Full instructions here: How to back up a Mac. Speaking of which, if an old version is what you’re looking for, it may be worth taking a look at another article where we focus on that entirely: How to download and install old versions of OS X on a Mac.īefore you begin we recommend that you make a backup, just in case something goes wrong. There is also the even trickier business of installing a clean copy of an older version of macOS on your Mac (Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Mojave, Yosemite or an even old version of OS X). Not only are there three different methods (which we’ll run through below) the methods depend on the version of macOS that you are running. Use the Erase All Content and Settings option setting in System Preferences (available if you are running macOS Monterey and later on a M1 or M2 Mac, or an Intel Mac with a T2 chip).Use macOS Recovery to reinstall macOS via the web. Make a copy of the macOS installer on a USB stick, reformat your drive and then install the macOS on to your Mac from the installer.If you are happy to take the risk and still want to wipe your Mac and reinstall macOS – which you should definitely do if you are selling or passing on your Mac – read on! Three ways to clean install macOSĪs we explained above, there is more than one way to wipe your Mac and reinstall macOS: Again, the seal guarantees that everything is fine and that nothing untoward has crept in. All components are checked after installation, then signed and finally the entire system is sealed again. As long as your Mac works (which can be determined on the basis of the seal), the Mac is considered to be in working order as it complies with Apple’s specifications.įor that reason, even if you do encounter problems on Macs with T2 chip or Apple Silicon while running macOS it makes no sense to reinstall the system yourself.įor those who want to do a clean install so that no leftovers that belong to an old system are carried along, this no longer applies because none of this information is carried over. However, if your Mac boots up without issue then it indicates that there are no problems with the system. Should this happen you will have to reinstall the system. Should a problem occur with macOS during a restart, perhaps because a storage space on the SSD is defective and thus a system component is no longer intact, this will be recognized by the startup process since the seal will now be invalid. Mac 911 can’t reply to-nor publish an answer to-every question, and we don’t provide direct troubleshooting advice.So macOS itself cannot be changed by any software that you install as a user. If not, we’re always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours including screen captures as appropriate. Read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. We’ve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently along with answers and links to columns: The pre-10.12.4 option is simply Command-Option-R, but it acts like the new Shift-Command-Option-R, installing the shipped OS or the oldest compatible version.)Īpple recommends the Command-Option-R option as the only safe way to reinstall a Mac with El Capitan or earlier versions of macOS if you want to be sure your Apple ID doesn’t persist even after erasure. (Apple just changed this behavior with 10.12.4, but if you’re using Internet Recovery for a clean install on an erased drive, the new behavior should be active as it will be pulled from the version of Recovery that’s bootstrapped from Apple’s servers. (Apple doesn’t document that, and I haven’t had to test that for years.) In that mode, when you choose to reinstall without erasing the drive, my recollection is that Recovery looks for the current OS system installer on your startup disk in the Applications folder, and uses that. That allows you to run Disk Utility, reinstall or wipe and install the system, access Terminal for command-line functions, and so on. Normally, you can start up a Mac while holding down Command-R to boot into what Apple now calls macOS Recovery. The article includes instructions on obtaining the installer, which might involve you having to use someone’s else Mac to download it, if you don’t have a replacement Mac on hand yet.īut if you can’t get access to another Mac or the necessary drive, it’s still possible to use a different Recovery mode on all recent Macs, dating back to 2010. Making a bootable installer with macOS Sierra (as well as archived versions for several previous releases). Recovery lets you install onto an erased partition, but only if Recovery wasn’t erased, too!īecause Recovery didn’t work, the fastest way to install fresh is to make or borrow a macOS installer on a USB flash drive or a disk drive.
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