macOS How to CLONE Mac HDD to External SSD & Make it BOOTABLE Using Disk Utility for FREE!

[@rafbrejza45]

My 5 years old iMac works better than when it was new & I was about to change the computer! Amazing! Thanks a million!

[@munchy_cool]

You're welcome!

[@zholmie]

Many thanks for this brilliant guide. Was previously getting an error because I was selecting the main disk instead of the container disk in the drop down, until I came across your video

[@munchy_cool]

You're welcome!

[@JNo-sk5mz]

Just wanted to thank you for this. Excellent video, I was looking for a way to create a bootable clone of my MacBook Pro without messing with time machine, and this work beautifully. Great instruction, thank you so much!

[@munchy_cool]

You're welcome!

[@MoLewis57]

Thanks! This video is just what I was looking for. I suspect my Fusion Drive is reaching the end of its life on my late 2019 iMac. I just bought an external SSD to take the fusion drive out the equation, and this videos tell me what I need to move my data to the SSD and boot off it.

[@munchy_cool]

Glad you found it helpful! Good luck with your new SSD!

[@MoLewis57]

@@munchy_cool Thanks! Unfortunately, because of some physical issues with the fusion drive disk ( which I found out about later when Carbon Copy Clone reported it could not do a bootable clone due to physical errors with the source disk ), the attempt to clone to the SSD using the Disk Utility failed. Ultimately, I used recovery mode to get the latest Mac OS on the external SSD, and the external SSD first booted up, it asked me if I wanted to used Migration Assistant to copy from another disk or Time Machine. I had a good Time Machine backup on an external drive, so I used Migration Assistant to migrate my Mac setup/data from the Time Machine Drive to the external SSD. It took about 11 hours to do the migration, but when it when done my external SSD was working fine as a boot disk with all my old setting and data ( and the Mac is lightning fast now ).

[@munchy_cool]

@ glad you figured it out ..worth the time to get extra storage on a Mac without paying Apple tax :)

[@elliotnomanches]

Thanks for this. Why do you select the container for the replication rather than the drive itself?

[@thelukaverse]

Excellent. May the Lord bless you with much prosperity Mike. 🔋

[@munchy_cool]

You're welcome! 🙏

[@paulshirley]

Thanks.. precisely the video I was looking for. Easy to follow, well explained.

[@munchy_cool]

Glad it helped!

[@DELLsFan]

This is an excellent way to add storage to an existing system. I'm wondering how the cloned drive performs; particularly with gaming?

[@stephenhall3515]

Thank you for a superb guide, very clear and nicely paced.

[@munchy_cool]

Glad it was helpful!

[@PeteEdmunds]

Very clear and precise. Thanks.

[@munchy_cool]

welcome

[@kryskash2000]

for some reason I do not have that option in the format option.... or the scheme...

[@Lockewave]

Perfect thank you!

[@djaymigz98]

Can I use this method to upgrade the internal ssd of my macbook pro 2015 ?

[@nikk_g8730]

Hello i tried to clone my hhd to ssd but in restore option it only shows osx base system? Please help

[@tedmich]

great! And if you get the M2 adapter the new larger M2 will swap right into the old Macs slot (Macbook Air to 2017)

[@mm1468]

Thank you for your quick response. In one of your other videos you describe that your SSD overheated. You decided to stop the cloning process as nothing happened. What were the signs that nothing happened any more? My enclosure is still blinking and heat is developing but no progress on the progress bar on the computer. Does that mean that it still does something? Did your indicator light on the enclosure stop blinking or how did you notice something is wrong?

[@munchy_cool]

i think it got stuck for an hour or something and the led went off ..

[@omarhaddad2504]

At 1:55 I don't get any of the top options for formatting: none of the APFS options are available. I only get the four options at the bottom. Why does this happen, and how does it affect the process? Thank you.

[@Mariusz-t7x]

Many thanks for sharing this video. Works fine only problem I have is that every time must press ‘option’ button and choose new drive when restarting. Any idea how to setup that system is booting from the new drive by default?

[@munchy_cool]

no idea ...sorry

[@DELLsFan]

Wouldn't you just erase / format the internal drive so that the mac sees it isn't bootable any more?

[@chayarockford5665]

I believe after you boot it from the drive, you can go to system preferences and somewhere set it as the startup disk

[@andricwatson8496]

Mines stuck on validating source, Any ideas anyone?

