How To Uninstall Windows On Mac Without Bootcamp

If you are running out of space on a Mac that also has a Windows OS partition and you no longer have use for Windows, you may be wondering how to delete it.

Boot Camp Assistant is usually the easiest option, but you can still uninstall the Windows OS without it.

To uninstall Windows from Mac, without Boot Camp Assistant, log in to the Mac OS by pressing alt as your computer boots up. Open Disk Utility. Here you can see and delete the Windows OS, which will be in a partition on your drive. It will be called BOOTCAMP if downloaded using Boot Camp Assistant.

Read the following for more detailed instructions on uninstalling Windows and merging your partition, into one Mac OS partition.

Log in to the Mac OS

If you have already downloaded Windows onto your Mac, the default OS will be Windows, so your Mac won’t automatically open the Mac OS. To access the Mac OS, reboot your computer. As it is rebooting, press and hold the “Option” key.

This will bring up a screen where you can choose your OS. Choose Macintosh HD. You will then be brought back into the Mac OS.

Open Disk Utility and Delete the Windows Partition

To find Disk Utility, you can look on “Finder” under applications, or you can open Launchpad and go to the section “Other.” Once you find Disk Utility, open it.

In the Disk Utility window, you will see all of your partitions on the left. If you installed Windows using the Boot Camp Assistant, your partition will likely be named BOOTCAMP. Select the Windows OS partition and click “Erase.”

In doing this, you will lose all of the data saved on the Windows OS. Be sure before you delete your partition that all of your information and data from your Windows OS has been saved elsewhere.

Merge your Partitions

Once you’ve deleted all of the information on your partition, you may have to merge your Windows partition with your Mac OS partition, so you will have all of the space available to you once again. If the partition remains open, it will continue to mark storage as unusable because it’s sectioned off for different use.

To merge your partitions, click and drag the corner of the partition you want to keep over the partition you just deleted. Your partitions should then be merged under the partition you first clicked on. Now the storage space from both will be available in one partition.

Delete Using Boot Camp Assistant

Boot Camp Assistant doesn’t typically present any issues, so using it to remove the Windows OS from your Mac is easy and ideal. To remove Windows using Boot Camp Assistant, login to the Mac OS and open Boot Camp Assistant. Boot Camp can be found in “Finder” under “Applications” or in “Other” in your Launchpad.

Once you have Boot Camp Assistant opened, click “Continue.” The dialogue box will present three options; select “Remove Windows…” and click “continue.” It will notify you that you will lose all of your data from your Windows OS and return to a single partition that is the Mac OS. Click restore and enter your Mac password when prompted.

It may take a minute or two to complete the partition removal, but once it’s completed, it will notify you.

Using Boot Camp Assistant is a safe and easy way to uninstall Windows OS from your Mac. If you accidentally uninstall Boot Camp Assistant, you can redownload it from Apple, to make uninstalling easier.

If you prefer not to use Boot Camp or if you installed Windows using another application, uninstalling through the Disk Utility Application is an easy alternative. Watch this video to see how to uninstall Windows OS.

Troubleshooting

If you are having issues with uninstalling or partition deletion, you may want to check some of the following and try some of the solutions below.

Recovery Reboot

You may open disk utility from a recovery reboot. From there you may be able to delete your partitions.

Restart your computer. As it’s rebooting, press and hold the “Command” and “R” keys. This will bring up the recovery screen. From here, you will be able to reinstall Mac OS or delete a partition on the disk. This works just as it does if you open your Disk Utility on the application when your Mac is booted up normally. If you delete a disk partition, everything on the partition will be lost. If you decide to reinstall Mac OS, you will also lose all of your information, so choose your options carefully.

Reformat your Partition

If you are having trouble in Disk Utility with deleting or editing your partitions, try reformatting the Windows partition.

When you click on the erase icon, a dialogue will pop up. In the dialogue, click on the dropdown menu for the scheme and choose MS-DOS (FAT). It will also give you the option to rename your partition, but that is not necessary. If you reformat a partition, it will erase everything on the partition.

Contact Apple Support

If you are still experiencing trouble with removing Windows, you can look on Apple’s Support page for suggestions and discussion threads about the issue. You may also contact Apple Support and ask questions directly.

Remember to Save Information before Deleting

Before you delete a partition and erase Windows from your Mac, make sure you have cleaned it off all of your information, files, and pictures. You may upload your information to a storage cloud or use an external storage device to ensure that all of your information will be safe.

Windows on an External Drive

If you want to keep Windows, but you don’t have space, you may set up Windows on an external drive to save space. This option will allow you to use the storage on your Mac for Mac OS, but also run Windows when the drive is plugged in.

To do this, you will need to reinstall Windows onto an external SSD. Follow this link for more detailed instructions.

How to Uninstall Windows on Mac Without Bootcamp