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I cannot remove a partition from my Mac

I am running an early 2008 Macintosh running OS X El Capitan. I tried to make a new partition to run Windows 7 off of, but I gave up. Now I can't remove it. I erased the partition in Disk Utility and then went into the thingy above it but the minus arrow isn't letting me click it.

iMac, OS X 10.11

Posted on May 29, 2019 1:54 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 29, 2019 2:33 PM

Do you have or know how to create a backup? You will need a spare drive on which to save the backup. You only need to backup your files - that is your entire Home folder - Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Library, Movies, Music, Pictures.


Once you have completed making a backup the remainder is pretty easy:


Install El Capitan or Later from Scratch


If possible, back up your files.


  1. Restart the computer. Immediately, at or before the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:
  2. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on the Continue button.
  3. When Disk Utility loads select the volume (indented entry, usually Macintosh HD) from the Device list.
  4. Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's main window. A panel will drop down.
  5. Set the Format type to APFS (SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
  6. Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
  7. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
  8. Select Install OS X and click on the Continue button.


When the above is finished and you have re-booted the computer, and if all seems OK, you can restore your files by copying them from the backup to the corresponding folders on the computer.

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 29, 2019 2:33 PM in response to brady104

Do you have or know how to create a backup? You will need a spare drive on which to save the backup. You only need to backup your files - that is your entire Home folder - Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Library, Movies, Music, Pictures.


Once you have completed making a backup the remainder is pretty easy:


Install El Capitan or Later from Scratch


If possible, back up your files.


  1. Restart the computer. Immediately, at or before the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:
  2. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on the Continue button.
  3. When Disk Utility loads select the volume (indented entry, usually Macintosh HD) from the Device list.
  4. Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's main window. A panel will drop down.
  5. Set the Format type to APFS (SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
  6. Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
  7. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
  8. Select Install OS X and click on the Continue button.


When the above is finished and you have re-booted the computer, and if all seems OK, you can restore your files by copying them from the backup to the corresponding folders on the computer.

May 30, 2019 12:25 PM in response to brady104

Yes, the format type does matter. If you are formatting an SSD use APFS. If you are formatting a HDD, then use Mac OS Extended, journaled. Both use GUID as the partition scheme.


The backup can be whatever you prefer. If you already have a Time Machine backup then use it. See How to use Time Machine to back up or restore your Macs. The Time Machine backup drive must be formatted using Mac OS Extended, Journaled. Even if it is an SSD.

May 29, 2019 2:14 PM in response to brady104

Did you use Boot Camp to create the partition? If so, then using Disk Utility to try removing it has altered the boot loader information rendering the partition unremovable. You need to backup your data then reformat the drive as a new single volume as it was before you tried partitioning it. Then reinstall macOS and restore your files. If you want a Windows partition you should use Boot Camp Assistant in the Utilities' folder. Don't allocate so much space to the Windows volume. Be sure to leave enough free space for macOS - 20GBs or 10% of the disk's capacity, whichever is greater.

I cannot remove a partition from my Mac

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