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.

Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance, or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Contact the vendor for additional information.

Share Mac files with Windows users

To let users connect to your Mac from a Windows computer, turn on file sharing and enable SMB sharing.

Set up file sharing on the Mac

On your Mac, choose Apple menu

> System Preferences, then click Sharing.

Select the File Sharing tickbox, then click Options.

Select “Share files and folders using SMB”.

In the Windows File Sharing list, select the tickbox next to the user account that will be used to share files with Windows users, enter the password for that user, then click OK.

Choose View > Network, select your active connection, then click Advanced.

Click the WINS tab, then enter the workgroup name used by the Windows computer.

If you don’t know the workgroup name, on the Windows computer open Control Panel > System and Security > System. (Windows computers normally use either WORKGROUP or MSHOME.)

Click OK, then click Apply.

Provide the information Windows users need

To connect to your Mac, Windows users need the network address for your Mac, and a username and password to use to log in to your Mac.

To find your Mac computer’s network address, choose Apple menu

> System Preferences, click Sharing, then select File Sharing. The address appears below the “File Sharing: On” indicator, and looks similar to this example: smb://17.212.167.33/.

Create an account on your Mac for each Windows user. To create accounts, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.

If you want to use an account that existed before you installed the latest version of macOS, you may need to reset the password for the account in Users & Groups preferences.

Because the passwords of user accounts used for Windows sharing may be stored in a less secure manner, turn off the account when it’s not being used. Before you turn off Windows sharing, turn off all the accounts you enabled. Otherwise, the passwords are still stored less securely.

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.

Manage windows on Mac

When you open an app or the Finder on your Mac, a window opens on the desktop. Only one app at a time is active; the name of the app (in bold) and the app menus are shown in the menu bar.

Some apps, such as Safari or Mail, let you open multiple windows or different types of windows at the same time. macOS provides several ways to manage open apps and windows.

Move, align and merge windows

On your Mac, do any of the following:

Move a window: Drag the window by its title bar to where you want it. Some windows can’t be moved.

Align windows: Drag a window close to another one — as the window nears the other one, it aligns without overlapping. You can position multiple windows adjacent to each other.

To make adjacent windows the same size, drag the edge you want to resize — as it nears the edge of the adjacent window, it aligns with the edge and stops.

Merge an app’s windows into one tabbed window: In the app, choose Window > Merge All Windows.

To make a tab a separate window again, select the tab, then choose Window > Move Tab to New Window, or just drag the tab out of the window. See Use tabs in windows.

Maximise or minimise windows

On your Mac, do any of the following in a window:

Maximise a window: Press and hold the Option key while you click the green maximise button in the top-left corner of an app window. To return to the previous window size, Option-click the button again.

You can also double-click an app’s title bar to maximise the window (as long as the option to do so is set to “zoom” in Dock & Menu Bar preferences).

Minimise a window: Click the yellow minimise button in the top-left corner of the window or press Command-M.

You can set an option in Dock & Menu Bar preferences to have a window minimise when you double-click its title bar.

Most windows can be manually resized. Drag the window’s edge (top, bottom, or sides) or double-click an edge to expand that side of the window.

Quickly switch between app windows

On your Mac, do any of the following:

Switch to the previous app: Press Command-Tab.

Scroll through all open apps: Press and hold the Command key, press the Tab key, then press the Left or Right arrow key until you get to the app you want. Release the Command key.

If you change your mind while scrolling through the apps and don’t want to switch apps, press Esc (Escape) or the Full Stop key, then release the Command key.

Close windows

On your Mac, do any of the following:

Close a single window: In a window, click the red Close button in the top-left corner of the window, or press Command-W.

Close all open windows for an app: Press Option-Command-W.

Closing one or all windows for an app does not close or quit the app. To do so, press Command-Q, or click the app’s name in the menu bar, then choose Quit [App]. See Quit apps.

You can hide the active app by pressing Command-H.

Use Mission Control to quickly arrange open windows and spaces in a single layer to easily spot the one you need.

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.