Like every year, Apple released a new major release of its computer operating system in 2022. macOS 13 Ventura is therefore among us and aims to consolidate the good already seen in macOS 12 Monterey by adding various interesting innovations, including a new way of managing multitasking, a renewed preferences panel (more in iOS style), the ability to cancel the sending of messages in Apple Mail and many other small-big improvements concerning Spotlight, Photos, Safari, Messages and many other applications included in the system.
If you are here and you are reading this guide, I guess it is because you are “teased” by this new release from Apple but you still don’t have clear ideas on how to update to macOS Ventura smoothly. Did I guess? Perfect, then let me help you out.
In fact, below you will find a quick overview of the new features and requirements necessary to run this version of the Apple operating system, plus instructions to update correctly from macOS Monterey without losing data or, alternatively, to do a clean installation by formatting the disk. . I assure you that it is much simpler than you imagine. Enjoy the reading!
Index
- MacOS Ventura compatibility and news
- How to install macOS Ventura
- Preliminary operations
- Switch from macOS Monterey to macOS Ventura
- Clean installation of macOS Ventura
MacOS Ventura compatibility and news
Before going into the details of this guide and explaining how to update to macOS Ventura , it seems only right to list the Mac models compatible with this version of the Apple operating system, which fortunately are numerous: here they are in detail.
- iMac, iMac Pro , MacBook and MacBook Pro manufactured from 2017 onwards.
- MacBook Airand Mac mini produced from 2018 onwards.
- Mac Promanufactured from 2019 onwards.
- Mac Studioproduced from 2022 onwards.
And now let me list some of the main new features of macOS Ventura , which you can try your hand at once you update your Mac.
- Stage Manager– a new way to manage multitasking. Automatically organize applications and windows in a single view to facilitate simultaneous work on multiple elements. It is optional, as there are many users who continue to prefer the classic multitasking system of previous versions of macOS.
- New in Apple Mail– first of all the possibility to cancel the sending of an email , but also many improvements in the search for messages.
- New iOS-style settings menu– instead of the classic System Preferences. For some, a step backwards in terms of usability, but it sure is a move that helps to get those coming from an iPad or iPhone to settle more quickly.
- Improved Spotlight– with a feature to find images in Photos, Messages, Notes, Finder and other applications, find text in images (via the OCR system built into macOS), new tips and a revamped design.
- Passkey and enhancements in Safari– is the system that in the future should replace passwords and allow easier (and even more secure) access to applications and websites. MacOS Ventura brings support to this system in Safari, which like any major release of the operating system improves its performance and receives various improvements, such as in this case the ability to share tabs and bookmarks easily.
- New in Messages– comes the long-awaited feature to edit messages in the default macOS Messages app, where you can now easily share notes, presentations, Safari tabs, SharePlay content, and more.
- ICloud Shared Library (from late 2022)– New Photos feature allows you to share photos and videos with up to five people.
- Continuity Camera– to use iPhone as a Mac camera.
- Freeform (from the end of 2022)– a new productivity utility that allows you to collect notes, plan projects and do group brainstorming on a virtual whiteboard where you can also insert links, images, documents and video / audio files.
These are just some of the features introduced in macOS Ventura. For a more complete and exhaustive overview of what awaits you, please consult the official Apple website .
How to install macOS Ventura
Once your Mac is checked for compatibility with macOS Ventura, you can take action and upgrade to this version of the operating system. So let ‘s see how to best prepare the computer and how to install macOS Ventura both as a Monterey update and from scratch, thus carrying out a so-called “clean installation” with relative deletion of the data currently on the Mac.
Preliminary operations
Upgrading directly to a new version of macOS does not result in the loss of any data, applications or preferences. However, this is a delicate operation in which the mishap is always around the corner: it is better, therefore, to be foresight and prepare well by making a backup of the data on your Mac . If you haven’t already done this, you can simply do it with the integrated Time Machine utility or by copying your files to an external drive : I explained everything in detail in my tutorial on how to backup your Mac .
To avoid finding yourself with a Mac a bit “burdened” and bringing you problems of various kinds from Monterey to macOS Ventura, then I suggest you give your system a nice “polish” with applications like CleanMyMac X. Haven’t you ever heard of it? No problem, we fix it immediately. CleanMyMac X is a famous all-in-one solution for the maintenance, optimization and protection of macOS: one of the few reliable solutions of this type, capable of combining really useful and effective functions with an extremely intuitive interface completely in Italian .
Among its main functions, those to free up disk space by deleting cache files, those superfluous for translations into other languages and those heavy / not used for some time (which the user can easily locate and select); eliminate and prevent Mac malware and speed up macOS by automatically optimizing some system settings.
