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Macintosh HD vs Macintosh HD Data which to erase then install Big Sur

I am getting ready to do a clean install of Big Sur. Trying to do an erase, but I am confused by what I see in "Disk Utility". I see Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD Data. Which volume do I erase then do a clean install of Big Sur. Looking at the communities, I am not seeing a good explanation of which volume to erase then install Big Sur. Is there a reference or can someone give me a more complete explanation?





MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Feb 10, 2021 5:05 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 10, 2021 5:35 PM

rh10023 wrote:

I am getting ready to do a clean install of Big Sur. Trying to do an erase, but I am confused by what I see in "Disk Utility". I see Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD Data. Which volume do I erase then do a clean install of Big Sur. Looking at the communities, I am not seeing a good explanation of which volume to erase then install Big Sur. Is there a reference or can someone give me a more complete explanation?





Disk Utility>View>Show All Devices


if you are doing a clean install you erase/format the parent Drive— top of the device tree; Not the Container level, not the Volume level.

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 10, 2021 5:35 PM in response to rh10023

rh10023 wrote:

I am getting ready to do a clean install of Big Sur. Trying to do an erase, but I am confused by what I see in "Disk Utility". I see Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD Data. Which volume do I erase then do a clean install of Big Sur. Looking at the communities, I am not seeing a good explanation of which volume to erase then install Big Sur. Is there a reference or can someone give me a more complete explanation?





Disk Utility>View>Show All Devices


if you are doing a clean install you erase/format the parent Drive— top of the device tree; Not the Container level, not the Volume level.

Macintosh HD vs Macintosh HD Data which to erase then install Big Sur

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