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MacBook Pro storage is full & won't boot past the Apple logo

My Mac's internal SSD is filled up and won't boot past the Apple logo with the spinning wheel. It freezes for hours, too. I've deleted over 10GB of data, but it still won't boot up. It also won't boot into Safe Mode or Verbose Mode. This is a Retina MacBook Pro I bought in 2013 with a 1TB SSD.

Best Answered by

Jenny Zeng

Answered on Monday, April 29, 2024

To fix the full disk, you need to reformat your Mac. Keep in mind that you need to back up your Mac before proceeding, as erasing your Mac will remove all your data.

To recover data from your unbootable Mac, you can run iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac from Recovery Mode or use Target Disk Mode if you have access to another Mac.

Once your data is backed up, follow the steps below to erase your Mac to free up space.

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Press the power button, then immediately press and hold Command + R.
  3. Release the keys when you see the Apple logo.
  4. In the "macOS Utilities" window, click Disk Utility, followed by Continue.
  5. Click View > Show All Devices.
  6. Select the top-level physical disk and click Erase.
  7. Name your internal hard drive.
  8. Set the format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) if running macOS Sierra and earlier.
  9. Set the scheme to GUID Partition Map.
  10. Click Erase.
  11. When the erase process is done, close Disk Utility.
  12. Click "Reinstall macOS" to reinstall the OS.

After the new OS is installed, your Mac should boot up normally.

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