How To Clean Install Mac Os X

How to clean install macOS Big Sur

Mac users may occasionally find themselves wanting to make clean install macOS Big Sur onto a Mac. A clean installation of macOS Big Sur basically ways the unabridged hard drive – including the organization itself, all data, all apps, user accounts, literally everything – is erased, and so a fresh clean install of macOS Big Sur is installed onto the Mac. In this manner it'due south sort of like a manufactory reset or a fresh start, or what PC users sometimes refer to as reformatting, because there volition be zilch left on the Mac at all, and booting it upwardly will be similar to booting up a new Mac, with zero user information or other stuff.

A clean install is generally for advanced Mac users only, and is otherwise not recommended unless y'all're giving abroad a Mac or transferring ownership, and have fully backed up your data. Because it erases the entire hard disk drive and all information on the Mac, it volition cause consummate data loss intentionally, so without sufficient backups the

Before proceeding, be certain you have a full backup of the Mac, and any or all important information. Failure to have sufficient backups volition issue in permanent information loss.

Clean installing MacOS Big Sur 11 requires the following:

Mac uniform with macOS Large Sur so that it tin can run macOS 11.ten
MacOS Big Sur boot installer bulldoze that has already been created and ready to employ
Full Time Machine backup of all Mac data, or complete data fill-in using your method of choice
Active internet connectedness (required by macOS Big Sur for setup)
An understanding that a clean install erases all information and everything else on the Mac – nothing will remain on the computer

Bold you've met those prerequisites, and you lot understand what you lot're most to do and why you're doing it, hither's how you can clean install macOS Big Sur on compatible Intel Mac or Apple tree Silicon Mac.

How to Clean Install MacOS Big Sur (Reformat, Erase, & Factory Reset)

Warning: This erases the entire Mac, setting it upwards as if it were new once more. Do not proceed if you exercise not want to remove all data from the Mac.

Be sure you lot take made a total backup fo the Mac
Connect the MacOS Large Sur USB installer drive to a USB port on the Mac
Shutdown the Mac or reboot
Adjacent, kick into Recovery Mode, which differs depending on if information technology'due south an Intel Mac or Apple Silicon Mac:

Intel Mac: Immediately hold the Option key until the boot option menu appears on screen
Apple Silicon Mac: Immediately hold the POWER button until the kick selection screen appears

Select the "Install MacOS Big Sur" USB drive as the kicking disk
From the macOS Recovery / Utilities screen, choose "Disk Utility" from the options
In Disk Utility, select "Macintosh Hard disk drive" (or whatever the proper noun of the drive to erase and clean install Big Sur onto is), so click the "Erase" button from the toolbar
Choose "Macintosh Hard disk drive" equally the disk proper name (or choice some other if you're and so inclined), then go to "Format" and select APFS as the file organization, and cull "Erase" – WARNING: ALL Data ON THE MAC Volition BE PERMANENTLY ERASED
When Disk Utility has finished formatting the disk, quit Disk Utility
Back at the 'macOS Utilities' screen, select "Install macOS" from the options available
Select "Macintosh Hd" as the destination disk to install MacOS Big Sur onto, then choose "Install" to brainstorm the process of installing a fresh version of MacOS Large Sur

* 1: The screenshots may look slightly different from what you're seeing on screen depending on if y'all're using an Intel Mac or Apple Silicon Mac, and what version of macOS currently is on the reckoner – even so all functionality is the aforementioned

** two: You may need to allow external booting of startup disks on the Mac to be able to use the bootable USB drive, depending on the calculator security settings.

Exercise not interrupt the process of clean installing macOS Large Sur onto the Mac, information technology volition take a while, and the Mac may reboot automatically during the installation process.

When it has finished, the Mac will kicking directly into a fresh, new, make clean installation of macOS Big Sur, and the setup procedure volition be just as if the Mac was brand new and being turned on for the first time. No prior information, apps, or anything else will exist on the Mac.

Once you're booted upwards in MacOS, it'southward up to you lot whether or non you want to proceed with the setup process, transfer data back over to the Mac, set it up as brand new, or transfer ownership of the Mac to someone else.

Remember, a clean install is finer the same as reformatting and factory resetting the Mac, which makes information technology useful for non just troubleshooting merely as well for transferring ownership of a computer, if you plan on selling information technology or giving it to someone else.

If you're transferring ownership of the Mac, turning information technology off will allow the new owner to basically set information technology up as if it were new, able to either restore it from backups of their own, or starting fresh as they wish.

While a make clean install is used for various reasons, some avant-garde users perform a clean install every bit an advanced troubleshooting arroyo, particularly if they're encountering persistent issues with the system software that take not been able to be explained or resolved through typical troubleshooting methods. If you're experiencing any issues with macOS Large Sur, y'all may find it useful to cheque out this tutorial for troubleshooting macOS Large Sur issues, to better empathize why macOS Large Sur feels slow and how to speed it up, and review this guide on how to resolve wi-fi issues with macOS Big Sur if you're experiencing wireless networking bug.

Did you clean install macOS Big Sur? What was your reason? How did information technology become? Did yous use another approach to perform the clean install, like using net recovery? Allow united states know your experiences, tips, and thoughts with erasing and reinstalling macOS Large Sur in the comments.