You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

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

I have the circle with line startup problem on my iMac. If I choose the reinstall macOS will I lose all my previous files on the internal hard drive?

I am concerned about losing files from my internal hard drive of my iMac. When I switch it on I get the warning circle

with a line through it. I tried restarting it so I get the choice of macOS utilities but I don’t know which is the best solution to use. Unfortunately I don’t have a very recent Time Machine backup..... Does reinstalling macOS wipe the contents of the previous hard drive?

Posted on Apr 12, 2021 3:37 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Jack-19
Jack-19
User level: Level 8
46,020 points

Posted on Apr 12, 2021 3:40 PM

Hi abudhabimjb,


See if this article helps: If your Mac starts up to a circle with a line through it - Apple Support.


Reinstalling macOS does not delete data, but you should have a backup in case anything goes wrong.


Cheers,


Jack

View in context

Similar questions

5 replies

I have the circle with line startup problem on my iMac. If I choose the reinstall macOS will I lose all my previous files on the internal hard drive?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up