How to Erase Disk for Your Mac?

• Aug 06, 2020
• By Celia Swift

In this post, you will get how to erase disk for mac. Depending on whether you want to erase the Boot disk or some other disks to continue the operation. A boot disk is the disk (volume) that the Mac uses when it boots. By default, it is the Mac’s built-in disk and is called “Macintosh HD.” If you want to sell, give away, or discount a Mac, you should erase the boot disk.

How to Erase the Boot Disk on a Mac?

Step 1: Turn on your Mac and simultaneously press and hold the Command + R key. When you see an Apple logo and sinning globe, release the two keys.

Step 2: You will be prompted that you should enter the administrator password to continue the operation. And when the Startup is complete, you will see the macOS Utilities window.

Step 3: In the macOS Utilities window, choose the Disk Utility option and click Continue.

Step 4: In the Disk Utility menu bar, click View > click Show All Devices. You then will see all your disks and all containers and volumes within them on the sidebar. The boot disk is the so-called Macintosh HD unless you ever renamed your disks.

Step 5: Find a volume with the same name “Data”, such as “Macintosh HD-Data.” If you have such a volume, please select it. Then, select edit from the menu bar > select “delete APFS volume.” Or click the Delete Volume button (-) in the Disk Tools toolbar.

Step 6: When prompted for confirmation, click the Delete button.

Please note: Do not click “Delete Volume Group”. Do the same operation to remove any other volume that might exist on the boot disk, except for the volume named “Macintosh HD.”

Step 7: After deleting all data volumes, select “Macintosh HD” in the sidebar.

Step 8: Click the “Erase” button or the TAB and fill in the following:

Name: Enter the name you want the volume to use when it is erased, such as “Macintosh HD”

Format: Select “APFS” or “Mac OS Extensions (journaling)” as the format for the Mac volume. By default, Disk Utilities displays the recommended Mac format.

Step 9: Click Erase to begin wiping the disk. You may be prompted for an Apple ID.

When you are done, exit Disk Tools to go back to the macOS Utilities window.

f you want your Mac to be able to boot from this volume again, select Reinstall macOS from the Utilities window, and then follow the on-screen instructions to reinstall macOS on the volume. If you do not reinstall the macOS, the Mac may boot with a flashing question mark (?). .

Discover more other Mac tricks here:

• How to Print a Screenshot on a Mac, Capture MacBook’s Screen?
• Automator for macOS – How to Batch Rename Photos With Mac Automator
• How to Use Target Disk Mode to Transfer and Move Files Between Two Mac Computers?
• How to Fix “The App” Will Damage Your Computer, You Should Eject the Disk Image?