MacOS – nother way to boot into Recovery Mode without using the built-in keyboard

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I am getting the folder with question mark issue in my 2014 Macbook Air (Catalina) and I need to boot into Recovery Mode.

Unfortunately my MBA's keyboard already had issues beforehand, and some of the keys including R doesn't work (I normally just use external keyboards).

I can't go to Recovery Mode using my wireless BT keyboard. I also tried plugging in my mechanical keyboard via USB (Anne Pro 2) but CMD+R still doesn't register on boot.

Would there be other ways of booting into Recovery Mode other than CMD+R? Should I try and use other cheaper USB keyboards?

Or is there another way to fix the blinking question mark problem? (I think I messed it up after erasing a disk and restarting right away without re-installing macOS).

Any pointers would be appreciated, thank you!

Best Answer

I was able to fix the blinking question mark issue by using a bootable USB installer to install Catalina on the Macbook Air—plugged in the bootable flash drive while holding Opt key. It was able to detect the installer.

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