How to create a mac OS Big Sur USB bootable install drive and use it to do a clean install

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Here we will learn about creating bootable usb Mac OS. It is here, today is the day. Today Big Sur arrives. How with all the major versions of the operating system, there is a bulk of users who decide to do a clean installation. Why? To get out of the beta cycle and leave behind some errors or simply to ensure optimal operation of our machines. Necessary? The truth is that no, although it never hurts. Let’s see how to create a bootable unit to install Big Sur from scratch.

What do we need?

Flash drive

For this process we will need a flash memory of at least 16GB of storage . Keep in mind that we will completely erase your content, so if necessary, we will save the files in another location.

We will also need a copy of the Big Sur setup application . We can get this app in the App Store, simply searching for Big Sur when it is already available.

Last but not least, the Mac with which we create the installer, even if it is intended for another bootable USB Mac, must be compatible with Big Sur .

Terminal, here we go

Well, once the necessary ingredients are gathered, let’s get to work . The process is quite simple and consists of these steps:

  1. We connect the flash memory to the Mac and change the name to “FLASH”, without the quotes.
  2. We open the Terminal app , which we can search using Spotlight.
  3. We copy and paste the following command, without the quotes: “sudo / Applications / Install \ macOS \ Big \ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume / Volumes / FLASH –nointeraction”
  4. We press Enter (↩︎).
  5. We write the password of our Mac and press Enter again.

The process can take up to 20 minutes depending on the speed of the computer we are using. We will see several process indicators in the same terminal and when it is completed we will see “Done” in the last line. And just like that, we’ve created a bootable Big Sur installer.

And now that?

Now we can proceed to the installation of Big Sur from scratch. To do so, we simply turn off the computer, connect the flash memory and turn it on while pressing the option key (⌥) . When the menu to choose appears, we select the Big Sur installer.

Remember that some Macs with the T2 chip need us to activate this external boot option . To do so, we simply turn off the Mac and turn it on by pressing Command (⌘) + R. Then, in the Utilities menu we choose Startup Security Utility and we will mark the option * Allow startup from external support . After restarting the computer, we will be able to use our installer on the Mac.

Let us bear in mind that for the installation to be from scratch it is necessary to erase the content of the entire hard drive , the process is very easy.

And that simple. We have created a bootable usb macOS Big Sur installer and have seen how to use it to create a clean system installation. A resource that forces us to reinstall applications and settings after the process, but that can improve errors and the general performance of the computer.

Also Read | Windows users: How to switch from Windows to macOS without dying in the attempt

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