In this step-by-step tutorial, we’ll show you how to reinstall macOS on your Mac desktop or MacBook without losing any of your files, documents, or data in the process.
There could be several reasons why you may want to reinstall macOS on your Mac. But primarily, you may want to do this if your Mac isn’t performing as expected or shows signs of slowing down.
Note: The entire process is fairly simple. However, we recommend taking a backup on an external drive using the built-in Time Machine feature. This way, you will still have all your data if anything goes wrong during the reinstall process.
Reinstall macOS on your Mac without losing data
When you reinstall macOS from Recovery, you will not lose data if you don’t erase your main drive. A reinstall will only touch the system files and settings while keeping all your data safe.
1) Restart your Mac into Recovery mode:
- On a Mac with Apple silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4, and so forth), press and hold the power button until you see Loading startup options on the screen. After that, click Options > Continue.
- On a Mac with an Intel processor, press the Command + R keys until you see the Apple logo or any other image on the screen.
We’re using an Apple silicon Mac for these steps.
2) Select a volume/disk and click Next.
3) After that, select your account, hit Next, and enter its password.
4) Finally, click the Reinstall macOS version name option as shown below and hit Continue.
5) If prompted, select the main drive on your Mac when asked where you want to reinstall macOS.
The utility will now start to reinstall macOS on your Mac and will not erase files or data on your drive. The reinstall process requires you to be connected to the internet at all times, so make sure you have a stable connection.
As mentioned in the beginning, it will only replace the system files and settings. The process can take some time, and your Mac will restart a couple of times before booting into the login screen. You can also choose to restore data from a Time Machine backup.
On a related note: