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Wiping and Updating to Latest Version of Mac OS?
- Thread starter kat.hayes
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This should be all you need right here:
How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support
You can use macOS Recovery, your computer's built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.
Unless I misunderstood the OP, she wants to wipe the drive that has El Capitan, and install Catalina. If I have that accurate, she can’t do that using the recovery method you linked to. She can update to Catalina, which will upgrade the recovery partition to Catalina, and then wipe the drive and restore the recovery partition, which will put a fresh copy of the OS on her recently wiped drive. She can also create a USB installer for Catalina, wipe the drive, and then install from the USB installer.This should be all you need right here:
How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support
You can use macOS Recovery, your computer's built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.support.apple.com
*Provided her iMac can update to Catalina.
Yes, I want to wipe the drive and update to the latest OS available for the Mac. It is a 5K late 2014 4 GHz Intel Core i7
For clarification:
- I need to run the Mac OS update to get to Catalina
- I can then wipe the drive
- I can then reload the latest version of the OS?
Thank you
For clarification:
- I need to run the Mac OS update to get to Catalina
- I can then wipe the drive
- I can then reload the latest version of the OS?
Thank you
You are right. She doesn’t need to go the USB route. She can’t reinstall Catalina via the recovery method, if she has never installed it. Her current recovery partition is El Capitan. If she tries recovery now, it will reinstall El Captain, according to Apple.
How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support
You can use macOS Recovery, your computer's built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.
Yes, that should work.
Make sure you have everything you want saved backed up first.
Could she not install Catalina straight from recovery even if she held Option-⌘-R instead of Command-R at startup? I’ve never gone from El Cap to Catalina but I once went from El Cap to Mojave and I was able to hold Option-⌘-R at startup and subsequently erase my drive and update to Mojave.
I have everything backed up, and I am ready to do this. I remember doing this on a different Mac years ago and I made some mistake and had to reload the OS from iCloud, and there was some other complication that made it take a LONG time and I had to go through several steps (I do not remember what the issues were).
I want to do this as simply as possible, and I do not need to use the Mac for a couple of days after starting the process, so if it does take a long time that is fine.
1. What do I need to press when rebooting to get to the screen to reformat and reinstall? I think I made the wrong choice last time.
2. Do I need the iCloud account that was used to setup the Mac initially to redownload and reinstall the OSl? I want to use a new iCloud account on the Mac for my daughter; this is going to be a school computer.
Thanks!!!!!
I want to do this as simply as possible, and I do not need to use the Mac for a couple of days after starting the process, so if it does take a long time that is fine.
1. What do I need to press when rebooting to get to the screen to reformat and reinstall? I think I made the wrong choice last time.
2. Do I need the iCloud account that was used to setup the Mac initially to redownload and reinstall the OSl? I want to use a new iCloud account on the Mac for my daughter; this is going to be a school computer.
Thanks!!!!!