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24 April 2024  Amanda J. Brook  Senior Product Manager
 

Summary
Discover the process of partitioning your Mac's drive and effectively setting up several APFS volumes within one partition. Grasp when partitioning is advantageous and follow our detailed guide to simplify the task at hand.



Table of contents

table iconI. Under what circumstances is it suitable to partition a Mac disk?
table iconII. How to partition Mac disk and delete partition?
table iconIII. How to recover data after accidental deletion of Mac disk partition?
partition hard drives mac

I. Under what circumstances is it suitable to partition a Mac disk?

Apple recommends not to partition disks for APFS, the default file system on Macs. It’s advised to create multiple APFS volumes within a single partition. APFS features include encryption, shared space, snapshots, and fast directory sizing. macOS 10.13 and later fully support APFS for both bootable and data volumes.
So under what circumstances is it suitable to partition a Mac disk? If you are running a Mac that uses the HFS+ file system (prior to macOS Catalina), you will need to partition the disk.
To install Windows on a Mac, use “Boot Camp Assistant” for disk partitioning. Avoid using “Disk Utility” to delete partitions made with Boot Camp. To remove Mac partitions, also use Boot Camp Assistant. Access it via Finder > Applications > Utilities > Boot Camp Assistant and follow the instructions to partition your disk and install Windows.
Open Boot Camp Assistant
The following will introduce how to partition a disk and delete a partition through Disk Utility.

II. How to partition Mac disk and delete partition?

1. How to create a Mac disk partition?

Step 1: Launch Finder, navigate to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility, choose the target disk, and select the Partition feature. For APFS file systems, a prompt will recommend adding a volume; if appropriate, choose Add Volume. Otherwise, proceed by clicking Partition.
mac disk utility partition button
Step 2: Examine the disk’s total capacity and click the + button to start crafting a new partition. Input the desired partition name, elect a suitable format, and dictate the size in the field on the right. Scrutinize all entered details for accuracy and hit the Apply button in the lower right-hand corner to commence the partitioning process.
mac new partition

2. How to delete Mac disk partition?

The steps to delete the disk partition are not difficult, the steps are as follows:
Step 1: Open (Finder) > (Applications) > (Utilities) > (Disk Utility), select the corresponding disk, then click the (Partition) option of Disk Utility, and then click the (Partition) button.
Step 2: View the disk’s partitions in the pie chart. Select the partition you wish to delete, click -, and then click Apply in the lower right to confirm deletion. If deletion is not possible, the - button will be dimmed and unclickable.
Kind tipsAvoid using “Disk Utility” to delete or erase the partition created by “Boot Camp Assistant” (the Windows partition). Users have reported issues with merging partitions and utilizing the space previously occupied by Windows on the Mac system after attempting to erase the Windows partition with Disk Utility.

mac partitions cannot be merged

III. How to recover data after accidental deletion of Mac disk partition?

1. After the Mac disk partition is deleted, can the data be recovered?

If you accidentally delete or erase a disk partition on your Mac, cease all operations immediately to prevent the risk of new data overwriting the lost files. If no new data has been added and the original files are not otherwise damaged, recovery is possible. Use a reliable data recovery tool, such as Renee Undeleter, which is compatible with both Mac and Windows, to scan for and retrieve your data promptly. Please note that while data recovery software can be effective, it may not guarantee complete data restoration. Regularly back up your disk data with Mac’s Time Machine to minimize the chances of data loss.
Kind tipsApple’s System Integrity Protection Mode (SIP technology) in Mac OS X El Capitan and later versions is a crucial security feature that helps protect your system’s integrity. However, it may restrict access for certain applications, such as data recovery tools like Renee Undeleter. Consequently, these applications are limited to scanning external disks only. If you need to recover data from an internal disk, you should consider temporarily disabling SIP. Once your data recovery is complete, remember to re-enable SIP to maintain system protection. For step-by-step guidance on how to disable and enable SIP on Mac, click here.

2. Use Renee Undeleter to recover lost/deleted partition data

Renee Undeleter is a specialized software designed for recovering various data files. Whether you’ve mistakenly deleted crucial files, cleared the recycle bin, or formatted the disk/storage, this tool is capable of retrieving your lost data. It encompasses four key features: file recovery, format recovery, partition recovery, and image creation, offering a comprehensive solution to all data loss scenarios.
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Step 1: Download, install and run the Renee Undeleter application on a Mac computer, and select the (Whole Disk Scan) option on the main interface.
Notice: To avoid overwriting existing data, do not install Renee Undeleter on the disk where data has been lost. For Macs with built-in hard drives that lack an additional disk, ensure you download the software directly to an external USB or a portable drive.
select whole disk scan to scan disk in renee undeleter
Data Recovery Features:

  • Fast Partition Scan: Recovers files from accidental deletions or recycle bin clearance.
  • Whole Partition Scan: Restores files from inaccessible or formatted partitions.
  • Whole Disk Scan: Analyzes partition information for a comprehensive disk scan.
  • Image Creation: Generates a partition mirror for backup purposes.
Step 2: Next select the hard disk device from which you want to recover data. After the selection is complete, click (Next).
Note: The built-in disk of the Mac is not shown here because the SIP protection on the Mac computer is turned on and needs to be turned off before it can be displayed and scanned. And the Renee Undeleter application cannot scan the disk where this application is installed.
select a disk to recover in renee undeleter
Step 3: Select (Default Settings) > (Next) in Advanced Settings. Of course, if you remember the file type you want to recover, you can also choose it in (Custom Settings), which can save some hard disk scanning time.
select the target file types to scan in renee undeleter
Step 4: The application will initiate a disk scan, presenting a roster of partitions. Should the specifics of the excised partition be known to you, pinpoint and click the OK button post-selection to commence scan of the chosen partition. Conversely, the option to endure a comprehensive scan of all partitions stands, albeit with greater consumption of time, potentially yielding a higher volume of data recuperation.
mac select partition to scan
Step 5: Then wait for the scan, the scan time will depend on the size of the hard disk partition. During the scanning process, you can double-click to preview the file. If the file is damaged, the program will also give a corresponding prompt.
Preview file for Mac
Step 6: Wait for the scan to end, select the files to be recovered from the scan results, and click the (Recover) button to save the files to other disks.
click to run sd card or usb data recovery on mac