In Utilities, click on Reinstall macOS or Reinstall OS X.ħ. If you have a the option to connect to the Internet using an Ethernet cable, then you can take that route as well.Ħ. Select the network you wish to connect to and enter its password. At this point connect your Mac to a WiFi network by clicking on the WiFi button in the menu bar.

You'll be taken back to the main Utilities page.ĥ. Once the disk is done erasing, close the Disk Utility window. Make sure it's the drive on which you want to install macOS or OS X on.Ĥ. Once you see a window like the one below, click on Disk Utility and Erase your main Mac HDD (or SSD). In a few short seconds, you'll boot straight into Recovery.ģ. Release the Command + R key combination once you see the Apple logo on display. Restart your Mac, or power it on, while holding down the Command + R key combination.Ģ.

All set? Let's jump into the installation process.ġ. You don't have a dongle to connect your USB drive with your (new) Mac.īefore you go ahead with the installation it's worth mentioning here that you will lose your files, therefore make a backup of everything on an external USB drive or iCloud before proceeding.Internet speeds are fast enough to get things done at a quick pace.A USB drive isn't available at all times for everyone.Everything can be done over the air, completely untethered, and all you need to have at hand is a fast working Internet connection.īut why would you want to take the untethered route? There are a lot of reasons behind it, but I'll focus on only three.

But really, you don't have to follow the traditional way in order to do a clean installation of Apple's desktop operating system onto your Mac. When it comes to installing a fresh copy of macOS or OS X, we immediately divert our minds toward a bootable USB drive from which we will take things off. Clean Install macOS / OS X Over the Air, Completely Untethered - All You Need is an Internet Connection Here's how you can clean install macOS or OS X on your iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro without bootable USB drive, external storage medium.

Install os x el capitan target disk usb