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Level 1

9 points

I would like to re-install my OS and then copy over existing files in order to make things faster, what is the best approach for this?

I currently am on the most recent version of Mac OS Catalina. I have a mid-2014 Macbook Pro and my system files have a lot of left over applications and other junk that I feel is making it slow. For example, inside the ~/Library folder there are applications which no are compatible. However, I have custom files I would like to retain, such as the /Users/<username>/Library/Messages folder or /usr/local/bin scripts I would like to keep.

What is the best way for migrating data I need into a fresh OS install? Time Machine appears to include too much stuff, which just copying and pasting folders under /Users/<username> may not be sufficient. Thanks for any ideas!

Posted on Oct 10, 2020 6:52 AM

Best reply

HWTech

Level 9

56,384 points

Posted on Oct 10, 2020 1:44 PM

The only way to do what you want is to perform a clean install of macOS by first erasing the whole physical drive before reinstalling macOS. Then after finishing Setup Assistant you will need to manually transfer your documents, custom settings to the new user account. You will also need to re-install your third party apps manually.

You can boot into Recovery Mode, Internet Recovery Mode, or by using a bootable macOS USB installer. Here is an Apple article on how to erase the whole physical drive:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208496

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I would like to re-install my OS and then copy over existing files in order to make things faster, what is the best approach for this?

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