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User profile for user: sneakyollie
sneakyollie Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Mac HD and Update HD on desktop

Hi there,


I run a mid-2014 MacBook Pro and I've recently downgraded from Big Sur back to Catalina. Big Sur is great, but it was lagging quite a bit at times, so made the decision to downgrade for the time being.


I used Time Machine to restore Catalina. After completing the restore, I was greeted by the black screen with a white circle with a line diagonally across the centre, so I reinstalled Catalina.


Everything is back to the way it was before installing Big Sur, with the exception of a new hard drive icon. I've now got Mac HD and Update HD underneath it. The Update HD can be ejected, so I do this every time I start up my machine, but it's annoying. I'm wondering if there is a way to get rid of it altogether?


Hope someone can help!

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 16, 2021 9:16 AM

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,284 points

Posted on Mar 17, 2021 10:04 PM

The "Update" volume is a new APFS volume used by Big Sur for updating macOS. Since you are using Catalina this "Update" volume is not needed by macOS Catalina so you can remove the volume using Disk Utility.

https://osxdaily.com/2019/08/22/how-delete-apfs-volume-mac/


In the future I recommend using Disk Utility to erase the whole physical drive as GUID partition and APFS (top option) so the installer recreates the partitions and volumes and provides you with a clean file system. Unfortunately Disk Utility now hides the physical drive from view since macOS 10.13. Within Disk Utility click on "View" and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility.

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,284 points

Mar 17, 2021 10:04 PM in response to sneakyollie

The "Update" volume is a new APFS volume used by Big Sur for updating macOS. Since you are using Catalina this "Update" volume is not needed by macOS Catalina so you can remove the volume using Disk Utility.

https://osxdaily.com/2019/08/22/how-delete-apfs-volume-mac/


In the future I recommend using Disk Utility to erase the whole physical drive as GUID partition and APFS (top option) so the installer recreates the partitions and volumes and provides you with a clean file system. Unfortunately Disk Utility now hides the physical drive from view since macOS 10.13. Within Disk Utility click on "View" and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility.

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User profile for user: i_rina
i_rina
User level: Community Specialist

Mar 17, 2021 9:03 AM in response to sneakyollie

Hello sneakyollie,


Welcome to Apple Support Communities!

If we understand your post correctly, you've installed Catalina on your Mac twice and since then you're seeing Update HD on your desktop which can be ejected but it gets annoying. We're happy to help!


In order to remove that icon from your desktop so you don't have to eject it all the time is to click on your desktop so the Finder menu appears in the upper left. Then go to Finder > Preferences > General.

Where it says Show these items on the desktop, uncheck the box for Hard disks.


Let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Take care!

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Mac HD and Update HD on desktop

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