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I reset my macbook pro, now I have two Hard Drives?

Hi all,


Long story short I wanted to wipe my Mac back to its original state. I followed an online guide and now I have ended up with more than I bargained with... Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD - Data... Can anyone explain how I can fix this?


I basically wanted to clear the MacBook Pro to its original state and start a fresh


Many thanks



MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on Dec 6, 2021 11:14 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 6, 2021 11:55 AM

For apps removal I like free AppCleaner app. If you no longer want to keep the data, move it to trash and empty the trash.


If you want to keep data, move it to an external drive or cloud storage.  iCloud is not a  cloud storage/backup solution.  After you get the data to an external location, delete it off your internal drive.


A relatively easy way to remove all your user data quickly is to create a second Admin account, login to it and removed your old user deleting Data and the Home folder. Of course you now have new user login.


One thing to be wary off, and this is on the newer OS versions, deleting a massive amount of data will likely cause MacOS to create a temporary dataset named "Purgeable Data". Give it a couple of days and your Mac will release it. There are apps to do it more quickly. Purgeable Data looks unusable, it's not, it's available it's just your Mac will release it when needed.

10 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 6, 2021 11:55 AM in response to Alikin123

For apps removal I like free AppCleaner app. If you no longer want to keep the data, move it to trash and empty the trash.


If you want to keep data, move it to an external drive or cloud storage.  iCloud is not a  cloud storage/backup solution.  After you get the data to an external location, delete it off your internal drive.


A relatively easy way to remove all your user data quickly is to create a second Admin account, login to it and removed your old user deleting Data and the Home folder. Of course you now have new user login.


One thing to be wary off, and this is on the newer OS versions, deleting a massive amount of data will likely cause MacOS to create a temporary dataset named "Purgeable Data". Give it a couple of days and your Mac will release it. There are apps to do it more quickly. Purgeable Data looks unusable, it's not, it's available it's just your Mac will release it when needed.

Dec 6, 2021 11:20 AM in response to Alikin123

Perfectly normal; you still have only a single physical dive. Macintosh HD is your system; Macintosh HD - Data is where all the data resides that is not part of your operating system. This is by design to keep your system segregated and out of harm's way so to say.


This can't be fixed, it is the fix to protect your operating system.

Dec 6, 2021 11:30 AM in response to Alikin123

It's the data space. If you truly wiped the drive, then the data is gone. It's just gone from Macintosh - Data.

Exactly how did you wipe the drive?


If you're still able to see data when you start your system, you didn't wipe the drive. Or you used either Setup or Migration Assistant to migrate your data back from a backup dataset.


EDIT: removed incorrect comment; misread the image.

I reset my macbook pro, now I have two Hard Drives?

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