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This guide explains how to remove Windows on a Mac. Boot Camp Assistant, Disk Utility, and Terminal are three options for deleting the Bootcamp partition on a Mac. Apple’s free Boot Camp Assistant tool allows you to install Windows on your Mac. It’s a thoughtful feature for users who are switching from a Windows PC to a Mac or who need to run two operating systems on one Mac device.
You may also want to remove Windows from your Mac for a variety of reasons, including: you no longer need the Windows partition on your Mac; you want to format the startup disk, which needs first deleting the Windows partition on it; you want to format the startup disk, which requires first deleting the Windows partition on it. Whatever your reason, the procedures outlined below will show you how to remove the Windows partition from your Mac. And, because M1 Bootcamp isn’t available, this post is exclusive for Intel Mac users.
Will the contents of my Windows partition be lost if I remove windows?
Without a doubt, remove Windows 10 on a Mac via Boot Camp Assistant wipes off the entire partition. All of your stored information, including documents, images, and videos, will be permanently wiped, freeing up disk space and restoring your boot disk as a single macOS volume. As a result, it’s critical to back up the important files on the Windows drive before proceeding with the Bootcamp partition removal. You can use Windows OS to copy or drag files to an external hard drive, or you can use cloud storage to save your stuff. Furthermore, you should make a backup of the macOS partition just in case.
How to Remove Windows/Bootcamp Partition from a Mac
We may now move on to learning how to erase Bootcamp partition from Mac if you have already backed up the necessary files on the Windows partition. Using Boot Camp Assistant to delete Windows or a partition created with Boot Camp is Apple’s suggested option. As a result, you should start with this strategy. If Boot Camp doesn’t work, you can try Disk Utility and Terminal, which are both built-in utilities. For each method, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide.
How to Use Boot Camp Assistant to Remove a Bootcamp Partition
- Launch macOS on your Mac. Hold down the Option key when restarting the Mac, then release the key and select macOS from the boot menu.
- Log out any other users and close all open applications.
- Open Boot Camp Assistant by searching for it in Spotlight.
- When the Boot Camp Assistant welcome screen opens, click Next.
- Select Remove Windows 10 or later version from the Select Tasks step if it exists, then click Continue.
- Click Restore if your Mac only has one internal disk. Select the Windows drive, then Restore disk to a single macOS partition, then click Continue if your Mac has several internal disks.
- If prompted, enter the admin password to begin the operation.
- When the operation is finished, the message Partition Removed appears.
How to Use Disk Utility to Remove Windows from a Mac
You may First Aid and repair disks, add or delete volumes, partition disks, restore, and erase internal and external storage devices with Disk Utility, Mac’s disk management. Let’s look at how to use Disk Utility to erase the Boot Camp partition.
- On your Mac, install macOS.
- Remove any programs that you don’t need.
- On your Mac, launch Disk Utility. To start Disk Utility App and launch Spotlight search, press command+spacebar.
- Select Windows Partition from the left sidebar.
- On the toolbar, click the Erase button.
- Choose APFS, Mac OS Extended, or the same format as the macOS partition.
If the Erase button is greyed out, restart the Mac in macOS Recovery Mode and try again using Disk Utility.
How to Remove Windows from a Mac Using Terminal
You may use Terminal to swiftly take control of your operating system and make changes if some Mac programs break or become unresponsive. You may simply force quit an app, change a directory, reset the Mac password, and erase Windows from Mac by inputting a few command lines.
- Using Spotlight, open the Terminal app.
- Type the following command in the prompt: diskutil list
- If the command was correctly executed, a list of disks and partitions will appear: sudo diskutil eraseVolume JHFS+ deleteme /dev/disk0s3
- Locate the name of the disk and Windows partition you wish to delete. The ‘IDENTIFIER’ column is where you’ll find it.
- The name of the Boot Camp partition should be replaced with disk0s3.
- Click Action after entering your password.
Check to see if the Windows partition was successfully deleted
When you successfully remove Windows from your Mac, you will usually see statements like “Partition Removed” in Boot Camp Assistant.
On a Mac, there are two ways to confirm whether the Windows partition has been wiped completely:
- Tap Storage after clicking the Apple logo > About this Mac. After uninstalling the prior BOOTCAMP partition, you won’t be able to view it.
- Select View > Show All Devices from Disk Utility. After erasing the Windows partition, it will disappear from the left list.
Final Words
After using the first technique – Boot Camp Assistant – you should be able to remove Windows from your Mac. As Apple advises, uninstalling Windows with Boot Camp Assistant is always recommended. If none of these ways work to uninstall Windows 10 on a Mac, or if the freed-up space doesn’t merge with the macOS partition to make a single huge volume, formatting the entire drive can bring it back on track. You can also contact Apple Support or submit your device to a local repair shop for assistance.
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