So currently in the process of reinstalling macOS on my Macbook and I have already erased Macintosh HD but there remains a “container disk3” in disk utility that is taking up 3.39gb of storage. What is this? Should I delete it for a clean install or keep it if it’s important? macOS base system is using 949.9mb with capacity of 1.17gb
[Edited by Moderator]
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 13.7
That is where your internal macOS installation & data is stored. Apple changed the drive layout with the advent of the APFS file system with macOS 10.13 High Sierra, then again beginning with macOS 10.15 Catalina, then slight changes with macOS 11.x Big Sur. See the following Apple article for details:
Signed system volume security - Apple Support
The following is an older archived Apple article specific to macOS 10.15 Catalina which actually has pictures of the drive layout although it does not show the parent Container since it is hidden by default:
About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina or later - Apple Support
Here is another Apple article which explains a bit about the APFS file system features and does mention Containers:
Role of Apple File System - Apple Support
apple_user_31 wrote:
Great. Thank you so much. So I should leave it as is and just reinstall the os?
Correct.
Great. Thank you so much. So I should leave it as is and just reinstall the os?
Unknown Container in Disk Utility taking up storage. What is this?
