{"id":9551,"date":"2017-11-12T09:24:04","date_gmt":"2017-11-12T09:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/?p=9551"},"modified":"2021-06-03T12:33:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T12:33:20","slug":"reinstall-mac-os-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Reinstall Mac OS X"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is your Mac acting up? Then it might be the right time to reinstall Mac OS X and start from scratch. Yes, you will have to spend some time installing your favorite applications and configuring everything to your liking, but you\u2019ll be rewarded for your effort with a stable, fast, and, above all, fresh computer that doesn\u2019t feel like a punishment to use. Best of all, it\u2019s actually very easy to Mac reinstall operating system, and we\u2019ll show you how to do it in this article.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Before You Reinstall Mac OS X<\/span><\/h2>\n

We understand that you\u2019re anxious to reinstall your Mac and see it perform as if it were brand-new, but there are some things we need to go through first to ensure a smooth reinstall, the chief among which is the creation of a proper backup.<\/p>\n

\"Reinstall<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re convinced that there are no important files on your Mac computer, we highly encourage you to create a backup anyway. There\u2019s nothing worse than wiping all data from the disk only to remember after a few days or weeks that you\u2019ve deleted an important note with a password reminder to your Bitcoin wallet or a video of your newborn child.<\/p>\n

As a Mac user, you can use one excellent backup tool that\u2019s already present on your computer: Time Machine<\/a>. This backup software application was introduced in Mac OS X Leopard, and it creates incremental backups of files that can be restored at a later date, allowing users to restore the whole system or specific files from the Recovery HD or the Install DVD.<\/p>\n

\r\n<\/i>\r\nDownload Disk Drill data recovery app\r\nDownload now<\/a>\r\n
<\/div>\r\n<\/div>

\n

Various cloud-based file storage solutions, such as iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox, can be used as versatile alternatives to traditional backup tools. Even after a complete system wipe, your files will still be available online, and you can easily synchronize them with your computer, or any other device you own.<\/p>\n

Last but not least, there are also partition and disk imaging tools like Clonezilla<\/a>, which make it possible to create a backup copy of the entire system drive. You can later use your backup copy to restore your computer to its original configuration, all your data, applications, and settings included.<\/p>\n

<\/span>How to Reinstall Mac OS X<\/span><\/h2>\n

Once you\u2019re confident that there are no important data left to back up on your Mac, you\u2019re ready to begin the reinstall process:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Turn off your Mac.<\/li>\n
  2. Immediately after pressing the power button to turn on your Mac, hold down Command-R to install the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac, without upgrading to a later version.<\/li>\n
  3. Alternatively, you can hold down Option-Command-R to upgrade to the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac, or you can hold down Shift-Option-Command-R to install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the version closest to it that is still available.<\/li>\n
  4. Once you see the Apple logo, release the keys.<\/li>\n
  5. You should see a window titled \u201cmacOS Utilities\u201d. Select the \u201cReinstall macOS\u201d option and click Continue.<\/li>\n
  6. Follow the onscreen instructions. You might be prompted to enter your Apple ID to verify eligibility to install macOS.<\/li>\n
  7. Your Mac computer will automatically restart after installation is complete.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The above-described Mac installation method reinstalls the version of your operating system that is running on the computer. If you would like to perform a clean installation, which involves erasing your hard drive, follow the instructions below:<\/p>\n

    \"Mac<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. From the \u201cmacOS Utilities\u201d window, select the \u201cDisk Utility\u201d option and click Continue.<\/li>\n
    2. In the sidebar, select your device and click the Erase button.<\/li>\n
    3. Complete the required fields (Name, Format, Scheme) and click Erase again.<\/li>\n
    4. Disk Utility will automatically return to the \u201cmacOS Utilities\u201d window once complete.<\/li>\n
    5. Reinstall macOS by following the steps above.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Alternatively, you can use Disk Drill’s amazingly simple feature that creates a bootable macOS installation drive<\/a>. It takes just a few minutes to get the emergency drive for that day when your Mac may accidentally refuse to boot up.<\/p>\n

      \r\n<\/i>\r\nDownload Disk Drill data recovery app\r\nDownload now<\/a>\r\n
      <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

