If you're worried about running out of disk space on either your main drive or the new volume, you can select a minimum/maximum volume size. However, APFS volumes are designed to allocate disk space as needed. You have the option of selecting a specific size that you want the volume to be, which will guarantee this volume will always have the reserve size you want. Select the type of APFS format you want.Select your APFS drive (Should be called Macintosh HD) from the sidebar.Scroll down and open the Utilities folder.ĭouble-click on Disk Utilities to open it.This allows you to switch between OSes using the Startup Disk option.
You can test Big Sur on your Mac without having to change anything on your daily driver by creating a volume that acts as a separate drive so you can install a completely different operating system. If your Mac uses APFS, Apple recommends creating a volume instead of a partition. You can manually select size limiters for a volume if you're worried about one drive overtaking another's space. You don't have to worry about running out of temporary space while installing macOS, for example, because it will grab the necessary space from your main drive and then put it back when it's done.
This allows the volume the flexibility to grow or shrink in storage size as needed. What is an APFS volume?Īn APFS volume creates a similar container to be used the same way as a partition, but it mounts it within your main hard drive. If your Mac uses APFS, Apple recommends creating a volume instead. If you are running a Mac using HFS+ file system (prior to macOS Catalina) you must partition your hard drive. So, if you are running low on storage capacity on your hard drive, we don't recommend partitioning. Each partition will take up a portion of your usable storage. It is important to note that partitioning your hard drive also splits up your available hard drive space. Note: If you want to run Windows on your Mac, Apple's Boot Camp assistant will automatically make a partition for you. It makes it possible to run two separate operating systems on one device, like Windows and macOS, or two versions of macOS (like Catalina and Big Sur).
Create a new user account and password to test your Mac’s speed. Skip past this step for now, as you can launch the Migration Assistant later. Once this is complete, the Setup Assistant will offer to migrate your existing data.
Your Mac will download the necessary system files to install a fresh copy of macOS 10.13 on your machine. Quit Disk Utility then choose ‘Reinstall macOS’ from the main menu. Once the utility loads, select ‘Macintosh HD’ from the box on the left then the ‘Erase’ button at the top.
Click the arrow to continue, then on 'Disk Utility'. Next, restart your Mac holding ‘Command +r’.
Save any personal data and make a full backup, ideally using Time Machine. If you have followed the previous steps but are still having issues with system speed of macOS 10.13, you can return your Mac to its factory settings. You can hover over these to delete or show them in Finder. Finally, the ‘Reduce Clutter’ option identifies any large files that you may no longer be using. Use the third option ‘Empty Trash Automatically’ to delete files that have been in the ‘Trash’ for more than 30 days. These can always be downloaded again at a later stage if needs be. From here you can remove any movies you have already watched.
The second option ‘Optimize Storage’ relates to iTunes or movie files that you have stored on your Mac. Any recently used files in your ‘Documents’ and ‘Desktop’ folders will be moved to iCloud. If you have fast and reliable internet connection, choose the ‘Store in iCloud’ button. Next, click on the ‘Storage’ tab, then select the ‘Manage’ button. Once of the ways to streamline your file usage is to go to ‘Apple>About this Mac’. Even though macOS 10.13 is very efficient when it comes to using files, as time goes by temporary data and third-party applications can decrease the speed of your machine.