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How totally wipe/reinstall macOS 12?

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5425642

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Jan 19, 2019
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How can I totally reinstall macOS 12 in a safe way?

I want to totally reinstall everything. Is it even possible?
As I understand it the;

Erase All Content and Settings on Mac​

Only removes user stuff.

When I’m entering recovery mode I have the reinstall macOS option but when I’m doing that the user stuff are not removed.

So, should I first use the erase all content and settings and then after that restart it in to recovery menu and choose reinstall macOS?
 
The new Erase All Content and Settings feature is the same as a factory reset, like what has been offered on iPhones for years now. As long as your Mac supports it (believe it needs a T2 chip with Intel, or any Apple Silicon model) that is the route to go for a clean instance.
 
5425642 said:

Erase All Content and Settings on Mac​

Only removes user stuff.
Click to expand...
That's true. It leaves the operating system. But considering that new machines come from the factory with the operating system pre-installed, Erase All Content and Settings just restores the machine to its factory state. With Monterey, it is not possible for the machine to boot if the system files to be corrupt. As long as the machine boots, you can be sure that the System is a perfect bit-for-bit copy of a pristine installation. There is no reason to try to reinstall the operating system if the system boots.
 
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5425642 said:
How can I totally reinstall macOS 12 in a safe way?

I want to totally reinstall everything. Is it even possible?
As I understand it the;

Erase All Content and Settings on Mac​

Only removes user stuff.

When I’m entering recovery mode I have the reinstall macOS option but when I’m doing that the user stuff are not removed.

So, should I first use the erase all content and settings and then after that restart it in to recovery menu and choose reinstall macOS?
Click to expand...
you can find this useful, credits to @TriBruin. I have succesfully (very fast) clean installed my mb air and my mm with this method.

forums.macrumors.com

Reset or Erase Mac data volume only

I have read that M1 Macs erase and reset the data only volume and upon reboot the system Boots to the set up screen. How is this done? It said the reset takes only 2 minutes as you are not reinstalling th OS
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
Last edited:
Wolf1701 said:
you can find this useful, credits to @TriBruin. I have succesfully (very fast) clean installed my mb air and my mm with this method.

forums.macrumors.com

Reset or Erase Mac data volume only

I have read that M1 Macs erase and reset the data only volume and upon reboot the system Boots to the set up screen. How is this done? It said the reset takes only 2 minutes as you are not reinstalling th OS
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
Click to expand...
With what methods? It’s multiple in that thread
 
If you really want to start from scratch, you'll connect your machine to a second Mac running Configurator 2 and restore it. But, as we've said, if the machine boots then the system is ok and restore is not needed.

Revive or restore a Mac with Apple silicon using Apple Configurator 2

In rare circumstances, Apple computers become unresponsive and the chip’s firmware must be revived or restored.
support.apple.com
 
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Wolf1701 said:
you can find this useful, credits to @TriBruin. I have succesfully (very fast) clean installed my mb air and my mm with this method.

forums.macrumors.com

Reset or Erase Mac data volume only

I have read that M1 Macs erase and reset the data only volume and upon reboot the system Boots to the set up screen. How is this done? It said the reset takes only 2 minutes as you are not reinstalling th OS
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
Click to expand...
Wow surprised that article is still out of date not mentioning the 14" and 16" MBPs
 
In previous macOS releases, I can boot in recovery mode, erase the disk, shut down the computer, and then start the computer again but this time in internet recovery mode. This allows me to download a fresh copy of macOS and install it. When starting into recovery mode, use the correct key combination to make sure it downloads the macOS version you want, i.e., the version that comes with the Mac originally or the latest version of macOS. See an explanation here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904
 
coldwaves said:
In previous macOS releases, I can boot in recovery mode, erase the disk, shut down the computer, and then start the computer again but this time in internet recovery mode. This allows me to download a fresh copy of macOS and install it. When starting into recovery mode, use the correct key combination to make sure it downloads the macOS version you want, i.e., the version that comes with the Mac originally or the latest version of macOS. See an explanation here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904
Click to expand...
There is no Internet Recovery for M1 Macs, as confirmed in your link. Those options are for Intel Macs only. But normal cmd+R will down the macOS version equivalent to the version on the Recovery Volume.
 
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Prepare for a macOS bootable drive first. Then boot Mac into Recovery mode and open Disk Utility app. Erase the whole drive and reinstall macOS Monterey from USB drive.

Make sure you have backed up your Mac before diving into the steps.
 
Joeronzk said:
Prepare for a macOS bootable drive first. Then boot Mac into Recovery mode and open Disk Utility app. Erase the whole drive and reinstall macOS Monterey from USB drive.
Click to expand...
Be careful about erasing the whole drive. Apple instructions are to erase the Volume Group (System and Data volumes) which will leave the hidden Recovery volume.

If you erase the hidden Recovery volume (which may be want you want to do) then you will need Apple Configurator 2 to reinstall.

(Note I am not clear whether it is actually possible to erase the hidden Recovery with Disk Utility, but this may have been what caused the "bricking" of early M1 Users who did erase and reinstall, and were forced to use AC2.)
 
Mike Boreham said:
Be careful about erasing the whole drive. Apple instructions are to erase the Volume Group (System and Data volumes) which will leave the hidden Recovery volume.

If you erase the hidden Recovery volume (which may be want you want to do) then you will need Apple Configurator 2 to reinstall.

(Note I am not clear whether it is actually possible to erase the hidden Recovery with Disk Utility, but this may have been what caused the "bricking" of early M1 Users who did erase and reinstall, and were forced to use AC2.)
Click to expand...
I've seen people on YouTube clean installing the whole disk on the new M1 IMac and it's also fine now. Apple prob added things to make sure it doesn't brick the system anymore.

I did a clean install on my MBP 16inch 2021. I just went to recovery, disk utility to erase volume group just to be safe, then shut it down, boot to my bootable Monterey, and install. Done
 
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I guess there’s no “archive and install” option anymore huh? My installation went wrong and I was hoping not to have to do a full backup.
 
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