This allows you to boot the installation drive, format your Mac, and then perform a clean installation.įollow these steps to run a bootable installer for macOS High Sierra. If you have not already done so, you will need to create a bootable macOS High Sierra USB installation. 2: Make the bootable USB MacOS High Sierra installer Seriously, don’t skip making these backups. The advantage of performing a manual backup in addition to a Time Machine backup is that if you decide that a clean installation is far too much of a burden to manage, you can only restore it from a Time Machine backup. If you skip the backup, the data can no longer be restored.

You will lose everything on your computer by formatting and removing the hard drive.

file backup method.ĭo not skip data backup before going any further. In addition, you want to manually back up all your important files, application installers, photos, videos, and personal information, either by copying that information to an external hard drive or iCloud Drive or DropBox, or from the user guide. How you do this is entirely up to you, but it is up to you.īefore performing a clean installation, it’s a good idea to make two types of backups: a full system backup in Mac Time Machine or similar. Therefore, it is important that you back up your important data first. Literally every thing is removed all data, all files, all applications, all photos, all movies, and all computer items will be deleted.

Remember that performing a clean installation will remove everything from your Mac. This is usually a long process that should not be taken lightly and without proper commitment. We divide the clean installation process into five main steps: backing up your Mac and all your important data, creating a bootable installation drive for High Sierra, removing your Mac, running MacOS through the High Sierra installer on a blank drive, then restoring data, applications, and files manually. How to perform a clean installation of MacOS High Sierra Failure to adequately back up data will result in permanent data loss. A clean install is best used for advanced reasons by advanced Mac users who have the ability and patience to perform these tasks professionally. In addition, performing a clean installation can be a cumbersome and time-consuming process that involves a lot of manual steps with application installations, manual backups, and then restoring specific data, which is why most users avoid a clean installation process and simply want to upgrade and install macOS High Sierra as usual. Important Note: A clean installation requires the removal of your Mac hard drive, which means all data, files, photos, movies, applications – everything is deleted from your computer. This tutorial walks you through a clean installation of macOS High Sierra (10.13+).

High sierra clean install