Reinstall Macos Catalina Without Losing Data

  

Step 4: Reinstall Mac OS X without Losing Data. When you get the macOS utility window on the screen, you can just click on the 'Reinstall macOS' option to proceed. Afterward, you simply need to follow this basic drill to reinstall macOS on your system. A confirmation message will appear, informing you about the reinstallation details. The other option is using the bootable installer to reinstall Catalina. Go to the Apple App Store and download Catalina. Follow this procedure to install Catalina using the bootable Catalina. Before you downgrade your MacOS, it is imperative to ensure that you backup the essential files like documents and personal data. Yes, you can reinstall macOS on your MacBook Pro or Air without losing any data if you have properly followed the reset procedure. With the help of the Disk Utility, you can erase the data and volume to proceed with the reinstallation of your macOS. Read the next section to know the steps which need to be done to reset MacBook without losing.

A new macOS update will require that you reinstall macOS and sometimes you may lose data in the process. So, how can I reinstall macOS without erasing data? This is the focus of this article. However, before going into the details, you must understand that there are other reasons why you may need to reinstall macOS other than the release of a new update. Some of the other reasons why you may require macOS reinstallation include a system crash or slow performance of your Mac. Whether you want to reinstall the latest Mojave or Catalina, the fear of losing data is real. However, you don’t have to worry about this. In this post, we will share steps that you can follow to install new macOS without losing data.

Prep Work: What to do before Reinstalling macOS

Before you reinstall macOS on your system, you must have everything in place. You must ensure that nothing will stop the reinstallation halfway as this can disrupt the optimal performance of your system. The tips highlighted below will help you prepare for a smooth reinstallation process.

  • Make sure you have a minimum of 8.8GB storage space and 2GB memory on your system.
  • Ensure that your computer’s battery life is at a minimum of 45% before you launch the installation process.
  • Make sure that your Mac is connected to a reliable WiFi connection.
  • Check to see that your Mac Apps have been updated to the latest versions.
  • Ensure that your data are backed up and you can also generate backups for your current Mac data on Time Machine.

Reinstall Macos Catalina Without Losing Data Memory

It is recommended that you back up your data on an external hard drive to avoid unexpected problems or system update failure. When you are sure that your data has been backed up, you can start the reinstallation process. When you want to reinstall macOS without losing files, the best option is to go through macOS recovery mode. This will make it possible to reinstall the macOS, erase or repair disks, restore files from Time Machine, and much more.

How to reinstall macOS

You can easily reinstall macOS without losing any data irrespective of the reason why you want to launch the process in the first place. The steps below will guide you through the process in detail.

Step 1: Launch your Mac using the macOS Recovery mode. To do this, turn on your system and simultaneously press and hold the ‘Command + R’, ‘Option + Command + R’, or Shift + Option + Command + R. When the Apple logo or a spinning globe or a popup for the firmware password comes up, release the keys.

Step 2: A list of Utilities Window will come up and you have to select the ‘Reinstall macOS’ option and then click on the ‘Continue’ button.

Step 3: Follow the prompting on the screen to select the specific hard drive that you want to install the Operating System. The next step is to launch the installation process.

Step 4: Do not close the lid of the Mac or put it to sleep while the installation is ongoing. You may notice that your Mac is restarting over and over again. Do not worry about this because it is normal. You may also see the screen go while during the installation. Do not panic. All you have to do is to wait for the completion of the process.

When the process is finished, your Mac system will restart, and that completes the installation process. If you lose data while reinstalling macOS, you can easily restore the lost file using professional data recovery software.

How to Recover Lost Data after Reinstallation of macOS

If you notice that you have lost data while reinstalling macOS, it is recommended that you recover the data as soon as you can. We recommend that you use iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac because it is the best software you can trust to recover all lost files seamlessly.

The iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac is a professional data recovery software that enables you to recover lost/deleted files from your system’s hard disk and other storage devices. Irrespective of the size or nature of the data loss, you can trust it to recover all lost or deleted files from Mac desktops and other storage devices. It works 100% to quickly recover and restore data, including documents, photos, music, videos, and other files.

Your Effective Data Recovery Software for macOS

  • Recovers permanently deleted folders and files from emptied trash.
  • Recover and restores data from formatted hard drive, USB drive, SD cards, and other external storage devices.
  • Completely compatible with APFS drive in the latest macOS.
  • Retrieves lost data on Mac caused by deleted, inaccessible, hidden, damaged, repartitioned disk, or volume loss.
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Guide to Recover Lost Data Caused by macOS Reinstallation

The first step is to download and install the Apple data recovery software on your system. You don’t have to worry because it is virus-free and compatible with the latest Mac OS. After the installation, you can follow the steps below to restore lost data after Reinstallation of macOS.

Reinstall Macos Catalina Without Losing Data

Step 1: Select the file types that you want to recover on Mac. When you launch the software, the main window will popup and you will see the file types. All files are checked by default, so you have to uncheck the files that you don’t need. When you are done, click ‘Start’ to begin the recovery process.

Step 2: Another window will pop up and you will see the volume of the Mac and the external hard drives that are available for a scan. Select the appropriate drive where you want to recover data from and click the ‘Scan’ button to start the scan process.

Step 3: Preview and recover deleted files on Mac system. Depending on the size of the data you want to recover, it may take from seconds to a few minutes to scan the files. When the scan process has been completed, all the found files will be displayed in the result window. Preview the files accordingly and select the ones you need and click ‘Recover’ to save them on your Mac.

Reinstalling macOS without losing files is very easy. So, if you have been asking how to reinstall macOS without losing data, the steps highlighted above is the right way to do it. If you lose data in the reinstallation process, you can easily recover them using iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac.

After months of waiting, macOS Big Sur was released in November 2020. No matter how great macOS Big Sur is, you can experience performance issues as you update your Mac. The good thing is you can downgrade to the previous macOS version.

There are two ways to revert from Big Sur to Catalina. The first one involves restoring a Time Machine backup. The second, which is a bit lengthy, explains how to downgrade to Catalina using a bootable installer. Whichever way you choose, we'll provide step-by-step instructions to help you downgrade.

Open this article on your phone to make sure you do everything step-by-step.


How to downgrade from macOS Big Sur using Time Machine

Reinstall Macos Catalina Without Losing Data

If you’ve backed up your Mac with Time Machine before upgrading to Big Sur, downgrading to Catalina will be easy. Here’s how to downgrade from macOS Big Sur to Catalina using Time Machine.

1. Back up your data

Reinstall Macos Catalina Without Losing Data

First, back up everything. Your Mac probably contains your personal data and documents that you don’t want to lose. So, to keep those alive after the downgrade, you need to back up your data.

You can use Google Drive, iCloud Drive, or any other cloud you prefer. After the backup is done, you can move on to the next step.

Before you begin reverting your Mac to macOS Catalina, it’s worth trying fixing performance issues on macOS Big Sur. Maybe you won’t need to downgrade at all.

CleanMyMac X can help identify and solve performance problems on your Mac. It’s a dedicated Mac cleaner that clears old junk and runs optimization tasks. It’s notarized by Apple, which means it’s safe for your Mac. Get CleanMyMac X for free to run a quick performance scan.

2. Erase your Mac’s hard drive

The first step is plugging your Mac into power (the downgrade process may take a while, and you don’t want your Mac to power off unexpectedly).

You’ll need to erase your Mac’s drive. This will remove everything from your Mac, but you can restore your data later from a Time Machine backup.

  1. Restart your Mac (Apple menu > Restart).
  2. Hold Command-R when your Mac’s rebooting. The Utilities menu should appear.
  3. Choose Disk Utility.
  4. Click Continue and select Startup Disk (usually located at the top of the list ).
  5. Press Erase.
  6. Select the APFS file format.
  7. Choose GUID Partition Map and confirm.

