Will items in iCloud be erased if reinstall the OS on my MacBook Pro?

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Level 1

4 points

Will items in iCloud be erased if reinstall the OS on my MacBook Pro?

I have a 2012 MacBook pro that is not starting up (it's stuck on the loading screen). Brought it to the Apple store and they started it in safe mode, and all the hardware seems to be working, but it's still not starting up. They recommended reinstalling the OS, however my main concern is that it holds all of my documents and photos, and I dont want to lose them.

This MacBook pro is synced with iCloud, and all of my documents and photos seem to be there when checking icloud.com. If I was to reinstall the OS, would that delete the items in iCloud? There is no way for me to sign out of iCloud first, since I cannot startup the OS.

My goal is to transfer / download the items from iCloud to a new MacBook to have local copies in addition to cloud storage.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 31, 2024 7:50 PM

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Answer 1

AlWeir

Level 4

3,278 points

Aug 3, 2024 8:45 AM in response to Haikuu

Once you get you new MBP and have configured it to your liking, then got to iCloud on the Mac once you have entered your email address and password. Don't bother trying to change them with the new system (which people try to do). Once you have done that then go to your Apple ID profile on the new Mac. https://appleid.apple.com/account/manage and remove your old mac from you profile.

When buying a new Mac with this new AI stuff they are coming out with don't buy a base model. Go for as much Unified Memory as possible and the best processor and at least a 2TB SSD

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Answer 2

Aug 3, 2024 9:13 AM in response to Haikuu

I don't believe that restoring the Mac will have an effect on your documents in iCloud. What did the nice folks at the Apple Store say?

You should always have more than one backup method. I recommend that you get yourself an external hard drive large enough to hold everything. A 2TB drive can be found on Amazon for less than $100 USD.

Back up your computer (or at least all of your data) to the hard drive. You can use Apple's Timemachine, third-party software like Carbon Copy Cloner or, if all you want to back up is the files, drag and drop them yourself.

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