Mac Fresh Install Catalina

  1. How To Install Fresh Macos Catalina
  2. Mac Os Catalina Fresh Install
  3. How To Do A Fresh Install Of Macos Catalina
  4. Fresh Install Of Mac Catalina
  5. Mac Fresh Install Catalina 2019

Were you excited about the macOS Catalina release date? The new operating system was so heavily announced that we all expected it with great enthusiasm. Beta testers were generally happy with macOS Catalina, but most users weren’t ready to go Beta. They waited for the official macOS Catalina release date.

Install macOS or OS X from Internet Recovery Mode, which you can boot into by holding option+command+R while your Mac powers up. Download the relevant macOS or OS X installer from Apple, then use Terminal to create a USB installer you can boot up from. Or use the OS X installation disc that came with your machine — or buy a new one — to. Mac OS Catalina Download & Installation Guide. After you have cleared up your computer and created a backup, you are all set to download and install Catalina. There are 2 methods of installing Catalina, one is a regular install and other a Clean install (regular installation process is covered here). A word of warning: If you want to do a clean install of Big Sur or Catalina and are already running Catalina the process is different to earlier versions of macOS. You will now find two volumes to. Recovery Mode is the special salvation of the Mac that first launched with OS X 10.7 Lion. It creates a temporary boot partition that allows you to access certain things on your computer that you might not be able to if your system froze or crashed. It is the easiest way to install a fresh copy of an operating system. Once the drive has been erased, select Install macOS and then Continue. Just follow the on-screen prompts to clean install macOS Catalina Once you’ve successfully installed the new software, you can transfer all your data back from the cloud or external storage drive to the Mac.

Well, Catalina is here.

Mac Fresh Install Catalina

But many users haven’t installed it yet. They hesitate because of the lengthy installation process. Since Apple offers two options for the install, they aren’t sure what to choose.

The Two Installing Options for macOS Catalina

There are two types of Catalina installs:

  • You can put Catalina over the Mac’s current settings
  • You can run a clean install

This is a tutorial on how to clean install macOS Catalina, so we’ll be talking about the second option. But first, let’s explain what both alternatives mean.

By installing the system over the Mac’s current settings, you’ll find everything as it was during Mojave. Your settings, apps, documents, and files will be right where you left them. You won’t even have to sign into the apps. There’s no need to recover files, either. This is a simple way to get the process done. It works well for newer Macs, which haven’t accumulated much junk over the years.

But some Macs have too many duplicate files, unnecessary apps, and outdated caches. The system is bloated, and that affects its performance. You can back up the files you need and get rid of everything else if you learn how to clean install macOS Catalina. You’ll get a fresh system that feels like a brand-new Mac. You’ll recover the data and apps you need easily after that. This type of install is great for older computers, since the performance is obviously boosted when the bloat is gone.

Interested?

The Ultimate Guide: How to Clean Install macOS Catalina

Step 1: Back Up the Data You Need

Catalina

Since the clean install of macOS Catalinawill delete everything from your hard drive, you should back up important data, so you won’t lose it. You can use iCloud, Dropbox, or any other cloud-based service to do that. If you don’t have too many files and everything is already on iCloud, you’re good.

But if you have a lot of files that aren’t on the cloud, uploading them would be a long and stressful process. You can opt for Get Backup Pro – a simple app that creates bootable clones of your important files.

Whatever option you choose, don’t skip the back-up step. Even if you think you don’t need anything and you want a clean Mac right away, you should consider backing up some data. Maybe there are photos of your dog you’ve forgotten all about.

Step 2: Make Your Bootable macOS 10.15 Catalina Installer

Okay; now that your data is safe, you can go on.

Get the installer from the App Store.

When it downloads and launches, stop the process. Since you’re going to do a clean install, you’ll be doing it from a bootable drive. At this point, you’re not there yet.

  • Get a USB stick with at least 16GB of free space on it, and plug it in. Give it a name that’s short and easy to type. You’ll need to include this name in a command.
  • Once you’re done with that, type this specific command in Terminal, but replace USB with the name of your USB drive:
  • Return. When the system asks for your admin password, provide it.
  • Wait for the procedure to go through. Once you see the Done button, click on it.

You’re almost done!

Step 3: Get the New macOS on Your Startup Drive

This is the last part of the how to clean install macOS Catalina guide, so stay patient.

  • Go to Startup Disk (under System Preferences) and choose the Catalina installer.
  • Restart your computer. While it’s restarting, hold Command-R.
  • You see the Utilities window? Choose the option to reinstall a new copy of the operating system.
  • Agree to the terms, choose the startup drive and install Catalina.

Once the computer goes through this step, it will go through a rebirth. It will feel like new. Now, you only need to recover the data and you’ll be ready to enjoy exploring Catalina.

What Makes Catalina So Good?

Some Mac users don’t want to bother with the installation process. They got a Mac because of the easy user experience, and all this seems too complicated. They start thinking: “I’m okay with Mojave, so why should I bother?”

There are a few aspects that make Catalina better than Mojave:

  • A better experience with TV, Music, and Podcasts. It was about time for Apple to send iTunes to history.
  • An opportunity to use iPad as a second screen to your Mac, thanks to the Sidecar function.
  • Functional updates to Photos, Find My, Reminders, and other native apps.
  • An option to use a subscription gaming service: Apple Arcade.

It’s worth the effort. A clean Catalina install will take some time, but do it when you don’t need to work on your computer and you’ll be just fine.

With the previous macOS releases, only a small percentage of users were left to install three months after the release. Most were too excited to wait for so long. You want to look at some percentages on Mojave, High Sierra and Sierra? Check out this infographic:

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

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

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.

Mac fresh install catalina 2019CleanMyMac 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.
Mac Fresh Install Catalina

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

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.

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


How To Install Fresh Macos Catalina

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.

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:

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

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

Mac Os Catalina Fresh Install

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.

How To Do A Fresh Install Of Macos Catalina

  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).

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.

Fresh Install Of Mac Catalina

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.

Mac Fresh Install Catalina 2019

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.

Comments are closed.