How to determine/find out whether your Mac/macOS is in Safe Mode?

1. In the Apple menu, click on “About This Mac”
2. Then click on the “More info…” button
3. Click on the “System Report…” button
4. In the appearing System Report window, click on the “Software” menu item in the left pane
5. In the right pane, look for “Boot Mode:”. It should be “Safe”.

(I recently noticed that it’s quite difficult to distinguish whether your Mac has really been booted in “Safe Mode”, as visually, there doesn’t seem to be much of difference anymore to how the desktop looks in regular mode)

And BTW, to boot a Mac with Apple Silicon in Safe Mode:

1. Shut your Mac/macOS down
2. To boot it again, press the power button and hold it
3. Select the volume to boot (i.e. click on the volume icon)
4. Hit and hold the shift key
5. Click on the appearing text (“Continue in Safe Mode” or so) below the volume icon