The first and most common reason is that the drive has been encrypted. There are many reasons this could happen.

The frustration caused by the drive being locked and the need to get your operating system installed has probably led to you asking the question or just wondering why the drive is locked or how it got locked in the first place. After you have done the initial set up you can then load the data or files you backed up back onto the machine and you can also download and install any apps you want to put back. Once these steps have been completed your MacBook should be back to its original factory settings. Step 4: Once completed your system will restart, follow the initial setup process to get macOS configured on your machine. Step 3: Follow the instructions on your screen which will walk you through the process. Select Options, click Continue and follow the instructions you see on the screen. Once it is completely powered down, hold down the power button until you see the message Loading Startup Options.

Method 1 (Apple chipset): Shut down your Mac.

If one method does not work, just try the other. You don’t have to find out which one your is if you don’t want to.

There are two different ways to do this depending on the chipset your Mac has. Step 2: Start your Mac in macOS Recovery mode. Step 1: Back up your hard drive if you wish to keep the data currently on it. If you are ready to get started, just follow the steps below:

The procedure we are going to use below will completely erase all data on the drive and you will no longer have access to it. You will have a clean formatted disk without any garbage on it that will probably perform better.ĬAUTION: If you do already have your own data on the drive and need to save anything, make sure you backup your hard drive first. Whatever the reason may be, it doesn’t really matter, the best way to proceed is to use the Disk Utility to erase the disk and start over fresh. You may have a used Mac that you bought or someone gave to you and you don’t know the password, you may have forgotten your password or other possible reasons. There are numerous reasons why your disk may be locked and the installer is not letting you re-install your macOS.

Reinstalling mac os big sur