click OK.

You can’t change your startup volume to an external drive while you’re using Windows.

To learn how to change the default operating system using macOS, see Get started with Boot Camp.

Restart in macOS

In Windows on your Mac, do one of the following:

Restart using Startup Manager: Restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Option key. When the Startup Manager window appears, release the Option key, select your macOS startup disk, then press Return.

If you’re using a Mac notebook computer with an external keyboard, make sure you press and hold the Option key on the built-in keyboard.

Restart using Boot Camp Control Panel: Click in the right side of the taskbar, click the Boot Camp icon , then choose Restart in macOS.

This also sets the default operating system to macOS.

For more information about restarting in macOS, see the Apple Support article Restart your Mac in macOS or Windows.

Install Windows on your older Mac using Boot Camp

You can use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10 on your Intel-based Mac.

You need an external USB drive to install Windows on older Mac computers. To find out whether you have a Mac that requires an external USB drive, see the “Learn more” section in the Apple Support article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant. If your Mac is a newer model that doesn’t require a USB drive, follow the instructions in Install Windows on your newer Mac using Boot Camp instead.

What you need

The keyboard and mouse or trackpad that came with your Mac. (If they aren’t available, use a USB keyboard and mouse.)

A blank 16 GB or larger external USB 2 flash drive, formatted as MS-DOS (FAT).

To format an external USB drive as MS-DOS (FAT), use Disk Utility, located in /Applications/Utilities. In Disk Utility, choose View > Show All Devices, select the USB drive in the sidebar, then click Erase in the toolbar. In the dialog, enter a name for the drive, choose MS-DOS (FAT) from the Format pop-up menu, choose Master Boot Record from the Scheme pop-up menu, then click Erase.

A full-installation, 64-bit version of Windows 10 on a disk image (ISO file) or other installation media.

Sufficient free storage space on your startup drive. For information about the amount of free space needed, see the Apple Support Article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant.

Before you begin

Before you install Windows, make sure you back up important files.

You can use Time Machine or any other method to back up your files. For information about backing up files, see Back up your files with Time Machine and Ways to back up or protect your files.

Perform the installation

Do the following steps in order.

Step 1: Check for software updates

Before you install Windows, install all macOS updates.

On your Mac, log in as an administrator, quit all open apps, then log out any other users.

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Software Update, then install all available updates.

If your Mac restarts after installing an update, open Software Update again to install any additional updates.

Step 2: Prepare your Mac for Windows

Boot Camp Assistant prepares your Mac by creating a new partition for Windows named BOOTCAMP and downloading the Boot Camp support software.

Important: If you’re using a Mac notebook computer, connect it to a power source before continuing.

Connect an external USB drive or insert a flash drive into the USB port on your Mac; keep it connected or inserted while you install Windows and the Windows support software.

On your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant , located in /Applications/Utilities.

At the introduction screen, click Continue.

The system is checked for total available disk space. Older Time Machine snapshots and cached iCloud files are removed to make space for Boot Camp. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to skip this process).

At the Select Tasks step, select all the tasks, then click Continue.

At the Create Bootable USB Drive for Windows Installation step, choose the Windows ISO image and the USB drive, then click Continue.

The Windows files are copied to the USB drive. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to interrupt this process).

At the Create a Partition for Windows step, specify a partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions. If you have multiple internal hard drives, you can select a different hard drive from the one running macOS and create a single partition on that drive to use solely for Windows.

Important: You can’t resize the partition later.

When this step is complete, the Windows installer starts.

Step 3: Install Windows

In the Windows installer, follow the onscreen instructions.

When you’re asked where to install Windows, select the BOOTCAMP partition (you may need to scroll through the list of partitions to see it), then click Next.

WARNING: Do not create or delete a partition, or select any other partition. Doing so may delete the entire contents of your macOS partition.

Continue following the onscreen instructions to finish installing Windows.

After you install the Windows software, your Mac automatically restarts using Windows.

Follow the onscreen instructions to set up Windows.

Step 4: Install Boot Camp on Windows

After installing Windows, Boot Camp drivers that support your Mac hardware start installing.

Note: If the support software doesn’t install automatically, you need to install it manually. For instructions, see the Apple Support article If the Boot Camp installer doesn’t open after using Boot Camp Assistant.

In the Boot Camp installer in Windows, follow the onscreen instructions.

Important: Do not click the Cancel button in any of the installer dialogs.

If a message appears that says the software you’re installing has not passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.

You don’t need to respond to installer dialogs that appear only briefly during installation, but if a dialog asks you to install device software, click Install.

If nothing appears to be happening, there may be a hidden window that you must respond to. Look behind open windows.

When the installation is complete, click Finish, then click Yes to restart your Mac.

After your Mac restarts, follow the instructions for any other installers that appear.