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Question about Reinstalling Latest MacOS again on M1 MacBook Air?

M

marcusalwayswins

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 23, 2021
539
97
Hi Guys,

I have recently purchased an used M1 MacBook Air from a friend. It is already on the latest version of MacOS Sequoia but I need to again freshly reinstall Macos Sequoia current version on it. As it seems some native apps are showing some glitches.

Hopefully a fresh MacOS install would resolve it. From the time I have got it I have made some customisation to it as in to Dock, To finder, to Menu Bar etc...when I say customisation as in my preference of how should it look, and what to keep and what not to, that way.

My question to you is once I reinstall a fresh MacOS will this customisation also be lost ?and I will have to do this exercise again? If yes, i don't memorize it, I saw several videos and came to this point. Now it is not possible again to go each and every video once again which I saw over several days. So what is the best way to overcome this situation ? Secondly will the fresh install also delete all the apps that I have already installed ?

And do I reinstall the MacOS straight away and directly on the existing OS or like in windows first I need to erase it, Format it and then install the fresh copy of MacOS? So how do you erase the OS in MacOS ?
 
System Settings -> General -> Transfer or reset -> Erase all content and Settings will do same as clean install and it does not take long to do. If you make Time Machine backup first then you can use Migration Assistant to restore your user data and settings after the reset.

That should be first thing to try before resorting to more nuclear options.
 
Reinstalling macOS properly means losing all your customizations as well all your data, so be sure to take backups properly before doing anything.

I think it may still be possible to reinstall macOS "in place", which means you wouldn't lose your data, but I am not sure as I have always done a clean reinstall. But I would definitely recommend taking a backup first, regardless of which option you go with.

I recommend using the "Erase all content and settings" functionality in macOS. It's equivalent to a clean install, but without the need for reformatting the drive first. Again, in any case take a backup first!
 
Reinstall "in place" can be done after booting in recovery mode. Without erasing your data and settings will remain in place.

Anyway, making a backup should be the first step.
 
nmt1900 said:
System Settings -> General -> Transfer or reset -> Erase all content and Settings will do same as clean install and it does not take long to do. If you make Time Machine backup first then you can use Migration Assistant to restore your user data and settings after the reset.

That should be first thing to try before resorting to more nuclear options.
Click to expand...

So you are saying I don't need to specifically do a reinstall of OS just do a Time Machine Back Up and then do a Reset and Erase all Content and settings and without the need of doing a Clean Reinstall it would automatically reinstall the latest OS is that what you are saying ?

How do I do a Time Machine Back Up ? And once I do a Time Machine Back Up my customisation would also remain the same is it ?
 
Exactly. System and user data are on separate partitions and data partition is untouched if not erased.
It is still advisable to start by making a backup.
 
nmt1900 said:
Exactly. But it is still advisable to start by making a backup.
Click to expand...

Of course I get that. So just do a back up and then do a reinstall from boot up options ? Will that also save my customisation ?

No need to reset and erase all data and settings ? is it ?
 
nmt1900 said:
Exactly. System and user data are on separate partitions and data partition is untouched if not erased.
It is still advisable to start by making a backup.
Click to expand...

Also which method will ensure ironing out of OS Glitches more ? Like some OS files which have already been not copied correctly ?Restoring through Time Machine Backup or directly reinstall OS?
 
There are essentially 3 options:

1. Erase from system settings and restore user data from backup with Migration Assistant
2. Reinstall in place from recovery without touching user data
3. Erase from recovery, reinstall the system and restore user data from backup with Migration Assistant

Option 1 helps if problem is in user partition.
Option 2 can help if problem is in base system.
Option 3 is "nuclear option" which involves recreating all partitions and can help if file system has hidden problems which cannot be discovered by Disk Utility actions.

Starting with making a backup should be first action with any of these options.
 
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nmt1900 said:
There are essentially 3 options:

1. Erase from system settings and restore user data from backup with Migration Assistant
2. Reinstall in place from recovery without touching user data
3. Erase from recovery, reinstall the system and restore user data from backup with Migration Assistant

Option 1 helps if problem is in user partition.
Option 2 can help if problem is in base system.
Option 3 is "nuclear option" which involves recreating all partitions and can help if file system has hidden problems which cannot be discovered by Disk Utility actions.

Starting with making a backup should be first action with any of these options.
Click to expand...

Ok I will tell you the issue I am facing and if you can tell me which option from these should I go for.

A lot of times when I do a reply to a mail which I have got the mail window that opens when I do reply in that the font option and the select font size options appears kind of hidden.

