
Use macOS Recovery to reinstall macOS via the web. Make a copy of the macOS installer on a USB stick, reformat your drive and then install the macOS on to your Mac from the installer. If you are happy to take the risk and still want to wipe your Mac and reinstall macOS – which you should definitely do if you are selling or passing on your Mac – read on! Three ways to clean install macOSĪs we explained above, there is more than one way to wipe your Mac and reinstall macOS: For further security, these Macs also do not start directly from the system volume, but from a snapshot of the system–and snapshots cannot be changed, even by the system itself. This seal is stored either in the T2 chip of the newer Intel Macs or in the Secure Enclave of the Apple M1/M2.Įach component of the system is signed in hierarchical order, and any change to a component would also invalidate the seal that represents the top level. Since macOS Big Sur, macOS has its home on its own volume, which is both read-only and cryptographically signed and sealed (referred to as a Sealed System Volume). In the past, it was helpful to reinstall the system if you wanted to correct some Mac problems, but today this solution doesn’t make as much sense.
We’ll run through all of these methods below.
Plus, if you are running macOS Monterey or later on a M1 or M2 Mac, or an Intel Mac with a T2 chip, then there is a setting in System Preferences that makes wiping your Mac easier than ever.