

There are several steps to the process involving: In the simplest terms, reformatting a disk means wiping it clean of data and preparing it for use again, whereas formatting a disk just describes the first time it is prepared for use.

Whatever your reason for reformatting your Mac, we’ll show you how to do it here. A more likely scenario is that you want to reformat an external drive or USB stick, perhaps one you bought or were given and that was formatted for PC. But, occasionally, if your boot drive has become irreparably corrupt, it may be the only option. It’s a pretty drastic step that should only be contemplated in desperate circumstances. Most of us will never need to reformat our Macintosh. But to help you do it all by yourself, we’ve gathered our best ideas and solutions below.įeatures described in this article refer to the MacPaw site version of CleanMyMac X. You should back up your Mac before trying to erase or reformat it.So here’s a tip for you: Download CleanMyMac to quickly solve some of the issues mentioned in this article. Recovery Mode is a special partition on your Mac you can use to restore from a backup, reinstall macOS, get online support, or erase your startup disk. It’s not usually possible to erase the startup disk because your Mac is using it to run macOS. Why won’t my Mac let me erase the hard drive?

Delete and uninstall data and programs.How Can I Securely Delete Everything Except the Operating System? Five Steps to Get as Close as You Can How do I delete everything except operating system? If you want to restore your Mac to its factory settings, for example when you want to prepare it for a new owner, first find out what to do before you sell, give away or trade in your Mac. Erasing your Mac permanently deletes the files on it. Make a backup of any files you want to keep. What happens if you erase your Mac hard drive? Select the disk you’d like to erase by clicking on it in the sidebar.Select “Disk Utility” from the OS X Utilities list.Immediately hold down the command and R keys.How do I wipe my Mac hard drive and start over? Click “Erase.” To ensure that your data can’t be recovered, click the “Security Options” button and select a method of deletion. Select “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” from the Format pop-up menu. Can you recover an erased hard drive? How do I wipe my Mac but keep OS?Ĭlick on your hard drive and select the “Erase” tab.Will reinstalling macOS get rid of malware?.Why won’t my Mac let me erase the hard drive?.How do I delete everything except operating system?.What happens if you erase your Mac hard drive?.How do I wipe my Mac hard drive and start over?.
