Alt/Option not opening recovery mode

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iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2428 Mid 2011

Model A1311 / Mid 2011 / 2.5 & 2.7 GHz Core i5 or 2.8 GHz Core i7 Processor

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ypnjb @ypnjb

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Posted: Jul 24, 2026

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Alt/Option not opening recovery mode

So I while trying to install Linux Mint on my iMac, I accidentally deleted my Mac OS partition and recovery partition. I want to go back to High Sierra, which I was using before, but was only able to create an El Capitan bootable USB through the official Apple page.

I have now created a flash drive with Mac OS El Capitan on it, but when I start the machine and hold down Alt on my keyboard, it boots straight into Mint and does not let me select the installer USB.

Any idea what's going on?

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Theo Grefalda @user5136121 Rep: 728 16 5 3 · Answer 1 · 2026-07-24T10:34:26-07:00

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Theo Grefalda @user5136121

Rep: 728

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Posted: Jul 24, 2026

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You should probably try to do Ctrl/Option/Command/R to get back to at least a working macOS before going any further. You should also probably ask this question someplace else, since we here at iFixit don't really specialize on software/firmware all that often.

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iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2428 Mid 2011

Alt/Option not opening recovery mode

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