Updating your Mac takes long enough equally information technology is. Only that ordeal becomes even more time-consuming when the update fails and an error message says "macOS could not be installed on your computer."

Don't lose promise. Almost of the time, you can fix this mistake using the troubleshooting steps below. It shouldn't accept long to work your manner through them. We'll even explicate how to avert these kinds of macOS installation errors in the future.

Why macOS Couldn't Be Installed on Your Estimator

There are a lot of unlike reasons why an fault might occur while installing a macOS update. Hopefully, the error message told you lot exactly what the problem is. That style, you know where to target your troubleshooting efforts.

macOS Could Not Be Installed on Your Computer Error Message

Some of the virtually common reasons macOS tin't complete the installation include:

  • The path /System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg appears to be missing or damaged
  • Non enough free storage on your Mac
  • Corruptions in the macOS installer file
  • Problems with your Mac's startup disk
  • Incompatible hardware

Any the cause of your macOS installation fault, it'south unremarkably easy to fix for yourself. Follow the tips below to sort out the effect.

Before Troubleshooting Your macOS Installation Mistake

If your macOS installation couldn't be completed, you might detect yourself stuck in a loop where the installer reopens every time you restart your estimator. Follow these quick steps to break out of that loop and protect your information before troubleshooting the error.

Pace one. Boot Upwardly Your Mac in Safe Mode

Safe Mode stops diverse programs from launching upon startup, including the macOS installer. Booting your Mac in Condom Mode breaks you out of whatever startup loops and stops troublesome programs from running in the background.

The instructions for using Prophylactic Way vary depending on whether y'all take an Intel or Apple tree silicon chip in your Mac.

To boot into Safe Mode on an Intel-based computer, restart your Mac and hold downwardly the Shift fundamental while it powers on. Release the central when you see the Apple logo or hear a startup audio. It should say Safe Kicking in the menu bar on the login screen.

Safe Boot text from login screen

On an Apple silicon computer, close down your Mac, so press and hold the Power button until the startup options screen appears. From here, select your Startup Disk, hold the Shift key, and so click Keep in Safe Mode.

Stride 2. Create a New Backup Using Time Automobile

It's always important to back up your Mac before installing a major macOS update. These updates edit the core files in your operating organisation, so if something goes incorrect you might need to completely erase your Mac to fix information technology.

Connect an external drive and utilize Time Machine to dorsum up your Mac. Time Machine is the simplest way to protect all your information in incremental backups. These let yous to restore files from particular dates instead of keeping only the latest version of everything.

Step three. Check Your Mac'due south Compatibility in the App Store

Before getting started with our troubleshooting tips, take a moment to make sure the latest version of macOS is compatible with your Mac.

Visit this page on Apple tree'south support website and click the link for the macOS version you desire to install to view its hardware requirements. Click the Apple logo in the menu bar and select About This Mac to compare those requirements to your Mac.

If your Mac isn't compatible, you tin can't install that macOS version upgrade. Information technology might exist the beginning of many signs that information technology's time to replace your Mac.

What to Practise When the macOS Installation Couldn't Be Completed

Now that yous've backed upward your Mac and made sure information technology's compatible with the latest version of macOS, it's fourth dimension to try fixing your installation error with the troubleshooting tips beneath.

Since at that place are so many potential causes to this macOS error, any one of these suggestions might fix the problem. We'll starting time with the quickest and easiest tips to save you lot as much time as possible.

i. Restart Your Mac and Retry the Installation

Sometimes, all you need to practice to gear up macOS errors is to restart your Mac and try again. Open the Apple menu and select Restart from the dropdown card to practice so.

Restart Mac confirmation window

If your Mac is unresponsive, press and agree the Ability button to force a shutdown. Don't exercise this while the installation is in progress, though, since doing so can corrupt the files in your operating system.

2. Set Your Mac to the Correct Appointment and Time

Information technology'southward possible that the date or time on your Mac is wrong. When this is the case, it tin can lead to problems connecting to Apple's servers, which might be the reason there was an mistake installing macOS.

