📘 How to Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) on macOS

System Integrity Protection (SIP) is a security feature in macOS that helps protect the system by restricting the root user account and limiting access to critical system files. You may need to disable SIP for advanced troubleshooting or when using certain low-level software.

⚠️ Warning: Disabling SIP reduces the security of your system. Only disable it if absolutely necessary and re-enable it when done.

🛠 Requirements

• A Mac running macOS
• Administrator access
• A wired or built-in keyboard (wireless keyboards may not work before macOS loads)

🔁 Steps to Disable SIP

1. Reboot into Recovery Mode

• Click the Apple  menu and choose Restart.
• Immediately hold down Command (⌘) + R until the Apple logo or a spinning globe appears.
• This boots your Mac into macOS Recovery Mode.

2. Open Terminal in Recovery

• In the top menu, click Utilities > Terminal.

3. Run the SIP Disable Command

In the Terminal window, type the following command:

csrutil disable

Press Enter. You should see a message confirming that SIP has been disabled.

4. Reboot Normally

Type:

reboot

Or select Apple menu > Restart from the top-left corner.

✅ Confirming SIP is Disabled

After rebooting, open Terminal and run:

csrutil status

You should see:

System Integrity Protection status: disabled.

🔒 To Re-enable SIP

Repeat the steps above, but in step 3, run:

csrutil enable

📎 Notes

• SIP does not affect user-level apps, only critical system paths like /System, /bin, /sbin, and some root-level processes.
• Disabling SIP may be required for third-party kexts, system utilities, or recovery tasks.