Do this by holding the command+R keys while powering your Mac on. If there’s no menu bar or no option to choose your startup disk, reboot your Mac into Recovery Mode. Use Startup Disk to avoid looping around the macOS update installer.

Now you can follow these tips to free up enough space for the macOS update.

It should boot up normally, breaking you out of the macOS update loop. Go to  > Startup Disk… and select your Mac’s hard drive, which is usually called ‘Macintosh HD.’Ĭlick Restart and wait for your Mac to reboot. Move your mouse to the top-left corner of the screen, you should see a menu bar appear. We’ve included more space-saving tips at the bottom of this post.īut if you can’t log in to your Mac - which is probably the case if you’re reading this post - follow the troubleshooting steps below to break out of the macOS update loop or free up space from within the macOS installer. Then free up more space by deleting large files or moving them to an external hard drive. How do I create more free space from a macOS update loop? This is common advice to help your computer run smoothly. Regardless of whether you’re updating your Mac, try to keep at least 10% of your hard drive empty. This should avoid the risk of getting stuck in a macOS update loop. We advise you to give your Mac 1.5x Apple’s recommended storage requirement for an update. Click here to take a look at that page, typically Apple suggests you need around 20 GB of free space. How much free storage do I need to update macOS? Try to always keep at least 10% of your hard drive empty.Īpple lists storage space recommendations for macOS updates on its website. Without that space, the macOS update installer can’t complete all of its tasks, and the update fails.

In fact, you often need as much as 20 GB of free storage on your Mac to update the operating software on it. But in fact, the macOS update installer needs extra room to work in.Īs the update installs, it copies files and expands folders, taking up much more space than it needed to download. Especially after you already made enough space to download the update. It’s not immediately obvious why your Mac needs free space to update itself anyway. Why do I need free space to update macOS? Tips for creating more free space on your Mac.Create enough free space for the macOS update using Terminal Erase your hard drive, if you have a backup Repair your hard drive using Disk Utility How do I create more free space from a macOS update loop?.How much free storage do I need to update macOS?.Why do I need free space to update macOS?.

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