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rtinator Author

Level 1

8 points

“Macintosh HD” Vs “Macintosh HD Data”

I am using Disk Utility to erase (format) my Intel-based Mac computer. I have a “Macintosh HD” and “Macintosh HD - Data” in the sidebar. What should I choose?

Posted on Dec 24, 2020 9:29 AM

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

60,650 points

Posted on Dec 24, 2020 1:08 PM

I would choose the physical drive which is hidden from view by default. Within Disk Utility click on the "View" and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. If you are going to install macOS 10.13+, then erase the drive as GUID partition and APFS (top option), otherwise for older versions of macOS you need to erase the drive as GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled). Here is an Apple article which shows how to erase the whole drive:

https://support.apple.com/guide/disk-utility/erase-and-reformat-a-storage-device-dskutl14079/mac

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“Macintosh HD” Vs “Macintosh HD Data”

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