Open the Organisation Preferences and go to Date & Time to correct information technology. Click the Padlock and enter your administrator password, and then choose to Set date and fourth dimension automatically.

Date and Time automatic option in System Preferences

three. Create Enough Gratuitous Space for macOS to Install

A typical macOS installer takes up around 4–5GB of space on your Mac. But to consummate a macOS installation, your computer actually needs about 20GB of free storage.

This is because the macOS installer needs actress space to unpack files and folders. Without that boosted free space, the installer has no room to work and can't consummate the installation on your Mac.

Open the Apple menu and go to About This Mac > Storage to view the costless space on your Mac. Click Manage Storage to run into what'south using the virtually space and then follow our tips to free up more storage on your Mac.

4. Download a New Copy of the macOS Installer

The macOS installer on your Mac may accept get corrupt somehow. It's a expert thought to move that installer to the Trash and download a new 1 to replace it.

Most older macOS installers are bachelor straight from Apple's back up website, which gives you lot the total combo installer, rather than the smaller version available through Organization Preferences or the App Store. However, you lot may need to download the installer from the App Store for newer versions, like macOS Monterey.

macOS installer downloads from Apple website

five. Reset the PRAM and NVRAM

The PRAM and NVRAM store various settings and preferences on your Mac, such as your screen brightness, sound volume, and brandish resolution. Errors with your PRAM or NVRAM might explain why macOS couldn't be installed on your computer.

Fortunately, it's like shooting fish in a barrel to reset these settings without erasing any of your personal information. To practice so, restart your Mac and hold Option + Cmd + P + R while information technology powers on.

PRAM reset key combination

Proceed holding all those keys until y'all see a second Apple logo or hear a second startup sound, at which point the reset is consummate.

vi. Run First Aid on Your Startup Disk

Still seeing that the macOS installation couldn't be completed? In that location might exist disk permission or fragmentation errors on your startup disk. Information technology'south easy to fix most of these kinds of errors using the Disk Utility app, which comes pre-installed on macOS.

Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder in Applications. Select your Mac's startup disk in the sidebar—usually called Macintosh HD—then click First Assist. When yous Run First Aid, Disk Utility scans your disk for errors and repairs whatever it can.

First Aid option in Disk Utility on macOS

If you can't access Disk Utility normally, boot into macOS Recovery using the instructions below and try to run First Assistance once again.

7. Use macOS Recovery to Reinstall macOS

If macOS still won't install properly, you might need to reinstall the whole operating system instead. You lot can do this using macOS Recovery on your Mac.

The process for booting into macOS Recovery is a different for Intel and Apple silicon Macs.

On an Intel Mac, restart your Mac and hold Selection + Cmd + R while it powers on. Release the keys when y'all see an Apple logo or hear a startup audio, at which point a macOS Utilities window appears.

On an Apple silicon Mac, close it downward, and then press and hold the Power button until the startup options screen appears. Click Options, then click Go on.

Once in macOS Recovery, click Reinstall macOS to install the latest version of macOS. This might take a while, since your Mac needs to download the new software first.

Reinstall macOS from utilities

8. Erase Your Mac and Restore From a Backup

The last troubleshooting solution for any software-related trouble is to erase your startup deejay and reinstall macOS from scratch. With a new version of macOS on your figurer, you tin then restore all your data from a Time Machine fill-in.

If you don't back up your Mac earlier you erase the startup disk, you lot will lose all your data: photos, music, files, and everything else.

Follow these instructions to erase and restore your Mac.

Use Mac Utilities to Avert Future macOS Errors

Equally you've seen, at that place are several reasons an error message might say macOS could not be installed on your estimator. Nosotros've shown y'all how to troubleshoot these problems, but you accept a better chance fugitive them if you lot keep your Mac in tip-top shape all the fourth dimension.

Lots of free apps offer to free up more storage or remove malware to help you exercise this.

The ix Best Complimentary Mac Tools to Detect and Fix Common macOS Problems

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