How many OS can you have at startup?

[DouglasCarroll]

Hi everyone,

Stupid question I'm sure, but how many different operating systems can you "hold down the option key" and have to choose from on a Mac? I currently have two different Mac OS versions installed on my MacBook Pro but might also want to install a version of Windows for a few games I can't run any other way. Can you have more than 2 options? If so, what is the limit?

I REALLY don't want to install another EFI booter either, I rather want to stick with the installed Mac option.

Thanks!

 

[DeltaMac]

I don't know what the limit is... But, as adding more drives does not ever make another row, the drive icons just get smaller and smaller.
Here's 38! (4 bootable volumes on internal drives, and 2 external drives, one with 14 bootable system installs from Leopard to Ventura, and one drive with another 14 bootable installers, again from Leopard to Ventura. Some of the systems add an EFI volume, which shows in the list, but is related to one of the other installs, so not a bootable partition, but shows in the Option graphic as a bootable object. One of the items is a Windows boot system, too. I know that some flavors of Linux may need an additional boot setup, but I haven't done anything with Linux for years.

 

[DouglasCarroll]

Wow! That’s something else!!

Thanks for the screenshots!

 

[joevt]

I have all the Mac OS X versions from 10.4 to 10.15, 11, 12, 13, Recovery HDs for a few of them, plus Windows, and some other stuff on my Mac Pro 2008.
Here's a couple old screen shots (before I added Tiger, Big Sur, Monterey, and Ventura) with 40+ items:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...unsupported-macs-thread.2121473/post-29153786
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...unsupported-macs-thread.2121473/post-29153786

 

[DouglasCarroll]

Again, WOW, I never knew your could install so many boot options. I think I'll be happy with 3 myself. I have Monterey and Mojave currently for 32 & 64 bit compatibility. I "might" also install Windows 10 and then I can have my cake and eat it to as far as full compatibility with everything I want to run!

Thanks again everyone for the replies!