How to do a clean install of macos mojave on your mac

After many beta versions, and after twelve long days since the official release date was announced, finally macOS Mojave, the new version of the desktop operating system for Apple Mac computers, is available. The simplest and quickest is to just update our equipment, but the most efficient is to do a clean installation. Here we tell you why, everything you need, and what are the steps to follow, one by one, so you do not miss anything and enjoy your Mac as if you have just released it

Index of contents

Why do a clean install of macOS Mojave?

Remember when you took your Mac out of the box? Its speed, fluidity, and performance were incredible but now, while it continues to perform fantastically well, it no longer works as efficiently as it did that day. Do not worry, your Mac is not broken, it is just a little "tired" of working and above all, it has a lot of stored things that decrease its performance.

Over the months, perhaps over the years, you've installed and uninstalled loads of apps, visited hundreds or thousands of web pages, and done a whole host of other tasks. All this has been generating information, data that has been accumulating on your computer, even after you have uninstalled an application: remnants of applications, navigation data, cookies and a thousand other things.

If you just update your Mac, you will install macOS Mojave on top of the latest version of macOS that you have installed right now and, of course, on all that “junk” that has been reducing the efficiency of your computer. Therefore, you will continue to carry the same problems that you have suffered up to now. However, if you follow the process that I am going to detail below, you will erase the previous version of macOS, and you will eliminate everything you don't need, recovering the fluency of the first day.

What devices does macOS Mojave support?

The new macOS Mojave version, 10.15 since the birth of macOS X, is a completely free software update. Although some of the older computers have already been on the road and will not be able to install this version, the truth is that Apple continues to be "generous", and the vast majority of users will be able to enjoy new features such as dynamic desktop, quick actions In Finder, the new screen capture interface, grouping files in Stacks on the desktop, the continuity function in camera, automatic software updates or the new dark mode.

These are the devices compatible with macOS Mojave:

• iMac from 2012 onwards, including 12 ″ iMac ProMacBook from early 2015 or higherMacBook Pro from mid 2012 or higherMacBook Air from mid 2012 onwards Mac mini from 2012 onwards Mac Pro models from 2013 and later, and from mid 2010 or 2012 with the recommended Metal compatible graphics processor, such as the MSI Gaming Radeon RX 560 and Sapphire Radeon PULSE RX 580.

What do I need to do a clean install of macOS Mojave?

Once we are clear about the convenience of doing a clean installation of macOS Mojave, and after having verified that our equipment is compatible with the new operating system, all you will need to carry out your mission will be the following:

• Download the macOS Mojave installer Download and install the DiskMaker application (free) from here.A pendrive of at least 8GB of capacity totally free (surely you have one at home that you no longer use)

And also, a good free time because the process, although it will not need many actions on your part, will keep your Mac busy for a long time. Consequently, I advise you to do it when you do not have to work with the team.

Clean installation of macOS Mojave step by step

We already have everything ready so, let's start with the procedure. If you have never done it, do not be afraid, it is a very simple process that does not require special knowledge beyond the user level. All you have to do is follow the instructions below step by step.

1. Delete all you don't need

First of all we are going to do a manual review of our Mac in order to delete all those documents, videos, images and, in general, all those files that you don't need but are taking up space. Empty the download folder, and carefully examine the Documents, Videos and Images folders. Ah! And don't forget to clean the desktop, there are usually more items than we really need.

2. Cleaning the bowels of your Mac

You have already sent to fry asparagus all the files you do not need, but if you think you have finished, you are very wrong. It is time to do a thorough cleaning of the equipment. Yes, it is time to empty the trash, remove remnants of uninstalled applications, clear the cache of Safari, delete cookies and, ultimately, all the trash on the system. For this I advise you to use the Clean My Mac application from the Ukrainian developers MacPaw. It is super effective and very easy to use. Just press "Smart Analysis" and in a few minutes you will be able to check the large amount of garbage that your equipment unnecessarily stored.

