A common question that popped up from time to time is: will reinstalling Mac OS X delete files on my computer? Macs are very stable computers. And Mac Os X is a very stable and robust operating system. Even though Macs do encounter problems with the operating system from time to time, it is not as frequent and as common as Windows OS. However, at one point in time, you may find yourself needing to reinstall your operating system on your Mac. It may be because your Mac is slowing down. Or your system is too cluttered with junk. Or you simply want to have a fresh restart. Whatever the reason, one important question is whether reinstalling will delete everything on your computer’s hard disk.
How do I reinstall Os X?
Reinstalling Mac OS X is much much easier compared to Windows. Every Mac has a partition on the disk with the recovery OS stored for future reinstall. This recovery partition stored the latest Mac operating system. Specific instructions on how to reinstall your OS can be found here on Apple support. If it seems complicated, here are the brief steps:
- Turn on your mac using the power button (if your laptop is in sleep mode, then turn off/ shut down the system first).
- Immediately after turning on, press command + R keys together. Keep pressing until you see the Apple logo.
- You will now be in the Emergency Utilities window. You may need to select a user account with an administrator password and enter the password to enter the Utilities window.
- Choose Reinstall Mac Os
- Follows on-screen instruction
That’s it. It’s that easy.
Will reinstallation of OS X delete files on my computer?
Normally reinstalling OS X will not delete your files on your computer unless you choose to erase the disk during the installation process. It will not delete any of your data on your Mac. All your apps installed on your computer will remain after installation. It will even retain some (or most) of the preferences you made through System Preferences. However, in order to ensure your data is safe, I would recommend a system backup through Time Machine before you do the OS reinstall. Even though OS X is a very robust system, errors can still occur during the reinstallation process, so better to be on the safe side.