[@isbjorn64]

@@andricwatson8496 validating source is the data copy. Have to be patient.

[@nicolivres1]

Same for me ! Die you round a solution ?

[@giacomolaschi4748]

Is Ventura installed with Open Core Legacy Patcher? And if so in the copy there will also be OCLP?

[@isbjorn64]

I'm also curious about this. I want to make bootable external ssd from my unsupported iMac with oclp Sequioa with all the patches and everything. Is it possible?

[@linuxxxunil]

Thanks bro. I was selecting the top level name for the external and not the container

[@munchy_cool]

Glad I could help

[@isabellaleonard3786]

Just tried this using a SanDisk SSD, when I’m in recovery mode, only the SanDisk Virtual CD (the security system) is showing up, not the other drive I created. Why would this be the case?

[@alexgrodvideo]

Hello, I use an iMac 2017 in my job and it's terrible slow, I want to clone the internal HDD to an external SSD, is that a good idea run MacOS from an external SSD? I know the better way is open the iMac and make the internal instalation or upgrade the RAM but I'm not able to do it.

[@munchy_cool]

you can try to run it of an external ssd, and if speeds are not good enough then open the mac and put the ssd as internal ..

[@wherezthebeef]

@@munchy_cool LMAO>> " open the mac and put the ssd as internal"

[@suprapandalol]

How long did it take to create the clone?

[@munchy_cool]

i dont remember ..sorry

[@anthonydipizzio1623]

Awesome! Will this work if you use ssd adapter to usb, and once it’s cloned replace the old drive with cloned one?

[@ninjalightning2631]

I did all this exactly but mine did not work 😢

[@ivonnemartinezt1308]

Hello, I've a Macbook Pro 2019 with 250 GB internal, but I can't even install the software I need, I work on something that requires more. I would like to use my external solid drive as primary and I'm confirming whether to select AFPS or Extended Journaled. It would be to install OS X on that 1 TB SSD external device and also use it, not only to create the installation image (not only a bootable disk but for working with it). Do you know if I select AFPS again in that case and GUID partition map?

[@munchy_cool]

do you mean you have a 2019 macbook pro? if so , specs and current mac os version would help

[@castillo4141]

I'm planning on upgrading my SSD from 512GB to 1TB, but my MacBook model (Late 2013 Retina, 15 inches) uses a different kind of SSD that's not compatible with NVME cases. Would it be possible to make this process "backwards"?, as in, from the external drive to the internal drive. I'm thinking of doing this in 2 steps: 1) clone the internal SSD to an external 2.5 SATA SSD then, 2) clone the external 2.5 SATA SSD to the _new_ internal SSD.

[@isbjorn64]

As i see u are also using OCLP for Ventura. I have also an unsupported iMac with Sequioa and it works flawlessly. I wanted to do the same process to make an external bootable SSD with the same method, - with all the patched system and all my files and softwares around 850GB - but the Validating source process takes so long that it looks like it stucked and i restart the iMac. Is it because of the huge amount of data and just have to wait or something else the problem. Do u have some advice? Thanks.

[@munchy_cool]

sorry I dont ..

[@isbjorn64]

@munchy_cool in the meantime i solved it

[@scgang11]

Figure it out? I had the same problem. Stuck on validating source. It's set to apfs so not sure why this isn't working.

[@isbjorn64]

@@scgang11 yes! Validating source is the actual copying of the data. Wait and will be good. It could take few hours depends on how much data you have. And after you have to make the root patch with the OCLP.

[@StephenGage-q2l]

@@isbjorn64 Thank you! My wife (^^ scgang) finally got it. And you were right, it took many hours. I was afraid it was going to overheat and explode lol. Mac is incredibly fast now. It was almost unusable before.

[@thomaskraft1488]

Thank you for your easy to follow tutorial! I've been trying to clone my Macintosh SSD (1 TB, MacOS 14 Sonoma) to a bigger SSD (Crucial MX500 2 TB) on my Macbook Pro mid-2012 completely using disk utility. I keep getting an error saying that the '"destination does not have enough space, OSStatus error 28". The old SSD has only 4 MB free space and does not boot anymore into maOS, so I had to format the new SSD from recovery mode. I made sure to erase and format the destination SSD to the same format as the old SSD, which is APFS format. It was successful. Then I restored the container of the new SSD, following your description, from the old SSD, leaving the default value for the source. After that I got very soon above mentioned error - whereas the restore of 1 TB data should take much more time. Thank you very much for any help!