Clean My Mac here is a paid application but you can download and install a free version, although it is limited to 500 MB of cleaning per module. When you see how efficient it is, you may decide to buy the full version. If not, you can use the "cleaner" that you usually use, or search for another one in the Mac App Store.

3. Keep your information safe

We have said before that when doing a clean installation of macOS Mojave, we are going to erase the previous version of the operating system from the computer, therefore, it is essential that you make a backup of your entire Mac, in case something should go wrong during the process. Also, when you are installing Mojave, you can dump that backup and have your Mac exactly as you have it now.

Since you have already cleaned your equipment, you don't have to worry about dragging trash and previous problems. In any case, you can also choose to configure your Mac as a new computer because, if you use iCloud, all your photos, videos, history, bookmarks, passwords, and more will reappear on your Mac when as soon as you enter your Apple ID.

This backup can be done manually, copying the Documents, Images, Videos and other folders to an external hard drive, or using Time Machine . In this way you will have a "mirror" of your Mac and then dump after installation without having to download applications one by one.

4. Download the macOS Mojave installer

Logical, right? Take advantage of the time and while backing up your Mac, download the macOS Mojave installer. Once it is downloaded to your computer, the first screen of the installation process will open. Don't install it ! Just close the window and continue to the next step. You can do this by pressing the corresponding button in the window, or by using the Command ⌘ + Q keyboard shortcut.

When a window like this opens, just close it and go to step five

5. Create external macOS Mojave installer

We already have the clean computer, the backup made, and the macOS Mojave installer downloaded on our computer. Well, during the process we are going to erase our Mac, we need to create a boot disk from which to perform the clean installation or from scratch. For it:

1. We connect a USB flash memory of at least 8 GB capacity to the computer We launch the DiskMaker application that we have previously downloaded We select the version that we are going to install, in this case, macOS Mojave We select the USB stick that we have connected to the computer

From that moment on, all you have to do is wait. The application will take care of the whole process, from formatting the flash drive to finally turning it into an external boot disk for macOS Mojave. I insist, do not touch anything at all until a message on the screen indicates that the process has been completed. Be a little patient, it may take about ten to fifteen minutes.

ALTERNATIVE METHOD: If you prefer, you can also create a macOS Mojave boot disk without using any external application like DiskMaker. It is about using the Terminal of the operating system itself through a series of commands. You can check how it is done here.

6. Install macOS Mojave

Yes now! With the boot disk already created, we open the System Preferences app, select in the Startup Disk panel, click on the installer that we just created, and press Continue.

You can also restart your Mac while holding down the Option key (⌥). Release it when the screen prompts you to select a boot disk. Select the macOS Mojave installer.

Your Mac will reboot from the macOS Mojave external boot disk. Once the first installer window appears on the screen:

1. Open Disk Utility from the menu bar. Select the main partition of your Mac. Press "Delete", but first make sure that the selected format is "APFS".

After the deletion process (it only takes a minute or two), exit Disk Utility and continue with the usual installation process, following the instructions given by the installer.

7. Restore your backup

Almost at the end of the process, once macOS Mojave has been installed on your MacBook or Mac, you can choose to configure the device as a new Mac, or transfer a backup from Time Machine. My advice is to choose this second option since in this way you will have “cloned” all the information that you had on your computer before deleting it.

As I said at the beginning, if you use iCloud, when you enter your Apple ID everything will be synchronized again (bookmarks, history, photos and videos from the Photos app…) However, you will have to re-download and install one by one all the applications you use regularly. This also entails having to log in to many of them such as DropBox, Twitter, etc., which could take a long time.

And that's it! Although doing a clean install of macOS Mojave is a process that takes time, the result will not disappoint you. In addition, despite the multiple steps indicated, it is really easy to do. Now your computer “flies”, like the first day when you took it out of the box and turned it on for the first time. Also, if you look closely, you can see that you have gained a lot of storage space. To do this, right-click the icon of your hard drive on the desktop and select "Get information." And now, just enjoy yourself.