Lost my Macintosh HD - Data Volume!

joshalanmiller wrote:

When erasing my hard drive for resale, what if I did not disregard the volume named Macintosh HD - Data and accidentally erased it as well? Am I able to download or recover the startup data and OS? I've tried reinstalling the OS and it can't find a volume to restore to - both when restoring from a backup and when installing OS from online. It's a late 2013 MacBook Pro and it prompts me to install OS Mavericks when trying from online. Big question is: can I restore or download and restore essential Mac startup data in order to install OS and use the computer again? Thanks in advance for any help!

If you removed the Macintosh HD - Data volume then it gone, you don't need it.

Follow the sane steps here

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac

Hi joshalanmiller,

The Macintosh HD - Data volume contains all of your personal data. You definitely want that volume gone.

When you reinstall macOS, you only need to have a single volume present, usually named "Macintosh HD". The system will automatically re-create "Macintosh HD - Data".