macOS Update Assistant stuck updating

Question

Level 1

21 points

macOS Update Assistant stuck updating

What should I do in this situation? I updated my laptop last night and today at work I opened it and it said there was an issue updating the software and now I’m stuck at this screen.

Posted on Feb 5, 2021 4:45 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Carter_b14 Author

Level 1

21 points

Feb 8, 2021 7:30 PM in response to Carter_b14

Spent 2 hours on the phone with Apple to just have to wipe my MacBook out and start fresh, couldn’t get my computer to respond to anything and made it useless. I hope you all have better luck than I did, good luck!

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Answer 2

Leanne_68

Community Specialist

Feb 8, 2021 11:47 AM in response to Carter_b14

Hello Carter_b14.

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. We understand that you are having issues updating your MacBook Air. We will be glad to assist.

Let's start up in safe mode to see if that helps: How to use safe mode on your Mac

Cheers.

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Answer 3

Feb 14, 2021 1:26 AM in response to Kelliehd

The only way I could get out of the update loop was to erase my HD and factory reset. The BigS*** update said it required 13GB or similar space and I had 15GB. Turns out it actually needs 35GB at least! And if you don't have 35GB you get stuck. It is very disappointing as I had a lot of videos, photos, and business documents which were all stored on the HD. Alternatively you could transfer you HD data to another Macbook (if you have one!).

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Answer 4

Feb 14, 2021 2:25 AM in response to Carter_b14

@Carter_b14: to be helpful to everyone, could you tell us if the reboot in "safe mode" as suggested by @Leanne_68

was successful or impossible?

Here you were insufficiently helped by Apple because there is always a way to recover all your data

before reaching such a point of total loss. Of course this kind of help require some more time, care and

an external disk.

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Answer 5

Mar 30, 2021 7:21 AM in response to Carter_b14

ΑppIe would be well advised to remove the "Big Sur" installer as long as they don't fix the bug in the upgrade

procedure leading to the boot disk and its data loss.

@everyone:

wait for ΑppIe to announce they have fixed and tested their upgrade procedure before installing Big Sur.

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Answer 6

Feb 8, 2021 8:35 AM in response to Carter_b14

I have exactly the same issue. Did you get it sorted?

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Answer 7

ClassicII

Level 4

1,097 points

Feb 8, 2021 11:42 AM in response to Carter_b14

Yes sir!

https://mrmacintosh.com/big-sur-upgrade-not-enough-hd-space-serious-issue-possible-data-loss/

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Answer 8

Carter_b14 Author

Level 1

21 points

Feb 16, 2021 7:49 AM in response to Zorba_le_grec

Safe mode and recovery mode both were not helpful for me..

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Answer 9

Carter_b14 Author

Level 1

21 points

Feb 8, 2021 7:32 PM in response to Stanners101

Not in the way I hoped, but sort of... I had to wipe out my MacBook completely and start fresh. Big Sur destroyed my laptop.

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Answer 10

Feb 12, 2021 8:29 AM in response to Carter_b14

I’m in a constant loop of restart startup disk issues. Unable to startup in safe mode. This upgrade is horrible. We shouldn’t have to wipe our computers for this!

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Answer 11

Feb 12, 2021 5:44 PM in response to Carter_b14

I have the same problem! Hey Apple care do you think it’s normal? Take some responsibility and don’t let out updates before they working correctly!?!? What a ****?

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