How to Remove Windows 10 from Your Mac Computer

If you just want macOS to start

If you want to always start your Mac, but not have it automatically start in Windows, you don’t need to delete it. In fact, you can still have it available when you need it and use macOS normally the rest of the time. To do this, you just need to change the computer’s startup disk .

To do this, you must be logged in as a macOS user who is also an administrator. Then, you must open System Preferences and go to Startup Disk. Once there, you must click on the lock at the bottom to obtain permissions, for which you will be asked for the administrator password. Once this is done, you will only have to select the disk that contains macOS so that every time you turn on the Mac, this is the operating system that appears.

When you want to start Windows, you just have to press the ‘Alt/Option’ key when starting the Mac. At that moment, a black screen will appear with the available boot disks and it is here where you must choose the Boot Camp disk with Windows so that the Microsoft operating system starts.

Remove Windows 10 from Mac Completely

Having a partition with another operating system can offer many advantages that you probably already know, but it also brings with it disadvantages such as the space it takes up. If this is the case with your Windows partition, which you also do not take advantage of, you can completely delete it to free up that space. However, we recommend that you first make a backup of Windows using the methods that this system offers, so that you can recover your data and files in the future if you decide to reinstall it.

The steps to follow next to delete the Boot Camp partition on the Mac are as follows:

• Start your computer in macOS.
• Close all open applications and windows and disconnect any external storage devices.
• Open Boot Camp Assistant.
• Click “Continue”.
• If you have a single disk, you will need to click on “Restore” when the option to remove Windows 10 appears. If you have multiple disks, you will need to first select the disk that contains this operating system and then click on “Restore disk to a single partition with macOS.”
• Click “Continue”.

If you wish, there is another option to remove Windows using the classic method for deleting partitions from a disk on a Mac. To do this, you can do it from macOS itself or by restarting the Mac, we recommend the latter.

• With your Mac off, press the power button and immediately hold down the Command + R keys.
• Release the keys when you see the Apple logo or a spinning globe appear on the screen.
• When macOS Utilities appears you should click on “Disk Utility”.
• In the menu bar go to View > Show All Devices in Menu Bar.
• Select the Boot Camp disk that contains Windows 10.
• Click “Erase” and choose the name, format and scheme you want to give to this partition.

If after this you want to completely delete the partition and have it added to the one you have with macOS, you must follow these steps and after having formatted the Windows partition you can go to “Create partition”, click on it in the diagram that appears and click on the “-” button so that it is added to the other.

Goodbye to Windows forever on the Mac?

Many things in life can be reversed, and this is one of them. Deleting a Windows partition from your Mac doesn’t mean you can’t get it back later. If you made a backup of this operating system as we mentioned in previous sections, you can even have it the same way you had it. If not, or you want to have the system completely from scratch, you can at any time follow the steps we indicate in the tutorial in which we show you how to install Windows 10 on a Mac.

Problems when removing Windows 11 on Mac

We have already seen how you can uninstall the latest Windows operating system on your Mac. However, although it only happens on rare occasions, errors can occur when removing the software, the problems of which we will describe below:

• Data Loss: One of the major issues when uninstalling Windows 11 from a Mac is the potential loss of data. Therefore, it is essential to back up all your important files and data.
• Resetting Firmware Settings – When you uninstall W11, you may be required to reset your Mac’s firmware settings to ensure that your device boots properly into macOS. To do this, shut down your Mac, then turn it on while holding down the Command (⌘) + Option + P + R keys. This process will reset your Mac’s NVRAM and PRAM, resetting the firmware settings and allowing it to boot properly into macOS.
• Dual-boot issues – If you installed Windows 11 using Boot Camp (i.e. you have a pre-Apple Silicon machine), you may experience issues when uninstalling it. Removing Windows 11 may cause dual-boot to be set incorrectly, resulting in issues when starting up your Mac. To resolve this, make sure you remove the operating system using Boot Camp Assistant and not directly from macOS Disk Management.
• Disk Management Issues: When you uninstall W11, you may encounter problems deleting partitions created during installation. To fix this issue, you can use the macOS Terminal and run specific commands to delete partitions manually.
• Uninstallation process failure The most common error is that something goes wrong during the uninstallation process. This can occur due to multiple aspects, from an error in the operating systems themselves or more complex problems that require attention from technical support.