Hey what’s going on guys, Rahul here from TechReviewPro and welcome back to another
episode. If you are looking for a simple step by step solution to clean install macOS Catalina
on your Mac, then keep watching this video, because in this video, you’ll learn how
to create bootable USB for macOS Catalina and clean install macOS Catalina on your Mac
computer.
But before we get started, make sure that your system is supported with macOS Catalina.
The General requirements for the macOS Catalina are 4GB of Memory and 12.5GB of available
storage. In the description below this video, I will provide a link to the official website
which provides you the list of all the supported models with macOS Catalina.
If you don’t want to go to the website, here, I will show you all the supported models
along with the years. The list says macOS Catalina can be installed on the MacBook (2015
or Later), MacBook Air (2012 or newer), MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or Newer) iMac (2012 and Newer),
iMac Pro (2017 and Newer) etc. If you are not sure about your Mac model? Click on the
Apple icon at the top left of your screen and choose About this Mac. Here you will get
details about your Mac model.
If your system is listed under this, then you will be able to upgrade your mac to the
macOS Catalina. Upgrading your Mac is so simple, if you don’t want to delete any of your
data, simply go to the download link provided below. Or you can also search for macOS Catalina
in the App Store.
As you can see, macOS Catalina is 5.7GB in size and it may take a while to download.
But once downloaded, you can upgrade your Mac from the installer application that appears
after downloading it. This is pretty cool and easy way to upgrade your Mac to macOS
Catalina, as you can upgrade to macOS Catalina without going through the process of creating
bootable USB drive and all that installer stuff.
But I usually don’t recommend this method because if you upgrade via App Store, this
may leave some residual files which may create some issues later. So a better idea is to
clean install macOS Catalina using a bootable USB drive.
In order to create a bootable USB you must have at least 8GB of USB storage drive. If
you don’t have any USB drive with the size at least 8GB, you can check it on Amazon.
I will provide a link for some cheap and best USB drives in the description below.
Alright! Now, let’s get ready to download it. Simply click here to download and this
will open software update Settings. Now if you click on Upgrade Now, macOS Catalina will
start downloading. This may take a while depending upon your internet speed. I have a very slow
internet connection, and you can see how bad it is. So in the meantime, let’s check out
what new features macOS Catalina has got.
As you can see, it has got a brand new auto dark mode, dynamic desktop wallpaper, and
some brand new apps as well. For example, Apple TV has finally come to the Mac. Apple
has killed iTunes in macOS Catalina, so you won’t see iTunes but you can still find
your music in Apple Music app, podcast in Apple podcast app, and movies in Apple TV
app.
So, you are getting 3 brand new apps in place of the one buggy iTunes. Then, there is Find
My App which allows you to find your devices and your friend on a single app. And don’t
forget, now your favourite iPad apps are also coming to your Mac.
Well, there are many more features and changes in macOS Catalina and I’m not going to go
into detail about them. So, rather than taking your more time, I’ll stop the recording
and fast forward this, and come back when download completes.
Alright guys, macOS Catalina has finally been downloaded and now ready to install. But in
order to install it, we need to create a bootable USB. So once you have downloaded macOS Catalina,
you are ready to create bootable USB.
In order to create a bootable USB for macOS Catalina, first of all, open disk utility.
You can search for disk utility using spotlight search. If you are a complete beginner, let
me tell you, there are two ways to open spotlight search on your Mac. First one is: by pressing
the command button and space bar simultaneously and another way is: by clicking on the little
search icon on the top right corner next to the Siri icon.
Once disk utility opens up, now plug in your USB Flash drive. Check whether it is available
in the disk utility or not. If you can successfully locate your USB drive, you are ready to proceed
to the next step. But if are unable to locate your flash drive in the disk utility, then
try re-plugging your USB.
The next step is very important. Make sure to backup all the important data from your
USB drive to another hard drive or computer to avoid any loss. Because backing up data
to the same computer which you want to clean install will erase everything including your
backup. However, if you are using a brand new USB which has no data, then you don’t
need to worry.
Once the backup process completes, come back to the disk utility and click on the drive
which you want to make bootable for clean installing macOS Catalina.
Now go ahead, and erase it using the format macOS Extended (Journaled) and rename it as
MyVolume. Naming it as MyVolume is not so important, you can name it anything as per
your choice but make sure you remember what you have named because you’ll need it later.
By the way, if you don’t want to go through the hassle of remembering and recalling it
later, I would recommend you to name it as I have named, so that you can copy what I’m
doing.
Now click on Erase and wait until the erase process is completed. When the erasing process
has completed, click on done and make sure that your USB thumb drive is formatted as
macOS Extended Journaled.
Awesome! Now, we can close the disk utility. Once you have closed the disk utility, you
can also quit the macOS installer. To quit macOS Installer, go to the menu bar and select
quit macOS. You can also close it by right clicking on the icon in dock and select quit.
And there is a shortcut as well which is: Command+Q. Q stands for Quit.
Now the next step is to go to the finder window and then go to the applications folder. Within
the application folder, you need to search for the macOS installer. Once you find the
macOS Installer, right click on it and choose show package contents.
This will show the contents folder, now double click on the contents folder and this will
show many folders, but you have to double click on the resources folder to open it.
