You can also enter Target Disk Mode by rebooting your Mac and holding down the T key as it boots. Connect your Macs via a Firewire or Thunderbolt cable.Īccess Files, Use Migration Assistant, and Boot From Another Mac Click the “Startup Disk” icon and click the Target Disk Mode button to restart your Mac in Target Disk Mode. To enter Target Disk Mode, click the Apple menu and select System Preferences.
Two Macs: Target Disk Mode works with Macs, so you’ll need two Macs for this.
Target Disk Mode can be a real lifesaver in an emergency.RELATED: How to Encrypt Your Mac's System Drive, Removable Devices, and Individual Filesīefore entering Target Disk Mode, you’ll need a few things: You can run drive diagnostics, copy files to and from the volume, and even format the device. In Target Disk Mode, you can access the target computer's drive with the same freedom you would have with any other disk connected over FireWire. This trick is great for fishing files off of a machine that can't boot OS X correctly, since it operates independently of the Mac's installed operating system.
The target's internal disk should appear on your host Mac's desktop as an external drive.(The icon will look like a Y with a circle in the center.) Once the slave Mac has finished booting up, if you've found Target Disk Mode correctly, you should see the FireWire icon appear on the target Mac's screen.Then, power on the target Mac while holding the T key on that system's keyboard.Connect your target Mac to the host Mac using your 6-pin FireWire cable.First, if the Mac you want to access as your target is powered on, shut it down.Here's how you can take advantage of this capability: All you will need is a 6-pin to 6-pin IEEE 1394 - commonly known as a "FireWire" - cable. With Target Disk Mode, you can use a recent Mac to access the main internal hard disk in another recent Apple machine without having to crack a case or turn a screw. That feature is the Target Disk Mode built into the Mac firmware. Here's a look at how to use one Mac to access the internal drive of another - no screwdriver required.Īpple's Macs have one feature that, as a support tech, I would like to see other manufacturers crib for their computers.