
- Fresh install mac os x el capitan for free#
- Fresh install mac os x el capitan install#
- Fresh install mac os x el capitan update#
Fresh install mac os x el capitan install#
If an essential kernel extension isn’t migrated to your new system, you could find it almost impossible to install yourself. Security policy has changed substantially in recent years, and unsigned kernel extensions can’t readily be installed afresh, although they can still be grandfathered across in upgrades. One example is when you depend on old hardware such as an external RAID drive which is only supported by an old kernel extension. Sometimes, the migration itself can cause unexpected problems. Whether you migrate user accounts and apps from a copy or backup, or laboriously reinstall everything you need on your new system, there’s a chance that something important will get left out and cause problems. If you see this as a good opportunity to clean those up, and are prepared to spend the time doing so, you may find a clean install worth the extra effort. Those include your bulging Library folder which is bound to contain the remains of all sorts of apps long since removed. Where there can be benefits are in those system files, including Safari, which are stored not on the SSV, but on your writeable Data volume, and in the others there. So as far as the System volume is concerned, there’s nothing to be gained in a clean over a regular install. Every time that system is booted, its integrity is verified against Apple’s master Seal.

That is first installed on the separate System volume, every file checked for integrity, the whole volume ‘sealed’ with a cryptographic hash, and then saved as an immutable snapshot. This article asks what benefits there are to doing this with Monterey or Big Sur, and how you can do it.īig Sur and Monterey are different from all previous versions of macOS in that the great bulk of macOS is loaded and run from a Sealed System Volume (SSV). In the days when system and user files were all intermingled in the same volume, there were good arguments that the result was worth the extra effort, both in cleaning out the crud accumulated over the years, and in ensuring that we started with a perfect, mint copy of macOS.
Fresh install mac os x el capitan for free#
Scan down the list of apps you’ve purchased or download for free (which is in order of when you downloaded them) and find the old version of macOS.In the past, many of us took the opportunity when upgrading to a major new version of macOS to perform a clean install onto a freshly-formatted disk.

Fresh install mac os x el capitan update#
Make sure you’re logged into the Mac App Store with the Apple ID you used to update to Sierra (or whichever version you want to clean install), then click Purchased in the menu bar along the top.


If you’re using Sierra or earlier, we can use the same method as above, but it’s a bit harder to get the install file: Apple doesn’t offer downloads of outdated OS versions through the normal store front, and searching for ‘Sierra’ won’t find what you’re looking for. Once installation of High Sierra is complete, you can restoring apps and settings from a Time Machine backup, or download them again manually. Go back to the main menu and choose Install OS X. Select ‘Disk Utility’ and your hard drive, then click Erase. Choose to install macOS High Sierra from the drive. With the boot drive connected, start up – or restart – your Mac while holding down the
