Reinstall MacOS says not enough space after hard drive erase

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Reinstall MacOS says not enough space after hard drive erase

Device: MacBook Pro 15" (2014)

OS: macOS 11.7.10 (Big Sur)

I'm clearing my old computer and did an erase of my internal drive via Disk Utility in Recovery Mode (no errors and received the success message). Although it only shows 25KB for Used, it shows 225 GB for Other Volumes with ~26GB Free.

If I try to do the Reinstall I get a message that there isn't enough space to install the OS.

What am I missing? How do I actually erase my hard drive if the recommended steps don't seem to work?

BTW, there are no other internal drives available for selection in Disk Utility (besides Macintosh HD - Data) and if I click Partition on the Macintosh HD internal drive, I see no partitions.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.7

Posted on Oct 13, 2024 5:27 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Community+ 2026

Level 9

69,872 points

Oct 14, 2024 6:15 PM in response to brainwavestv

You need to erase the whole physical SSD (Intel Macs only). Unfortunately Disk Utility now hides the physical drives from view with recent versions of macOS. Within Disk Utility click "View" and select "Show All Devices" so the physical drives and hidden Containers appear on the left pane of Disk Utility. Select the physical SSD and erase it as GUID partition and APFS (top option) if you are reinstalling macOS 10.13+.

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Answer 2

Oct 14, 2024 10:53 AM in response to brainwavestv

To regain all of the storage space on the drive, you may need to first delete each APFS volume individually.

Use Disk Utility for the task.

Add, delete, or erase APFS volumes in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Oct 14, 2024 5:25 PM in response to brainwavestv

Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support

The Erase procedure described in this overly terse article works ONLY if the Macintosh HD item you selected is the FIRST or ONLY item at the top of the list. That first Item will be the storage drive in 'show only Volumes' view. if you choose any other item, you just screw up your drive.

Otherwise, for an Intel Mac like your pre 2018 model, withOUT T2 chip, use the tiny View menu to select 'Show all Devices' and choose the Physical Device, and completely Erase the Device.

This process completes the discarding of any residual Apple-ID information, so your Mac will only be eligible to re-install the factory-original version of MacOS, which can then be upgraded (once you have set it up and specified a NEW Apple-ID) to a later version.

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Answer 4

Ronasara

Level 6

15,531 points

Oct 14, 2024 10:38 AM in response to brainwavestv

You are not following the recommended procedure to give the Mac away. Here is a link which describes to.

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

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Answer 5

brainwavestv Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 16, 2024 6:21 PM in response to HWTech

Just following up to note that this worked. Changing the view to showing all volumes showed the SSD drive and I was able to erase the drive.

Thanks again!

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Answer 6

2399

Level 2

323 points

Oct 13, 2024 5:35 PM in response to brainwavestv

What prompted you to erase the internal drive? It sounds like it could just be a failing drive if it's not allocating properly. Have you already tried re-erasing after it 'failed' the first time? Also, is this an Intel based MacBook?

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Answer 7

brainwavestv Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 13, 2024 7:46 PM in response to 2399

I have upgraded to a new computer and I am attempting to wipe the old computer before getting rid of it.

Yes, I have tried to erase it a few times now. Each time it goes through the process without any issue and it ends with Completed Successfully. However, each time shows 225 GB for Other Volumes.

Also, yes this is an Intel-based, 2014 MacBook.

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Answer 8

brainwavestv Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 14, 2024 2:25 PM in response to Ronasara

Can you expand on how I am not following the recommended procedure? I am following those "If you can’t use Erase All Content and Settings" instructions and what I am describing is Step 6 "Erase your Mac".

Please provide any other insight on your note or this issue. Thanks.

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Answer 9

brainwavestv Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 15, 2024 6:15 AM in response to HWTech

Thanks for the info. I will try that and see how it goes.

Not sure why this is more complicated now (I recall that it used to be much simpler) nor why these details aren't reflected in their documentation.

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Answer 10

Ronasara

Level 6

15,531 points

Oct 14, 2024 4:21 PM in response to brainwavestv

I made that comment based on the fact that you said that you erased your HD and I did not know that you meant that you did what was instructed in theApple link.

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Answer 11

Oct 16, 2024 7:24 PM in response to brainwavestv

What version of MacOS was it willing to install? did you have to install older and then upgrade?

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Reinstall MacOS says not enough space after hard drive erase

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