[@munchy_cool]

sorry, never faced such an issue so can't advice ..i would fist look for a way to delete data from old ssd to make some more free space like 3-4gb ...maybe thats the issue .....see if booting linux from a usb drive on mac is possible and if that can help clearing out some space from old ssd

[@mm1468]

I have followed your instructions and cloned the internal hard drive to an external M.2 SSD connected to the computer via an enclosure. Can I now use this external SSD that is now a clone of my internal hard drive to replace the internal hard drive with the new cloned SSD?

[@munchy_cool]

if its not a m1 or above mac, it should work as long as you can boot from external ssd

[@halera333]

Is this procedure same steps for Intel Mac such as 2012 MacBook Pro?>

[@munchy_cool]

yes ....we are using an Intel mac in the video

[@kymdrbkd]

does the partition extended if i clone it to a bigger ssd?

[@munchy_cool]

the partition on bigger ssd is formatted to a size equal or bigger than the current one by you

[@kymdrbkd]

@@munchy_cool how do i clone it with the bootcamp partition?

[@munchy_cool]

no idea

[@BadraVeeraBadra]

Does this method work for machines that have open core legacy patcher?

[@munchy_cool]

should ...i havnet tried it

[@hair-on-fire]

Why does it say it's formatting your drive to Mac OS Extended when you had selected APFS from the Disk Utility menu?

[@vannonchiang666]

Does the cloning copy all files on the SSD drive? (all files, not just the OS)

[@munchy_cool]

yes

[@fletch44]

I get OsStatus error 22 a few seconds after clicking Restore. Failed to create source stream for replication. Any suggestions?

[@andrewpustai]

I got this too. Did you figure it out?

[@fletch44]

@@andrewpustai I figured out Apple’s built in software for this, especially for an older 2016 model Mac, is just too flaky. My solution was to use a really good free 3rd Party solution called SuperDuper. Much much better, backed up my entire Mac including the OS in about a half hour. I then could boot off of that external drive. So much better than Mac’s built in solution. And it is free with a paid option, but it’s not spammy or annoying about it.

[@RetreatIsNotAnOption]

After creating the clone, can I back up the clone to another harddrive or NAS and if so, if I ever needed to restore from that clone do I just format the ssd to APFS then transfer the clone backup from the NAS to the ssd? Will it work like that?

[@munchy_cool]

never tried ,...no idea ...sorry

[@waheedanwar4233]

I got to the bit restoring container bit, when it restores it fails because of broken seal, any help please.

[@litnop]

Hello. This works on Mac with T2 chip?

[@themusiclab2621]

Ok so if i want to put back the system in to the computer ?

[@zarabiajnaclipachsupernuta5447]

Why is the new disk not bootable? When I insert a new disk in place of the old one - the computer gives information that this disk is not bootable, but when I leave the old disk in the computer and the new one in USB, when I start the computer and select which disk to load the system from, I select the new USB disk - then the system loads properly. Do I need to make changes to the BIOS or do something else to make the new disk bootable?

[@michellek6533]

I am upgrading from 500gb to 2tb HD and want to CLONE a DUAL-BOOT (High-Sierra/Monterey) HD to the new 2tb drive in an external enclosure. I keep getting errors if I use 'restore' in Disk Utility and try to use the main OS to restore from. Do I have to clone them individually? How? Also, I've been using Time Machine for backup, but now I'm wondering if I need to use it separately while booting in both OS? (sigh) Can anyone help?

[@rusirubatuwatta8731]

Bro, can i update the latest miui update for my poco f1? Plz let me know, i have no idea about system updates

[@munchy_cool]

yes

[@bellesarrival]

Hi - both my internal and external ssds are same size, each 1TB. But won't restore - error message is "Not enough space on/Volumes/ASRNewVolume_653/ContainerToInvert to restore The operation couldn't be completed. (OSStatus error 28.)" Any suggestions? Thank you!

[@adhebequre742]

Hi bro, can this method be applied if macOS uses OpenCore-Patch ?

[@fatguyfriday]

you ever figure this out

[@peterbshort]

I think validating source is basically copying - it worked for me so try to be patient

[@isbjorn64]

Hey, i also started it but the validating source was very long, so i just restarted my iMac because i thought there is a problem. So the validating source process is the copying/cloning process? Thank you, i will try it again and just will leave it like this. Also if i wanted to choose the internal drive itself as source and the target also the external drive, after few seconds i got a message: The volume on device /dev/disk0 is not of type Apple_HFS or Apple_UFS. Could not validate source - Device not configured. The operation couldn't be completed. (OSStatus error 6.) Do u know what to do with this?

