Reformat

[gbf]

Thank you for reading as I hope all of you are healthy and well.

I am trying to completely reformat my MacBook Air 2019 intel machine.

I want to completely erase the hard drive and put a brand new OS (Big Sur) on it.

I am disabled so please excuse my question. I need to have the steps typed out for me exactly what I need to do and what prompts I should choose.

right now my machine is all messed up and I want to make it as if it’s brand new out of the box.

thank you for your help.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Here is the link to the Apple Support Document that states each step in easy to read type just like you posted.

Erase and reinstall macOS

Erase your Mac, then use macOS Recovery to reinstall macOS.

support.apple.com

Your computer must be connected to the internet. If you’re reinstalling on a Mac notebook computer, plug in the power adapter.

Start up your computer in macOS Recovery:

On a Mac with Apple silicon: Choose Apple menu > Shut Down, press and hold the power button until you see “Loading startup options,” select Options, click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions.

On an Intel-based Mac: Choose Apple menu > Restart, then immediately press and hold Command-R.

In the Recovery app window, select Disk Utility, then click Continue.

In Disk Utility, select the volume you want to erase in the sidebar, then click Erase in the toolbar.
Type a name for the volume in the Name field, click the Format pop-up menu and choose APFS, then click Erase Volume Group.

When the erase process is complete, click Done, then choose Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility.
In the Recovery app window, select “Reinstall macOS Big Sur,” click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions.

 

[gbf]

Here is the link to the Apple Support Document that states each step in easy to read type just like you posted.

Erase and reinstall macOS

Erase your Mac, then use macOS Recovery to reinstall macOS.

support.apple.com

Your computer must be connected to the internet. If you’re reinstalling on a Mac notebook computer, plug in the power adapter.

Start up your computer in macOS Recovery:

On a Mac with Apple silicon: Choose Apple menu > Shut Down, press and hold the power button until you see “Loading startup options,” select Options, click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions.

On an Intel-based Mac: Choose Apple menu > Restart, then immediately press and hold Command-R.

In the Recovery app window, select Disk Utility, then click Continue.

In Disk Utility, select the volume you want to erase in the sidebar, then click Erase in the toolbar.
Type a name for the volume in the Name field, click the Format pop-up menu and choose APFS, then click Erase Volume Group.

When the erase process is complete, click Done, then choose Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility.
In the Recovery app window, select “Reinstall macOS Big Sur,” click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions.

My friend thank you. I thought there was a more thorough way that didn’t involve the partition that you had to hold down 3 or 4 keys at startup.

internet recovery?

 

[ApfelKuchen]

My friend thank you. I thought there was a more thorough way that didn’t involve the partition that you had to hold down 3 or 4 keys at startup.

internet recovery?

Entering Recovery (which is what the instructions in the article linked above describes) requires pressing just two keys at startup - "Command" and "R".

Entering Internet Recovery requires pressing three keys at startup - "Option", "Command", and "R"

There's no method easier than pressing two keys.

 

[gbf]

Entering Recovery (which is what the instructions in the article linked above describes) requires pressing just two keys at startup - "Command" and "R".

Entering Internet Recovery requires pressing three keys at startup - "Option", "Command", and "R"

There's no method easier than pressing two keys.

I thought there were 3 or 4 ways. I want the most thorough and the one that doesn’t use the partion. I want to download a brand new copy of macOS.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I thought there were 3 or 4 ways. I want the most thorough and the one that doesn’t use the partion. I want to download a brand new copy of macOS.

If you had followed the steps in my earlier post, you would have had a fresh install of Big Sur.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

There are three common methods for reinstalling macOS.

1. Recovery Partition - Command-R. This accesses the recovery utilities that are already installed on the internal drive.
2. Internet Recovery - Option-Command-R. This downloads those same recovery utilities over the internet.
3. Bootable Installer - https://support.apple.com/HT201372

Booting to Recovery Partition is by far the fastest and easiest method, as it is already machine-resident. The only time I would not use Recovery Partition to do these steps is if it is not present - for example, if the user had previously erased/reformatted the entire HD, or if the machine has a new, blank HD. Once booted to Recovery Partition the recovery system will be RAM-resident. You can erase/reformat the entire HD then immediately reinstall macOS (which will install a new primary macOS installation and a new Recovery Partition).

If there's no internal Recovery partition (let's say you previously erased the HD and then restarted/shut down the machine, or you replaced the HD) then either Internet Recovery or a Bootable Installer would be used. If one does not already have a bootable installer on hand, Internet Recovery will be faster than using a bootable installer, since creating a bootable installer requires access to another, fully-functional Mac plus many steps and a fair amount of time (see the article linked above to see how much work is required).

If you already have a usable Bootable Installer then it will be faster to use than Internet Recovery. If you don't already have a Bootable Installer then it'll be faster and much easier to use Internet Recovery.