These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.
- How To Make A Recovery Disk For Mac Yosemite Drive
- Make A Recovery Disk Windows 7
- Make A Recovery Disk For Xp
- How To Create A Recovery Disk For Mac Os X Yosemite
- How To Make A Recovery Disk For Mac Yosemite 2017
Sep 11, 2015 If you prefer to make a bootable dvd, you can do it this way: After downloading the full Yosemite installer app from the Mac App Store, run these 14 commands in Terminal to create a Yosemite.iso file and then burn it to a dual layer DVD with Disk Utility. Jan 22, 2016 make a note of the disk indetifier example: disk0s5 then type in terminal diskutil mount /dev/diskXsX replace the 'X' with the numbers that correspond to the the recovery hd once this is done you can delete the recovery hd in the same way you did for yosemite and mavericks using disk utility. But to install or reinstall a recent version of OS X, you must either download a non-bootable installer from the Mac App Store or (via OS X’s invisible, bootable recovery partition) download 6GB. May 08, 2015 Sadly, the script is not compatible with Apple's latest OS Yosemite, and the introduction of Fusion Drives and Core Storage further complicate matters, making restoring the recovery partition a.
Download macOS
Find the appropriate download link in the upgrade instructions for each macOS version:
macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, ormacOS High Sierra
Installers for each of these macOS versions download directly to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS Catalina, Install macOS Mojave, or Install macOS High Sierra. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. Important: To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.
Installers for each of these macOS versions download directly to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS Catalina, Install macOS Mojave, or Install macOS High Sierra. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. Important: To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.
OS X El Capitan
El Capitan downloads as a disk image. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.
El Capitan downloads as a disk image. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.
Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal
- Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer. Make sure that it has at least 12GB of available storage and is formatted as Mac OS Extended.
- Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
- Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is still in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace
MyVolume
in these commands with the name of your volume.
Catalina:*
Mojave:*
High Sierra:*
El Capitan: - Press Return after typing the command.
- When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
- When prompted, type
Y
to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the bootable installer is created. - When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Catalina. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.
* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the
--applicationpath
argument, similar to the way this argument is used in the command for El Capitan.Use the bootable installer
After creating the bootable installer, follow these steps to use it:
- Plug the bootable installer into a compatible Mac.
- Use Startup Manager or Startup Disk preferences to select the bootable installer as the startup disk, then start up from it. Your Mac will start up to macOS Recovery.
Learn about selecting a startup disk, including what to do if your Mac doesn't start up from it. - Choose your language, if prompted.
- A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the Internet, but it does require the Internet to get information specific to your Mac model, such as firmware updates. If you need to connect to a Wi-Fi network, use the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar.
- Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.
Learn more
For more information about the
createinstallmedia
command and the arguments that you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter this path in Terminal:Catalina:
Mojave:
High Sierra:
El Capitan:
If you've encountered a problem with macOS, the solution might be to reinstall the system on your Mac. This can be done by any Mac owner, but it can be a little bit complicated. You'll need to put your Mac into macOS Recovery, which gives you tools to diagnose problems on your Mac, as well as reinstall the operating system.
Here's how to reinstall macOS using Recovery mode.
Entering macOS Recovery
macOS Recovery has tools at its disposal that allow you to diagnose problems with your Mac's hard drive, reinstall macOS, and restore from a Time Machine backup. You can enter Recovery by pressing certain key combinations. The combination you choose will determine which version of macOS will be installed on your system when you select Reinstall macOS.
- Press Command - R to install the latest version of macOS that was installed on your Mac without installing a later version.
- Press Options - Command - R to upgrade to the latest version of macOS that's compatible with your Mac.
- Press Shift - Option - Command - R to install the version of macOS that came with your Mac, or the version closest to it that's still available.
How to check your startup disk with Disk Utility in macOS Recovery mode
The first thing you'll want to do is make sure your Mac's startup disk is healthy. You'll need to use Disk Utility to do that.
- Click Disk Utility when in macOS Recovery.
- Click Continue.
- Click on your Mac's startup drive in the Disk Utility sidebar. It should be the drive at the top of the sidebar if there are multiple drives.
- Click First Aid.
- Click Run. First Aid will run, checking the health of your Mac's drive. This process could take a little while.
- Click Done.
- Click Disk Utility in the Menu bar.
- Click Quit Disk Utility.
How to erase your startup disk in macOS Recovery mode
If you need to start completely fresh, then you'll want to erase your startup disk using Disk Utility. If you want the content on your Mac to stay intact, skip to the next section.
- Click on your startup disk in the Disk Utility sidebar.
- Click Erase.
- Click the Format drop-down menu.
- Click on the format you want to use for your drive. If you're running macOS High Sierra or later on a Mac with an SSD, your choices will be some form of APFS.
- Click Erase. Your drive will proceed to be erased.
How to reinstall macOS while in Recovery mode
The next step is to reinstall macOS.
- Click Reinstall macOS.
- Click Continue.
- Click Continue.
- Click Agree.
- Click Agree.
- Click on the drive on which you wish to install macOS.
- Enter your Apple ID and password if you're asked to, though you might not be.
- Click Install.
Your Mac will now go through the normal macOS installation process, eventually restarting. If you're starting from scratch, you'll need to set up your Mac from scratch.
Questions?
If you have any more questions about reinstalling macOS on your Mac, let us know in the comments.
Updated December 2019: Everything is up to date through macOS Catalina.
macOS Catalina
How To Make A Recovery Disk For Mac Yosemite Drive
Main
Make A Recovery Disk Windows 7
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
Make A Recovery Disk For Xp
Up and upHow To Create A Recovery Disk For Mac Os X Yosemite
Analyst says iPhone 12 will cost more even without charger and headphones
How To Make A Recovery Disk For Mac Yosemite 2017
Jeff Pu, an analyst at Chinese research firm GF Securities, predicts that Apple will raise the price of the iPhone 12 by at least $50.