      \n

      <\/span>How to Update Mac<\/span><\/h2>\n

      If you\u2019re wondering how to update my Mac, this section is for you. Just like when reinstalling a Mac computer and starting from scratch, you should start by backing up your data. While Mac OS X updates usually go without any hiccups, you never know when you stumble upon some rare bug that hasn\u2019t been fixed, or even discovered, yet.<\/p>\n

      \"How<\/p>\n

      Next, visit Apple\u2019s update page<\/a> and verify that your Mac computer is compatible with the latest version of macOS. You should also check that you have enough free storage space. If you don\u2019t, consider deleting old files or removing unused applications.<\/p>\n

      To update Mac OS to the latest version, which is macOS High Sierra, go to its Mac App Store page and click Download. A file named Install macOS High Sierra will be downloaded to your Applications folder and open automatically after the download is complete. Then, follow the onscreen instructions to complete the update process.<\/p>\n

      <\/span>How to Update Mac Applications<\/span><\/h2>\n

      From time to time, use the App Store to check whether you\u2019re using the latest version of your apps as well as the Mac operating system itself. To do that, simply open the App Store app on your Mac and go to the Updates tab in the App Store toolbar. You can update apps individually, or you can install all available updates at once. If you know that a newer version of an app is available, but you don\u2019t see the expected update in the App Store, restart your computer and return to the Updates tab later. It can sometimes take a while for updates to reach all Mac users, and some updates, such as updates for Safari, don\u2019t appear in the Updates tab at all because they are part of macOS system updates.<\/p>\n

      \"Update<\/p>\n

      By keeping your Mac updated, you avoid exposing yourself to serious security threats, and your overall computing experience is guaranteed to be vastly improved. Don\u2019t be afraid to reinstall your Mac by yourself because there\u2019s really nothing that can go catastrophically wrong if you have backed up all important data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Is your Mac acting up? Then it might be the right time to reinstall Mac OS X and start from scratch. Yes, you will have to spend some time installing your favorite applications and configuring everything to your liking, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tutorials"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to reinstall & update Mac OS X<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to reinstall & update Mac OS X\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is your Mac acting up? Then it might be the right time to reinstall Mac OS X and start from scratch. Yes, you will have to spend some time installing your favorite applications and configuring everything to your liking, but […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mac Data Recovery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-12T09:24:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-03T12:33:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CleverFiles Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Cleverfiles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Cleverfiles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CleverFiles Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html\",\"name\":\"How to reinstall & update Mac OS X\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-12T09:24:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-03T12:33:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/#\/schema\/person\/3a87553dc95c810c60a9592a062d4c40\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/\",\"name\":\"Mac Data Recovery\",\"description\":\"Disk Drill, advanced data recovery app for macOS and Windows\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/#\/schema\/person\/3a87553dc95c810c60a9592a062d4c40\",\"name\":\"CleverFiles Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e7ffe17fc516de4f17d555861c5abc9d6c4bb9491c6672e08b1dbca4c63b878?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e7ffe17fc516de4f17d555861c5abc9d6c4bb9491c6672e08b1dbca4c63b878?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CleverFiles Team\"},\"url\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to reinstall & update Mac OS X","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to reinstall & update Mac OS X","og_description":"Is your Mac acting up? Then it might be the right time to reinstall Mac OS X and start from scratch. Yes, you will have to spend some time installing your favorite applications and configuring everything to your liking, but […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html","og_site_name":"Mac Data Recovery","article_published_time":"2017-11-12T09:24:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-03T12:33:20+00:00","author":"CleverFiles Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Cleverfiles","twitter_site":"@Cleverfiles","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CleverFiles Team","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html","url":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html","name":"How to reinstall & update Mac OS X","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-11-12T09:24:04+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-03T12:33:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/#\/schema\/person\/3a87553dc95c810c60a9592a062d4c40"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/reinstall-update-mac.html"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/","name":"Mac Data Recovery","description":"Disk Drill, advanced data recovery app for macOS and Windows","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/#\/schema\/person\/3a87553dc95c810c60a9592a062d4c40","name":"CleverFiles Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e7ffe17fc516de4f17d555861c5abc9d6c4bb9491c6672e08b1dbca4c63b878?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e7ffe17fc516de4f17d555861c5abc9d6c4bb9491c6672e08b1dbca4c63b878?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CleverFiles Team"},"url":""}]}},"modified_by":"uralenf","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9551"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12071,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9551\/revisions\/12071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}