Second sometimes in a lot of apps including the native ones when I click twice on control for Speech to text option (I have already configured it) the options sometimes is enabled and sometimes it is not.

And so I am thinking about again reinstalling a Fresh latest version of MacOS Sequoia for this problem.So for such an issue which option should I select from the above one's that you have listed ?
 
Option 1 is most painless and takes least amount of time.

What comes to these behaviours described here I cannot tell if they might be caused by your user account/data problem or if they are manifestation of system/app bug. In latter case it might be that none of these 3 options would help (if you are already on 15.5).

You might want to start debugging by creating new user account and checking if same problems reappear on new user account or not. This should take even less time than any of 3 options mentioned before.
 
nmt1900 said:
Option 1 is most painless and takes least amount of time.

What comes to these behaviours described here I cannot tell if they might be caused by your user account/data problem or if they are manifestation of system/app bug. In latter case it might be that none of these 3 options would help (if you are already on 15.5).

You might want to start debugging by creating new user account and checking if same problems reappear on new user account or not. This should take even less time than any of 3 options mentioned before.
Click to expand...
But you just said "Option 3 is "nuclear option" which involves recreating all partitions and can help if file system has hidden problems which cannot be discovered by Disk Utility actions."

So for the issue that I have narrated don't you think option 3 matches more to the situation?
 
For me it looks more like user account/data corruption or some sort of bug manifesting itself by possibly unexpected combination of different settings/preferences.

Testing with new user account might reveal this issue better and easier than any other of described options - and it is least destructive of them as well.
Option 3 should be used only as last resort and takes more time and work than any of other options.
 
nmt1900 said:
For me it looks more like user account/data corruption or some sort of bug manifesting itself by possibly unexpected combination of different settings/preferences.

Testing with new user account might reveal this issue better and easier than any other of described options - and it is least destructive of them as well.
Option 3 should be used only as last resort and takes more time and work than any of other options.
Click to expand...
When you say new user account you mean to say i should create a new log in ID to log into my Mac ? That way?
 
nmt1900 said:
System settings -> Users & Groups -> Add user...
Click to expand...

I am talking about this kind of glitches.

IMG_20250526_192515.png
 
nmt1900 said:
There are essentially 3 options:

1. Erase from system settings and restore user data from backup with Migration Assistant
2. Reinstall in place from recovery without touching user data
3. Erase from recovery, reinstall the system and restore user data from backup with Migration Assistant

Option 1 helps if problem is in user partition.
Option 2 can help if problem is in base system.
Option 3 is "nuclear option" which involves recreating all partitions and can help if file system has hidden problems which cannot be discovered by Disk Utility actions.

Starting with making a backup should be first action with any of these options.
Click to expand...
Personally I would not describe Option 3 as the "Nuclear" option as it is still migrating back the current user data, which may contain the source of the problems. To me the 'nuclear' option would be either 1 or 3, but with no migration....reinstall all apps and data from scratch and recreate all settings with no migration.

Erase all content and settings restores the machine to factory new, out of the box condition, but does not not replace the immutable signed sealed system volume, which is checked extremely throughly every boot. The system will not boot if it fails this and you will be advised to reinstall.

Have you run First Aid from Recovery?
 
Mike Boreham said:
Personally I would not describe Option 3 as the "Nuclear" option as it is still migrating back the current user data, which may contain the source of the problems. To me the 'nuclear' option would be either 1 or 3, but with no migration....reinstall all apps and data from scratch and recreate all settings with no migration.

Erase all content and settings restores the machine to factory new, out of the box condition, but does not not replace the immutable signed sealed system volume, which is checked extremely throughly every boot. The system will not boot if it fails this and you will be advised to reinstall.

Have you run First Aid from Recovery?
Click to expand...
No I have not run First Aid from recovery. How I'll that help in this case ?

Have you gone through the screenshot of the issue I am facing ? Can First Aid from recovery help in such a scenario?
 
marcusalwayswins said:
No I have not run First Aid from recovery. How I'll that help in this case ?

Have you gone through the screenshot of the issue I am facing ? Can First Aid from recovery help in such a scenario?
Click to expand...
No not seen your issues and First Aid may not help. It is just one the standard troubleshooting steps I try, like trying a different user, and safe boot which I would normally try before any reinstalling or migration. Reinstalling over existing is also an early step.
 
Mike Boreham said:
No not seen your issues and First Aid may not help. It is just one the standard troubleshooting steps I try, like trying a different user, and safe boot which I would normally try before any reinstalling or migration. Reinstalling over existing is also an early step.
Click to expand...

I have posted above the screenshot of one of the issue I am facing.
 
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