Macbook - Cannot delete bootcamp partition

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Level 1

12 points

Macbook - Cannot delete bootcamp partition

Hi all,

My bootcamp partition cannot seemingly be deleted, I have tried many things over the past few months, but to no avail. I believe that it can be done with commands but do not know which to use. Here is what terminal gives me when using diskutil list: (disk0s4 is the one that I want to delete and repartition)

And here is a picture of my partitions, Bootcamp being the one that needs to go. It cannot seemingly be done through disk utility.

Any help would be great.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015), macOS Sierra (10.12.4)

Posted on Apr 16, 2017 9:17 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Apr 16, 2017 11:10 AM in response to cjttchris

Look at your diskutil list output, and notice the file system for disk0s4 is Apple_HFS, not Microsoft Basic Data. This implies that you tried to use to Disk Utility to erase (not remove) the partition manually. BC Assistant will not touch this partition.

From OS X Terminal, please run

diskutil eraseVolume fat32 BOOTCAMP disk0s4

Now try to use BC Assistant and remove/restore the partition using Boot Camp for Mac: Remove Windows from your Mac .

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Answer 2

Stuch17

Level 1

4 points

Dec 11, 2017 2:42 AM in response to Loner T

I also have the same problem (bootcamp does't recognize my windows partition). I erased the bootcamp partition with the disk utility as ExFat but still doesn't work. this is my diskutility output, if as disk utility output you mean this.

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Answer 3

Apr 16, 2017 9:48 AM in response to cjttchris

You might try the current Bootcamp version available to you, and see if it will remove that Bootcamp partition.

Otherwise, you will have to start over with the drive, because you won't be able to reclaim that partition. I would recommend that you download the current operating system from the option key + Purchases tab on the App Store, and burn it to a USB stick, so that you can start with the current OS X version. The bootable USB stick can be made with Diskmaker X6, or the createinstallmedia utility within the installer.

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Apr 16, 2017 11:10 AM in response to cjttchris

Was the eraseVolume successful? If yes, boot into Internet Recovery, run Disk Utility First Aid, and then boot normally and retry.

The other option is to use

diskutil repairDisk disk0

in OSX Terminal and then retry your BC Assistant Remove/restore command.

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Answer 5

Dec 8, 2017 8:20 PM in response to cjttchris

I am experincing the same problem, error when trying to delete through Bootcamp.

When I go to repair the disc, it says Disc Utility cannot repair this disc. When I try reformatting as OSX journal it gives out an error.

The partition is titled "Windows XP", as an ExFat. I am running OSX Yosemite 10.10.5

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Answer 6

cjttchris Author

Level 1

12 points

Apr 16, 2017 10:42 AM in response to Loner T

When I tried the above, it gave me this message through Bootcamp Assistant:

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Answer 7

Apr 16, 2017 9:23 AM in response to cjttchris

The bootcamp partition must be removed by the same version of Bootcamp that created it. Any other approach, short of reformatting the entire drive will fall short of your expectations.

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