How to Clean Install macOS / OS X Without a USB Drive

Here's how you can clean install macOS or OS X on your iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro without bootable USB drive, external storage medium.

Clean Install macOS / Os X Over the Air, Completely Untethered - All You Demand is an Internet Connection

When it comes to installing a fresh copy of macOS or OS X, we immediately divert our minds toward a bootable USB drive from which we volition take things off. But really, you don't take to follow the traditional fashion in order to practise a make clean installation of Apple's desktop operating arrangement onto your Mac. Everything tin exist done over the air, completely untethered, and all you need to have at hand is a fast working Cyberspace connection.

But why would y'all desire to take the untethered route? In that location are a lot of reasons backside it, simply I'll focus on simply three.

A USB bulldoze isn't available at all times for everyone.
Net speeds are fast enough to get things done at a quick footstep.
You lot don't have a dongle to connect your USB drive with your (new) Mac.

Tutorial

Before you lot go ahead with the installation it'due south worth mentioning here that you will lose your files, therefore make a backup of everything on an external USB drive or iCloud before proceeding. All set? Let's jump into the installation process.

ane. Restart your Mac, or ability it on, while belongings down the Command + R key combination.

two. Release the Command + R key combination one time you meet the Apple logo on display. In a few short seconds, you lot'll kick straight into Recovery.

iii. Once y'all see a window like the one beneath, click on Deejay Utility and Erase your master Mac HDD (or SSD). Make certain information technology'southward the drive on which you want to install macOS or OS 10 on.

4. Once the deejay is washed erasing, close the Disk Utility window. You'll exist taken back to the master Utilities page.

five. At this bespeak connect your Mac to a WiFi network past clicking on the WiFi push button in the carte du jour bar. Select the network you wish to connect to and enter its password. If you have a the option to connect to the Internet using an Ethernet cable, then yous can take that route equally well.

six. In Utilities, click on Reinstall macOS or Reinstall Bone Ten.

7. Follow the on-screen prompts for installation and make sure you choose the drive you erased in footstep 3. This is the target drive where macOS / OS X will kicking off from.

8. The process will at present brainstorm, but Recovery will beginning download macOS or OS X from Apple'due south servers before the actually installation takes place. This may take a while depending on the speed of your Net connection. It can have equally footling every bit xx minutes all the way upwardly to a few hours.

Once yous are done, but fix macOS or Bone X as you normally would.

Alternatively, you can follow the guides below as well in order to install macOS on your computer.