Create any bootable macOS

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DOWNLOAD YOUR MACOS

The installer for your macOS can be found with these links macOS Monterey, macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, or macOS High Sierra and downloads straight to your Applications folder as an app named Install ** macOS (** is OS ). This download will be needed for your bootable macOS creation.

WHY CREATE A BOOTABLE INSTALLER

So we all at some point need a fresh and clean install of our macOS despite of backups present in the form of Terminal or an external backup drive.

Why a fresh install of macOS you may wonder. Well the macOS itself changes overtime a lot, and will perform at its best when all old and new system files are not overwritten time and time again.
You may experience lack of system respons and endup with loads of old files even though Apple does do a very good job on upgrade installs in contrast to Windows creating a real mess of obsolete files and broken path’s. So to cut this story short when a true new macOS is revealed ( Ventura is coming soon )
a fresh macOS will have you running smooth and secure for the future.

You may wish to do an all in Apple method by erasing your drive through Disk Utility and/or Recovery Mode. Using the erasing and Recovery Mode will make sure you start with a true clean install.

ENTER and USE RECOVERY MODE with macOS DOWNLOAD/INSTALL

To enter Recovery mode you need to press and hold the Command and R buttons during start up until the startup tune sounds.

For the latest M1 the M1 Pro and M1 Max Macs the entering of recovery mode has changed to:

  • To enter the recovery mode on a M1 Mac you press and hold the power button at start up of your Mac and keep pressing and holding the button until the startup-window appears with an Options icon. Select Options and click Continue.

Now follow these steps to reinstall the latest version of your desired macOS on your Mac:

  1. Enter Recovery (press Command+R on an Intel Mac or press and hold the power button on a M1 Mac).
  2. A macOS Utilities window will now open, showing the options to Restore From Time Machine, Reinstall macOS, and Disk Utility. If you want to erase your disk choose Disk Utility.
  3. Having selected Disk Utility, click Continue.
  4. Now select the volume you wish to Erase. The process can be slightly different if you are running an older macOS Catalina or Big Sur. If you aren’t running Catalina then you only need to delete the Macintosh HD volume. If you are running Catalina or later there will be two volumes possibly ‘Anyname HD’ and ‘Anyname – Data’. Now delete the Anyname-Data volume first and then Anyname HD.
  5. Formatting in the newer macOS will be in APFS where the older macOS will be Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
  6. Click Erase and wait. (There are options under Security Options that allow you to erase the disk securely).
  7. Now choose Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility. Or just Command + Q.
  8. If you are reformatting your drive, at this stage you will see the Utilities screen again. Alternatively you may have jumped here from above because you aren’t erasing you hard drive first. Either way you now need to now choose Reinstall macOS from the options. If at this stage you find that Recovery Mode isn’t available, perhaps because the startup volume has been erased.


After clicking Reinstall macOS, click on Continue. 

Enter your Apple ID if required and wait while macOS is reinstalled. Expect this to take a while.

All the above is the full proces of erasing and reinstallation of a macOS all through the Disk Utility application. Now we show you to create a full bootable macOS whichever version you prefer.
We assume you downloaded your preferred macOS through the links provided at the start/top of this TechTalk. Follow the tutorial below by choosing your macOS ( path ).

For information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter the appropriate path in Terminal:

USE THE ‘CREATEINSTALLMEDIA’ COMMAND IN TERMINAL

  1. Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you’re using for the bootable installer. 
  2. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  3. Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you’re using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.

Monterey:*

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

Big Sur:*

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

Catalina:*

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

Mojave:*

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

High Sierra:*

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

El Capitan:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app


After typing the command:

  1. Press Return to enter the command.
  2. When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn’t show any characters as you type your password.
  3. When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the volume is erased.
  4. After the volume is erased, you may see an alert that Terminal would like to access files on a removable volume. Click OK to allow the copy to proceed. 
  5. When Terminal says that it’s done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Monterey. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.

*  My disk was called TOYOTA, but yours might be anything of course.

Last login: Mon Dec 6 18:33:34 on ttys000
hjamensinga@HJAs-iMac ~ % sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/TOYOTA
Password:
Ready to start.
To continue we need to erase the volume at /Volumes/TOYOTA.
If you wish to continue type (Y) then press return: y
Erasing disk: 0%… 10%… 20%… 30%… 100%
Making disk bootable…
Copying to disk: 0%… 10%… 20%… 30%… 40%… 50%… 60%… 70%… 80%… 90%… 100%
Install media now available at “/Volumes/Install macOS Monterey” hjamensinga@HJAs-iMac ~ %



NOW USE YOUR CREATED BOOTABLE INSTALLER

Mac with Apple silicon (M1), then follow the appropriate steps: Apple silicon

Plug the bootable installer into your Mac which is connected to the internet ( to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model) and compatible with the version of macOS you’re installing. 

  • Turn on your Mac and continue to hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which shows your bootable volumes.
  • Select the volume containing the bootable installer, then click Continue.
  • When the macOS installer opens, follow the onscreen instructions.Intel processor

Mac with Intel processors steps: Intel

  • Press and hold the Option (Alt) ⌥ key immediately after turning on or restarting the Mac.
  • Release the Option key when you see a dark screen showing your bootable volumes.

Select the volume containing the bootable installer. Then click the up arrow or press Return. 

  • Choose your language, if prompted.

Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.


Thanks to Apple support https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

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