Mac users may occasionally find themselves wanting to clean install macOS Big Sur onto a Mac. A clean installation of macOS Big Sur basically means the entire hard drive – including the system itself, all data, all apps, user accounts, literally everything – is erased, and then a fresh clean install of macOS Big Sur is installed onto the Mac. At US$29.99, it allowed adventurous Mac users to sample Apple's new operating system and provide feedback for the actual release. The initial version of Mac OS X, 10.0 'Cheetah', was released on March 24, 2001. Older Mac OS applications could still run under early Mac OS X versions, using an environment called 'Classic'. Shut down your Mac, turn it on while holding down Command+R. Your Mac will boot into the recovery partition. If you're using an older Mac (from 2010 or earlier), there's a chance that you can't use Recovery Mode. On those devices, hold 'Option' while turning your computer on, then select the recovery partition instead.
Circle with a line through it
Learn what to do if your Mac starts up to a circle with a line through it (prohibitory symbol).
Question mark
Drift mania championship 2 mac os. Learn what to do if your Mac starts up to a question mark.
Options with a gear icon
Learn what to do if your Mac starts up to Options with a gear icon.
Blank (empty) screen
Learn what to do if your Mac starts up to a blank screen, such as an empty gray, black, or blue screen.
Apple logo
Learn what to do if your Mac starts up to an Apple logo or progress bar.
Globe with alert symbol
A globe with an exclamation point means that your Mac tried to start up from macOS Recovery over the Internet, but couldn't. Learn what to do if your Mac can't start up from macOS Recovery.
Lock icon
If your Mac is using a firmware password, the lock icon appears when you try to start up from another disk or volume, such as an external drive or macOS Recovery. Enter the firmware password to continue.
Mac Os Catalina
System lock PIN code
Your Mac asks for a PIN code when it has been remotely locked using Find My. Enter the four-digit or six-digit passcode to continue.
Login window
Mac Os Versions
At the login window, enter your user account password to log in to your Mac. If FileVault is turned on, this also unlocks your disk. You might see a default desktop picture in the background, which might change to your chosen desktop picture when you select your account.
Nothing (erkberg) Mac Os Catalina
Thunderbolt, USB, or FireWire symbol
A large Thunderbolt , USB , or FireWire symbol against a dark background means that your Mac is in target disk mode.
Nothing Ekberg Mac Os X
Learn more
Mac Os Mojave
- Learn what to do if your Mac displays a message that it restarted because of a problem.
- When starting up from Windows using Boot Camp, your Mac doesn't show an Apple logo or the other macOS screens in this article.