I recently had to reset my old 2015 MacBook Pro. He was showing his age and was really slow at doing anything. So I thought of giving it a fresh start by clearing all old data and doing a fresh install of macOS Big Sur. In doing so, I thought of cataloging my experiences to share with our readers. In this article, I will show you how you can factory reset Mac to erase all data and do a fresh install of macOS. I will also share my experiences and tell you how difficult or easy the process was. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Reset Mac and Do a Fresh Install of macOS
The article consists of three parts. In the first part, I will share the Mac reset steps. In the second part, I will show you how you can install the macOS operating system using a bootable device. And finally, I will share my thoughts. By clicking the links below, you can jump to the section you are most interested in.
- Erase and factory reset your Mac
- Do a fresh install of macOS using a bootable drive
- My experience going through the process
How to Wipe and Factory Reset Your Mac
If your Mac is showing its age or having problems and you’ve tried all the troubleshooting methods, the final step is to reset it to its original state. This is also useful when selling your Mac to someone because it ensures that no personal data is left on the device.
This also means that you should create a backup of your data before continuing with this tutorial as you will lose all your data. And you cannot recover deleted data. Let’s start by eliminating this warning:
1. The first step is to boot your Mac in Recovery Mode. To do this, shut down your Mac and then restart it while holding down the CMD+R keys. Release the keys when the Apple logo appears on the screen.
2. You are now in recovery mode. Here, click on Disk Utility option.
3. If you are using macOS Catalina, it will show two partitions: Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD – Data. This is because macOS Catalina runs separately on a read-only system, so you cannot make changes to the system (learn more here).
4. Select the second volume (Macintosh HD – Data) and click the (-) button and choose “Delete”.
5. Now, select the “Macintosh – HD” volume, click Erase. Enter what you want to name your hard drive here and then confirm by clicking “Delete”.
6. Finally, return to the main “macOS Utilities” folder and click Reinstall macOS. Note that you must be connected to WiFi as it will download a new version of macOS Catalina.
7. After the download is complete, macOS will install the new version of the operating system and you can continue with the installation.
Install macOS Using a USB Bootable Drive
Using a USB Bootable Drive to reinstall macOS is very convenient as you don’t have to download the entire macOS operating system again. I needed to use this method as the WiFi card on my Mac wasn’t working so I’m using an external WiFi dongle (Tp-link T2U Nano). And since it wouldn’t work without its drivers, my WiFi was not working during the installation process.
Anyway, if you suffer from the same issue but just want to use a bootable drive to make the process faster, here is how you can create a macOS bootable drive and use it to perform a fresh macOS OS install.
1. The first step is to download the macOS operating system, which we will use to create a bootable drive. To do this or Go to the Apple Beta website To download the public beta version of the operating system or search for the stable version of macOS in the App Store (here Link to macOS Catalina).
2. After the operating system is downloaded, connect the USB drive you want to use (must be at least 16GB).
3. Now. Launch Terminal using Spotlight.
4. Type the following command for macOS Catalina in Terminal. For other versions of the operating system, get the commands here.
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
Remember to replace “MyVolume” with the name of your USB drive.
5. Now hit enter and it will ask for your password. Note that you will not see the password typed. Don’t worry, type the password and hit enter/return again.
6. It will ask for final confirmation. Medicine y and press enter.
7. Now, your Mac will create the bootable drive. You will see the progress in the Terminal app. Once complete, remove the drive.
8. Using the driver to reinstall macOS is simple. Just shut down your Mac and plug in the drive. Now start your Mac while holding the option key and it will show you the option to reinstall the operating system. Select the installation file and press enter.
My Experience Going Through the Process
Apple has made the process seamless. It may seem a little difficult at first, but if you follow the steps correctly, you will not encounter any problems. The biggest problem with my computer was that I used an external WiFi adapter. So I had to create a bootable drive first and then wipe the Mac. You can go through the first tutorial and do both factory reset and fresh install of macOS operating system.
One non-Apple issue I ran into was that I tried to install macOS Big Sur Beta first. After going through the installation process, I realized that the WiFi adapter drivers are not compatible with the new operating system. Fortunately, I had a second Mac that allowed me to create a bootable macOS Catalina drive and relived the whole process.
The wisdom here is if you rely on third-party drivers for your Mac to function normally. Do not look at the beta version of the operating system that has not yet been released.
Overall, I had a very positive experience. If you use the first method, you only need to work for the first two minutes. All the time is to download and install the operating system. So, you can set it up and leave it. And when you come back, it will be up and running.
Factory Reset Mac and Reinstall macOS Catalina
I hope the tutorial helped you with your Mac reset problems. The steps are easy to follow and I think anyone can do it without a problem. However, if you run into any issues, comment below and we’ll help you out.