Wait for the process to complete. Only after every piece of data is removed, can you clean install macOS Catalina.

How To Downgrade Macos Catalina Without Losing Data

3. Use Time Machine to restore your backup

You can now restore all your files and data and bring your Mac back to the condition it was in before you installed macOS Big Sur.

Reinstall Macos Catalina Without Losing Data

If your Time Machine backup is stored on the external drive, plug it in your Mac.


So, to restore your Time Machine Catalina backup:

  • Restart your computer and hold Command-R when it reboots.
  • Select the Restore From Time Machine Backup option on the Utilities window.
  • Press Continue.
  • Choose your Time Machine backup disk.
  • Select the backup you want to restore from. Choose the most recent backup that occurred before you installed macOS Big Sur.
  • Then, select a destination disk, where the contents of your backup will be stored.
  • Click Restore and press Continue.

Reinstall Catalina Without Losing Data

The process may take some time. Your Mac will restart running macOS Catalina.

How to downgrade from macOS Big Sur using a bootable installer

If you didn’t back up your Mac with the Time Machine, it’s too bad. But, you can still downgrade to the previous OS version. Just follow the instructions.

1. Back up your files and data

Backing up your data is important. It prevents you from losing all the files and data that have existed on your Mac's drive for a while. So, don’t forget to back up your Mac before you start downgrading to Catalina.

2. Create a bootable installer

A bootable installer will help you safely roll back to Catalina. Here’s how to create a bootable installer:

  1. You can go to the App Store and search for Catalina, then download it. Quit the installer, if it tries to install the OS.
  2. If your Mac already runs macOS Big Sur, download the macOS Catalina here.
  3. Get an external hard drive that has at least 12 GB of available storage and plug it in your Mac.
  4. Launch the Disk Utility app and erase your hard drive selecting Mac OS Extended format.

Now, it’s time to transfer your Catalina installer to your hard drive:

Macos
  1. Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities).
  2. Paste this command and press Enter:

sudo /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

The downloaded file, which is your bootable Catalina installer, should be in your Applications folder. MyVolume is the name of the hard drive; if your hard drive or flash drive has a different name, replace MyVolume with the name of your hard drive.

  1. If prompted, enter your administrator password and press Enter again. Terminal won’t show anything when you type your password.
  2. Follow the instructions that appear in the Terminal.
  3. When Terminal says “done”, your hard drive should have the same name as the installer you downloaded (for example, Install macOS Catalina).
Without

Reinstall Macos Catalina Without Losing Data Download

Quit Terminal and eject the hard drive.

Install macOS Catalina

Now, you can roll back from macOS Big Sur using the bootable installer.

  • Plug your hard drive (which is now your bootable installer) into your Mac.
  • Open System Preferences > Startup Disk. Choose your bootable installer as a startup disk and press Restart.
  • Your Mac should start up to macOS Recovery.
  • Make sure your Mac has an internet connection to download firmware updates (you can use the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar).
  • In the Utilities window, select Install macOS.
  • Click Continue and follow the on-screen instructions.

Your Mac will then start installing macOS Catalina and will restart when it’s done.

Mac runs slowly after the update?

If your Mac is slow after the update, but you don’t want to perform this lengthy process and revert to the previous OS, you could try a quick solution. CleanMyMac X has a helpful Maintenance feature that could fix all possible problems on your Mac.

  1. Open CleanMyMac X.
  2. Go to the Maintenance module.
  3. Press View All 9 Tasks.
  4. Check the boxes next to the maintenance tasks you want to run.
  5. Press Run.

Wait till CleanMyMac X runs the set of fixes to speed up your Mac.

Reverting to the previous macOS may seem like a terrifying task. But if you open this article on your phone or another device and follow the instructions, it will be much easier and faster. Don’t forget to clear your Mac before the backup – you will save a lot of free space and remove old clutter that slows down your machine.