[@djonneby5758]

sorry for writing here.I didn't find a video on your channel where you showed how to allow advanced game turbo settings via ladb.

[@mritunjayd5479]

how much time does this take ??

[@munchy_cool]

depends on how much data you have

[@D4D2005]

Hello, I have a problem when after restarting the Mac, the Windows installer starts after selecting the language and license approval, I should see a list of disks but I don't see where the problem is? Regards

[@munchy_cool]

no idea if you are dual booting windows and mac ...sorry

[@denishill4372]

Hi, Thanks for doing this, it is very useful indeed. I am awaiting delivery of an iMac 24 M1 with 256GB SSD so was planning to use the 2TB thunderbolt external drive to Boot from. can you confirm that if the internal SSD fails it will prevent booting from the external by this method ? If yes then will a clean install onto the external SSD avoid this issue? thanks in advance for your time.

[@munchy_cool]

on apple silicon based macs if the internal ssd fails, it will NOT boot from external ssd ..no workarounds

[@denishill4372]

@@munchy_cool ck response. I have read the details now on the apple site too. Oh well at least the internal ssd should last if it is not being used all the time.

[@lavinchi6709]

Thank you so much🎂👍👑

[@munchy_cool]

welcome

[@sandor8022]

Helo,I have got a notice, failure restoration,help me pls , what may to be a problem,I did everything like You

[@ninjalightning2631]

Mine gave me the same error message

[@silverismoney]

Unfortunately this did not work for me on my M2 macbook. I have an NVMe drive that MacOS sees, it formatted it, it replicated to the new disk, it boots off it but then it restarts 3 times and goes back to recovery mode.

[@NjanVishnu]

This will not work for Apple Silicon

[@sir_awny]

Nice!

[@munchy_cool]

Thanks!

[@casinonight3443]

I have a M2 Macbook air having a internal 256HD internal and has Sonoma software on it. I tried to clone with my new 4TB Scandisk Drive and fails to restore to the 4TB new external drive. Anyone know what may be?

[@NjanVishnu]

This will not work for Apple Silicon

[@d0ugparker]

Thank you. At 0:03, the sound of the letter "V" in "video" is pronounced as a voiced "F," not a variation of any "W" sound. "V" coincidentally sits right next to "W" in the alphabet, but don't use that as a pronunciation clue--it's not. "V" is more closely related to a voiced "F" sound than it is to the sound of "W". I hope this helps. Regards. -DP

[@munchy_cool]

thx for the advice ..

[@inspir.edmusic]

Bro what?

[@bapuaep]

MacBook M1 we can also do this

[@munchy_cool]

yes .. but if internal ssd is bad then you cant boot from external ...blame Apple for that

[@NjanVishnu]

This will not work for Apple Silicon

[@munchy_cool]

true

[@ninjalightning2631]

Does not work

[@athuairush235]

👍💻🎶

[@ujjvalw2684]

Why mac Why Why Why Why Why Why why why

[@francescoratto533]

Hi Munchy sorry to disturb you but i followed the procedure step by step and is not going thru i select ext ssd container and i got the macintosh hs cloning arrive to the end i shutdown and start again with power button that i select the external partition but no joy it reboots a few tines and it goes to restore menu again os 13.5 i clone to the internal of m1 mac book ait then i try to restart no joy if i connect the external disk with another laptop M1Pro i have the very same probs the system does not boot up from the internal disk now i am tryin to install to the external disk and restartand then eventually i will restore a time machine

[@munchy_cool]

m1 wont boot from external ssd AFAIK

[@francescoratto533]

done i installed the external disk from scratch and booted .. now copying a time machine and i will try to run this external disk on a m1 pro 14" laptop @@munchy_cool

[@francescoratto533]

is useful when you want to run a double boot system with no contacts from the 2 disks (internal and exgernal) .. cool!!

[@folklorefablesbyvictor]

Please does this process also save internal files and documents stored in the internal SSD? Mine has been showing error after Apple logo and I don’t know how to save my files because I can’t find an enclosure for the MacBook Pro internal SSD to help me backup my files

[@munchy_cool]

yes, this creates a clone of the internal ssd ..

[@munchy_cool]

you can also create a time machine backup if all you need is a backup of your docs ..