You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: garymichaelg
garymichaelg Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

what does not formatted for APFS mean? tried to install Catalina and got message, not formatted for APFS

what does not formatted for APFS mean? tried to install Catalina and got message, not formatted for APFS

Mac mini, macOS 10.14

Posted on Oct 29, 2019 10:45 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
361,855 points

Posted on Oct 29, 2019 11:14 AM

Catalina requires that the disk drive be formatted using APFS, not HFS+. You should only get the alert if you are installing on an SSD that you formatted HFS+. If this be the case, then you will need to backup, erase the SSD, then reformat it using APFS, and restore your backup.

View in context

Similar questions

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
361,855 points

Oct 29, 2019 11:14 AM in response to garymichaelg

Catalina requires that the disk drive be formatted using APFS, not HFS+. You should only get the alert if you are installing on an SSD that you formatted HFS+. If this be the case, then you will need to backup, erase the SSD, then reformat it using APFS, and restore your backup.

Reply

what does not formatted for APFS mean? tried to install Catalina and got message, not formatted for APFS

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up