Within the resources folder, you need to find createinstall media. Once you have found it,
leave the window open, and now open terminal by searching in spotlight search.
When you are on the terminal window, type sudo s u d o followed by pressing the space
bar once, and go back to the previously opened Finder window. Now you need to select and
drag createinstallmedia over to the terminal window, and then release it.
Now type - - volume, then space. Again Go back to the finder window, and from the menu
bar select go, then click on go to folder. There is also an alternative shortcut which
is shift+command+G but this shortcut will only work when your Finder window is active.
This will open a box. And when the box appears, type forward slash (/)Volumes and hit return
or click on the go.
Here, a new finder window will open up with all the available volumes including your external
USB Drive. If your USB drive is not listed here try reinserting it.
As soon as you find your USB drive listed here, click on your USB drive. Since we have
named it MyVolume, here is it MyVolume USB drive. However, in your case, it may vary
depending upon the name you have entered while formatting the drive.
Click on it, and drag it over to the terminal window just like this. Now, we can close the
finder, and we’ll go back to the terminal window. Within the terminal window, now press
return button on your keyboard.
Now you’ll be asked for the administrator password. Simply type in your admin password.
This will be the same password which you usually enter while logging into your Mac. When you
have entered your password, it’ll say “ready to start, to continue we need to erase the
volume”.
So we are ready to proceed. If you wish to continue, then type Y and hit return on keyboard.
It will start erasing the disk. Alright now the disk is being erased, and it may take
upto 5 minutes. After the disk has been erased, the system starts copying the file to the
USB. This may take some time depending on the writing speed of your USB drive. That’s
why I recommend a USB drive with faster writing speed, make sure you check the link, in the
description below in case you need one.
Usually it takes 20 to 30 minutes, so let the process happen and relax until the process
is done. In case, it is taking more than 30 minutes, then you should start the process
again from formatting the drive.
Alright, now we have made our USB drive bootable and it is finally ready for clean install
of macOS Catalina. But just in case if you want to ensure that you have done everything
right, go to the finder window and check for the USB drive. Here, you will see that your
USB drive name would have changed to Install macOS Catalina. And that’s the green signal
to proceed.
So we are ready to proceed, because the bootable USB installer is ready to go. But before moving
further I want to remind you please create a backup for your system. Clean Installing
macOS Catalina will delete everything that you have on your Mac. And I don’t want my
comment section to be flooded with your complaints. So guys, precautions first.
Okay, when you have your backup ready, let’s jump in to the next step.
Turn off your Mac, and insert the macOS Catalina bootable USB drive that we have recently created.
Now Power ON your Mac, and as soon as the screen turns ON, press and hold the Option button.
This will show you the list of bootable drives you have currently on your Mac.
Here, in my case, there are two options available. 1st one is Macintosh HD which contains the
macOS that I’m using. And the 2nd one is bootable drive named Install macOS Catalina.
Since we have to clean install, we’ll select Install macOS Catalina and hit enter. Let
the Installer load and in the meantime, why don’t you subscribe to TechReviewPro channel
if you haven’t already because we bring cool tips-tricks-tutorials, and hacks related
to technology. Anyways, I’m going to fast forward this because I don’t want to let
you wait for a while.
Okay, here it comes - macOS Utility is here. In order to clean install, we have to format
the main drive, to do so click on the DISK UTILITY. Once the Disk-Utility opens, here
you’ll see all the drives that are connected to your Mac.
Select your drive by clicking on the name of your drive. For me, it is Macintosh HD.
You may also find your drive based on the capacity as I have 128GB SSD.
Now click on Erase, and from here, choose the format type. macOS Extended Journaled
would be the nice option. Since I have SSD on my Mac, so I’ll choose APFS file system.
The reason why I’m choosing this, I’ll let you know in a moment but before that let’s
know what APFS is.
APFS is popularly known as Apple File System which is the default file system for Mac computers
using macOS 10.13 or later. And the reason why I’m choosing this is: Apple recommends
APFS for recent Mac computers running on macOS 10.13 or later, because APFS features strong
encryption, space sharing, snapshots, fast directory sizing and improved file system
fundamentals.
According to Apple, while APFS is optimised for the Flash/SSD storage used in recent Mac
computers, it can also be used with older systems with traditional hard disk drives
(HDD) and external, direct-attached storage.
Now go ahead and click erase, wait for a few seconds till the format process is completed.
And once the formatting is done, go back from the disk-utility.
Now, it’s time to install all new macOS Catalina on your Mac. So, click on Install
macOS, and this has led us to the installer window. Simply, allow the installer to proceed
by clicking continue. And, now you’ll get software licence agreement terms and conditions.
If you want you may read, after that hit agree, and again agree.
Next, you need to select the drive in which you want to install the macOS Catalina. Since
we have formatted this drive named Macintosh HD, so we’ll select this one and click install,
it’ll start the installation process. This may take up to 20 to 30 minutes, so wait for
a while and have some coffee because your Mac will soon be ready with brand new macOS
Catalina.
So, that’s how you can clean install macOS Catalina on your Mac. I hope you found this
tutorial helpful. If you enjoyed watching this video, please like, share, and subscribe.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below. But before you comment,
follow the instructions properly, that way, you’ll save my time, as well as yours.
Thanks for watching! I’m Rahul signing off and I’ll talk to you in the next video.