It is highly recommended to use 'Macintosh HD' for convenience's sake. Give a name to the volume you are going to format. On the sidebar of Disk Utility, select the system volume which contains the operating system and click Erase. Select the Disk Utility option and click Continue. It is worth mentioning here again - make sure you have transferred your important files to a computer or external storage device. However, if you want a truly clean OS reinstallation and a smooth process without interruptions by potential startup disk corruptions or space shortage, formatting the Mac startup disk is necessary. If you want to reinstall a clean copy of operating system, but leave your user account and files you created intact and stay where they are, you can skip this step. Then you can proceed to format your startup drive and choose reinstall Mac operating system from macOS Recovery Mode. Click Options and then click Continue to boot in macOS Recovery.ĭuring the bootup to Recovery Mode, an admin password might be required to authenticate your identity for an OS reinstallation.Īfter you enter the functioning recovery partition, you will see the macOS Utilities windows. On an M1/M1 Max/M1 Pro Mac: Shut down your Mac completely, press the Touch ID button to turn it on and then immediately press down the Touch ID button until you see 'Loading startup options'. Release the keys until you see an Apple logo and your Mac will boot into the macOS Utilities window in recovery partition. On an Intel Mac: Shut down your Mac completely and turn it on while holding down Command + R keys simultaneously.

In the first place, you should identify your Mac model, an Intel-based Mac, or an Apple silicon Mac, as the ways vary to enter Recovery mode on different Mac models. Even though you don't intend to wipe your MacBook, securing your files is a good idea before OS reinstallation since it is a major procedure. Note: Before you start, make sure you have backed up any files you want to keep to an external drive.

How to wipe mac clean and reinstall os