How to Fix the ‘macOS Could Not Be Installed on Your Computer’ Error

First, try restarting.

It pops up when you’re updating your Mac’s operating system but can’t complete the operation.

Despite the wording, it doesn’t mean your installation will never work.

It just means it failed that one time.

The bad news is this error could be occurring due to a number of reasons.

Here are the approaches to try.

Restart and try the installation again.

Check the Date & Time setting.

If the displayed date and time don’t match reality, this could be the problem.

reset your Mac again if necessary, and then go toSystem Preferences>General>Date & Time.

Click thelockicon and input your password (if necessary) to enable changes.

Then clickSet date and time automatically.

After this, try the installation again to see if it works.

In some cases, macOS fails to install because there isn’t enough room on the hard drive.

To see how much is available, click theApple logoand selectAbout This Mac>More Info>Storage parameters.

You’ll see a breakdown of what’s living on your setup.

If it seems low, move some nonessential files off temporarily to see if that lets the installation proceed.

Find the macOS Installer in your Finder’sDownloadsfolder and drag it to the Trash.

Then, download it again and retry.

You may need to force power cycle your Mac by holding down thePowerbutton until it shuts down.

Afterward, turn the Mac back on.

Restore from a backup.

This may help if you’re getting the “Unable to mount volume” error.

First Aid checks the internal hard drive and makes any fixes it can.

It may even be able to mount the volume after it’s done.

Then you could retry the installation.

If none of the above worked, it may be time to turn your rig over to the professionals.

Causes of the macOS Could Not Be Installed Error

Several issues could cause the problem.

However, the error screen should give you some idea of what’s gone amiss.

The following steps and fixes should sort out any of the problems mentioned above.

Yes.

Use Recovery Mode toreinstall macOSwithout erasing your boot drive.

If this doesn’t fix your problem, you might erase the boot drive and perform a fresh reinstall.

Only use a bootable USB installer to reinstall macOS if you could’t boot into Recovery Mode at all.