How to Reinstall macOS [Ventura/Monterey/Big Sur] Using 3 Methods

If your Mac is having serious issues that regular troubleshooting can't fix, you usually need to perform a reinstall of macOS. You can choose to reinstall macOS without losing your data instead of wiping the internal storage and starting over with a fresh install of macOS. Let's go through the process.

When should you reinstall macOS

There are several reasons why you might wanna reinstall macOS. Maybe your Mac ain't running like it used to, or you wanna get rid of any glitches that could've been caused by a previous update. But before you dive in, you're probably thinking, does reinstalling macOS wipe your files? Well, as it turns out, reinstalling the Mac operating system can actually fix a bunch of issues.

First and foremost, corrupted files are the most apparent reason. An update installation can sometimes lead to damaged files. If this happens and you attempt to restore missing files after updating macOS, you might need to reinstall macOS.

The other reason is that if you plan to sell your Mac, you might also want to reinstall macOS. For privacy and security reasons, Force delete on Mac and reinstalling the operating system can prepare the device for the next user.

How to Reinstall macOS Without Losing Your Data

Due to poor Mac performance or hardware issues, you might need to upgrade or reinstall macOS. Many users worry that they will lose all their data if they reinstall the operating system. There are two solutions to this problem. Before proceeding, it's best to back up important data and files using reliable Mac data recovery software to avoid unnecessary data loss:

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Backup Your Mac and Never Lose Data

Back up and restore your MacBook/iMac without using Time Machine, iCloud, or an external hard drive.

Step 1: Use a data recovery tool to assist with reinstallation of macOS

If you made a backup of your Mac before reinstalling, you can restore your data from an external drive or another location, depending on how you backed up.

If you haven't backed up your Mac, you'll need to use a professional Mac data recovery software like tools Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to quickly recover deleted files from Mac, especially when you accidentally delete files from the Mac Trash before reinstalling.

Follow the steps below to retrieve your lost data with the tool Data Recovery for Mac if you encounter data loss after reinstalling macOS.

Step 1: Search for the missing file

Select the disk location to search for lost files on macOS Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, and the latest Sonoma. It can be your internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device. Then, click the “Start Finding Lost Files” button.

Note: It's recommended that you click “Disk Backup” from the left sidebar to create a backup of your Mac before data recovery, in case of further data loss. After the backup, the software can restore data from the Mac backup, and your computer can write new data again.

Step 2: Browse the scan results

Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan the disk volume you select and display the scanning results.

Step 3: Select the files and recover them

From the scan results, select the files you want to preview and then click the “Recover” button to get them back.

Step 2: Reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery

To reinstall macOS, start up from macOS Recovery, which is built into your Mac. Here's a video that demonstrates how to reinstall macOS on various devices.

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 01:38 - Reinstalling macOS on an Intel MacBook with a wired keyboard or any Intel Mac
• 02:51 - Reinstalling macOS on an Intel iMac, Mac mini, or Mac Pro without a wired keyboard
• 03:53 - Reinstalling macOS on an Apple silicon Mac (M1, M1 Max, M2, etc.)

This code is an HTML snippet embedding a YouTube video. The video is a tutorial titled "How to Reinstall macOS on Any Mac."

You can easily reinstall macOS or recover your current operating system using Recovery Mode on your Mac. To get into Recovery Mode, press and hold the "Command" and "R" keys simultaneously when starting up, until you hear the startup sound and see the Apple logo. Here's the breakdown: 1. Shut down your Mac. 2. Turn on your Mac and quickly press and hold the "Command" and "R" keys. Be sure to do this before the Apple logo appears. 3. Keep holding both keys until you see a globe icon or a spinning wheel, which means your Mac is entering Recovery Mode. 4. In Recovery Mode, you'll find a menu bar with options like "Reinstall macOS" and "Disk Utility." Use these to reinstall the OS or do other recovery tasks. 5. Select "Reinstall macOS" (or "Update macOS," depending on your version) and follow the on-screen prompts. This will download and install the latest macOS version. 6. Once the installation is done, your Mac will restart automatically. At this point, you can let go of the "Command" and "R" keys. Remember, you need an internet connection for Recovery Mode to work for reinstallation or updates. If your Mac doesn't support Internet Recovery, it'll try to restore from the built-in OS X recovery partition instead.

Step 1: Restart your Mac device.

Step 2: Hold down the Command and R keys as your Mac restarts. Release them once you see the Apple logo on the screen.

Step 3: In the Utilities window, choose Reinstall macOS.

Step 4: Click “Continue” and follow the on-screen instructions.

Step 5: After clicking "Agree," select your hard drive in the next window.

Step 6: Click “Install” to begin the reinstallation of macOS.

How to Reinstall macOS from a USB Drive

However, we may need to reinstall macOS for hardware or software troubleshooting or to install the same macOS on multiple devices. In that case, you can install macOS from USB. This might be the best option if you've already downloaded the installer and don't want to wait for hours to download the recovery file again.

Step 1: Format the External Hard Drive

1. Go to "Applications" – "Utilities."

2. Choose “Disk Utility,” then select your hard drive.

3. Click Erase (you'll need to rename the USB drive so that we can boot from it using a Terminal command).

Step 2: Download the macOS installer

1. Open "System Preferences."

2. Choose Software Update.

3. Download the macOS installer file.

Step 3: Create a bootable USB drive

1. In the Finder, open the Utilities folder, then double-click Terminal.

2. Type the following text in your terminal:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/YOURUSBDRIVE (replace YOURUSBDRIVE with the name of the bootable USB drive you're using)

3. Press the "Enter" key.

4. Type your administrator password.

When it's done, Terminal will have erased the USB drive's contents and converted it into a bootable installer that you can use to reinstall macOS.

Step 4: Boot your Mac from the USB drive

Now you should see your USB drive listed as an option to boot from. Select it, and your Mac will start up into macOS Recovery from the USB drive, showing the installer app onscreen.

How to Reinstall an Older Version of macOS

If a newer version of macOS is causing your Mac to run slowly, you can learn how to get an older version of macOS to reinstall it. Macs usually come with the version of macOS that was on the device when you bought it, or a later version.

Step 1: Make sure that the version of macOS or Mac OS X that you want to install is compatible with your Mac.

Step 2: Download the installer for the version of Mac OS X or macOS that you want to install.

Step 3: Once you've downloaded the installer, double-click it to begin installing or downgrading your Mac.

Note that before installing an older version of macOS, you can erase your data.

Conclusions

To reinstall macOS, you can choose to do so without losing any data. You can also erase the internal storage and start over with a fresh installation of macOS. Whatever your choice is, you might want to take care of backing up your data or timely recovering data to keep it safe. Tools like Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can be of great help.

Frequently Asked Questions about Reinstalling macOS

Here are four questions you might find interesting. Click here to see the answers.

1. How do I reinstall my Mac operating system?

Before Monterey, you would have to create a bootable USB drive or use Recovery Mode to wipe the disk entirely. With Monterey, Apple has made it very easy to get a fresh install. You can restore your Mac to its default settings right from the System Preferences in Monterey.

2. How do I reinstall macOS from a USB drive?

Step 1: Choose the USB drive to reinstall macOS. Step 2: Format the USB drive. Step 3: Download the macOS installer onto the drive. Step 4: Restart your computer and boot into Recovery Mode to reinstall macOS.

How long does it take to reinstall macOS?

An in-place upgrade takes less time than wiping a computer clean and starting over. It might take as little as 45 minutes.

4. How can I reinstall macOS without an Internet connection?

You can use a USB thumb drive to create a bootable installer for macOS, even without an internet connection.