The program can be downloaded and used for free to free up to 500MB of disk space: to overcome this limit, you need to purchase the full version of CleanMyMac X with prices starting from € 29.95, or you can subscribe to Setapp , a service created by the same company that produces CleanMyMac X, through which, in exchange for a small monthly or annual fee (the monthly plan is $ 9.99 / month with a 7-day free trial ) you can use a wide range of applications paid for Mac without purchasing individual licenses; moreover, with a small addition to the fee, it is possible to install numerous paid apps for iPhone and iPad as well: find all the details in my dedicated tutorial .
That said, to download CleanMyMac X for free, connect to the official website of the program and click on the download button . Then open the dmg file obtained, drag the CleanMyMac X icon into the Applications folder and start the software by confirming : at the first start you will be asked for various permissions that allow the program to work at its best; accept them all. Also accept the privacy terms and terms of service and follow the initial tutorial .
Well, now you can use CleanMyMac X to free up space and fix any problems on your Mac before updating to macOS Ventura. So, access the section called Smart Scan and press the Start button to start a general check on the cleaning , protection and speed of your Mac. At the end you will be shown a summary with these three items: by clicking on them you will be able to view the list of problems found (or, in the case of “Cleaning”, the amount of space that can be freed up on the disk) and choose in a granular way which elements to act on.
For example, by clicking on the option Check items related to “Cleaning” you will be able to choose whether or not to delete User cache files , Language files , System log files , etc. Once you have adjusted your preferences, press the Start button and wait for CleanMyMac X to delete all unnecessary files and problems found on your computer – it will take a few seconds.
To access the other tools offered by the software, you can refer to the side menu: in the Cleaning section you will find the tools for removing unnecessary files, Mail attachments, emptying the Bins and so on; in Protection you can delete any malicious files from the Mac, fix system vulnerabilities and delete data from online browsing and messaging applications; finally, the Speed section allows you to speed up macOS by adjusting the programs set for automatic startup, freeing up RAM, repairing disk permissions, solving navigation problems by clearing the DNS cache, and much more.
I also point out the quick access menu to CleanMyMac X present in the menubar: the latter allows you to monitor in real time the status of the disk , RAM , battery , CPU and degree of protection of the operating system, also providing you with useful advice on how to optimize your Mac. It also supports space management on Dropbox . To learn more and get an even more complete overview of CleanMyMac X, check out my tutorial dedicated to the program .
Switch from macOS Monterey to macOS Ventura
Once your Mac is properly prepared, you’re ready to upgrade to macOS Ventura . Switching from macOS Monterey is quick and painless : just open System Preferences , select Software Update and wait for the item relating to the availability of macOS Ventura to appear .
Click, therefore, on the Update Now button and wait patiently for the update to be downloaded. At the end of the procedure (during which you can also close System Preferences and continue working normally with your Mac), the installation screen of the new macOS will automatically start (otherwise you will find the application to install macOS Ventura in the Launchpad ).
For the rest there is not much to do, if not follow the simple instructions on the screen: click on Continue , accept the conditions of use , select the destination disk on which to install the operating system (if necessary, unlock the drive by entering the administration password of the Mac) and confirm. The Mac will reboot multiple times, and when it’s done, you’ll have macOS Ventura at your disposal!
Clean installation of macOS Ventura
If you want to do a clean installation of macOS Ventura and then delete the current contents of the disk, you can achieve your goal by creating a USB stick with the installation files of the operating system . So make sure you have a USB stick with at least 32GB of free space and download macOS Ventura as described in the previous chapters.
Once you have the macOS Ventura installer, open the Terminal (you can find it in the Other folder of the Launchpad ) and issue the command sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Ventura.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/nomevolumewhere instead of volume name you have to enter the current name of the USB key on which you intend to copy the operating system.
Then enter the Mac administration password , answer Y to the requests that are made to you and enter . When the file copying process reaches 100% , you can move on to installing macOS Ventura on any compatible Mac using the key you just created.
So, connect your key to the Mac on which to install the operating system and, if turned on, turn it off . At this point, if it is a Mac with an Intel processor , turn it on and hold down the alt key on the keyboard; if, on the other hand, it is a Mac with an Apple Silicon processor (eg M1 or M2) , press and hold the Power button .
When you see the list of devices from which to boot appear on the screen , select the macOS Ventura installer , then open Disk Utility , select the main drive of the Mac (presumably Macintosh HD ), unlock it by entering the relative password and press the Initialize button . Now type the name you want to assign to the disk, choose the APFS format and confirm the initialization (which will delete all the files on the drive).
When the disk is formatted complete, click on the Finish button , close Disk Utility, select the item to install macOS and proceed normally with the installation of the operating system as also seen in the update procedure from Monterey in the previous steps of the guide.