MacBook Air internal disk not showing during macOS reinstall

why does my MacBook Air not show the internal disk when I’m trying to reload the MacOS after a full reset

MacBook Air 11″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Nov 16, 2025 7:30 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 16, 2025 7:56 AM

Not sure how you got to where you are now, but you must format the internal disk before the OS installer will recognize it as a valid location for OS installation.


To reinstall El Capitan you'll need to format the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a GUID partition map.


If you can boot that Mac in recovery mode, then you can use the Disk Utility app to format the drive.

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Reinstall macOS - Apple Support


1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 16, 2025 7:56 AM in response to Hard368

Not sure how you got to where you are now, but you must format the internal disk before the OS installer will recognize it as a valid location for OS installation.


To reinstall El Capitan you'll need to format the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a GUID partition map.


If you can boot that Mac in recovery mode, then you can use the Disk Utility app to format the drive.

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Reinstall macOS - Apple Support


MacBook Air internal disk not showing during macOS reinstall

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.