Delete Recovery Partition on Mac

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Every Mac device since Mac OS X Lion comes with a Recovery partition, a tool to rescue your Mac if the operating system encounters errors or malfunctions. However, if you find yourself not needing it and wanting to free up some space, you can delete the Recovery partition on Mac.

Deleting partitions on Mac might not be too challenging for you, but dealing with the Recovery partition is different. In this article, Mytour will guide you on how to remove the Recovery partition on Mac as well as some ways to restore it. Keep reading for more details below.

Basic information about the Recovery partition

During Mac startup, press the Command + R key combination to boot into Recovery mode. If your Mac is experiencing issues, access this mode and use Time Machine to restore your Mac, or as a last resort, perform a clean macOS installation.

The main menu offers 4 options: restore Mac from Time Machine, reinstall macOS, online support, and Disk Utility. For online support, your Mac must be connected to the Internet.

Additional utilities are not listed but are available in the menu: Firmware Password Utility, Network Utility, and Terminal. If you're using an older Mac released before 2010, you can boot into Recovery mode by pressing and holding Option + Command+ R.

Delete Recovery Partition

If your USB drive contains the latest macOS installer and you want to reclaim about 650MB of free space on your Mac, you can delete the Recovery partition.

Note: Before proceeding with the steps, back up any important data and files on your system to avoid potential errors.

1. Core Storage and Dirty Hack

Apple introduces Core Storage

as part of the Fusion Drive technology.

Apple has transitioned to Core Storage partition during the macOS upgrade process. You can check if the system drive has been converted to Core Storage by entering the command below in the Terminal window:

diskutil list

If the command lists the system drive as AppleCoreStorage, it means you should not proceed. Even Terminal cannot support these partitions.

However, there is another solution which involves using Carbon Copy Cloner to create an external drive clone.

Download Carbon Copy Cloner for Mac and install it here: Download Carbon Copy Cloner for Mac

Then plug your USB into the Mac and open Disk Utility. Select the USB drive, then click Erase. Name the drive and set the Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled), and the Scheme to GUID Partition Map.

After formatting the drive correctly, open Carbon Copy Cloner and you'll be notified of the first task to do. If not, select New Task from the File menu. Choose the Mac system drive as the source and the newly formatted system drive as the destination. Then select Done and begin copying.

The duration depends on the system drive size. After completion, shut down your Mac and restart it, during startup hold down the Option key to choose the boot drive. Select your USB and boot your Mac from there.

After accessing macOS, open the Computer folder from Finder and eject your drive. Then open Disk Utility. Repeat the steps to erase the system drive containing the partition. Then return to Carbon Copy Cloner to restore the drive.

When asked by Carbon Copy Cloner if you want to restore the Recovery partition, select No. Your Mac will no longer have a Recovery partition from now on.

2. Terminal

If your Mac is using an old partition scheme, the simplest way to delete the Recovery partition on Mac is by using Terminal, although your account must have Admin privileges to do this. Use the command below to find the Recovery partition:

diskutil list

This command will provide a list of all drives and partitions. Be careful as deleting the wrong partition can result in data loss. Your task is to find the Recovery HD partition, which may be at the end of the list. Delete this partition and merge your main partition. To do this, the first step is to delete the partitions using the command below:

diskutil eraseVolume JHFS+ Blank disk0s3

This command will erase the Recovery partition on Mac and free up space. Make sure your Recovery HD partition is listed as disk0s3. If not, modify the command to match your drive.

Currently, there are 2 partitions on the system drive: the system drive and the empty partition. The next step you need to take is to merge these 2 partitions into a single partition. Use the command below:

diskUtil mergePartitions JHFS+ disk0s2 disk0s3

This command merges the 2 partitions and the data on the system drive. Double-check the names of the partitions again to avoid data loss. Remember to back up your data before proceeding.

Now you can list your partitions again and check that your system drive has 1 partition and 1 EFI boot partition.

Restore Recovery Partition

One of the simplest ways to restore the Recovery partition is to update macOS or perform a macOS reinstallation

If you're looking for a solution to restore the Recovery partition without updating macOS, you can repeat the steps with Carbon Copy Cloner in Core Storage partition. When Carbon Copy Cloner asks if you want to restore the Recovery partition, select Create Recovery Volume.

This article on Mytour has just guided you on how to delete the Recovery partition on Mac. Deleting the Recovery partition is not difficult, however, you should be careful not to delete other partitions on the system.

Frequently Asked Questions

What steps should I take to delete the Recovery partition on my Mac?

To delete the Recovery partition, you can use Terminal or Carbon Copy Cloner. Ensure you back up your data first. In Terminal, use the command 'diskutil list' to find the Recovery partition, then erase it with 'diskutil eraseVolume JHFS+ Blank disk0s3' and merge partitions with 'diskUtil mergePartitions JHFS+ disk0s2 disk0s3'.

Is it possible to restore the Recovery partition on my Mac?

Yes, you can restore the Recovery partition by updating macOS or reinstalling it. Another method involves using Carbon Copy Cloner; during the process, select 'Create Recovery Volume' to restore the partition.

What is the purpose of the Recovery partition on Mac?

The Recovery partition is a special section of your Mac's drive that allows you to troubleshoot issues, restore from Time Machine, reinstall macOS, or access online support without needing to boot from an external drive.

How can I check if my Mac uses a Core Storage partition scheme?

To check if your Mac uses a Core Storage partition scheme, open Terminal and type 'diskutil list'. If the command lists your system drive as AppleCoreStorage, it indicates that Core Storage is in use.

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