By Adela D. Louie, Last updated: December 18, 2019
- Osx Could Not Create A Preboot Volume For Apfs Install
- Macos Could Not Create A Preboot Volume For Apfs Install Mac
- Mac Os Install Could Not Create A Preboot Volume For Apfs Install
- Reinstall Macos Could Not Create A Preboot Volume For Apfs Install
- Macos Could Not Create A Preboot Volume For Apfs Installer
Could Not Create a Preboot Volume for APFS. The “could not create preboot volume” along with other APFS (Apple File System) errors associated with converting an HFS+ drive to APFS are rarely encountered, an indication of the maturing of the APFS file system. MacOS Catalina requires the use of APFS instead of HFS+. Oct 13, 2018 In this video, I will be showing you guys how to fix, 'could not create a preboot volume for apfs' problem. This works for all Apple computers running Mac OS. If this works and helps you guys. Could not create a preboot volume for apsf install? MacBook Pro 2017 15” 格式化硬盘后,格式为APFS,可能是recovery版本是10.13的原因,除了APFS,没有HFS+可选,在线恢复macOS,恢复完毕后出现标题报错,该如何解决?. To perform this, launch your macOS Recovery and choose Restore from Time Machine Backup. Follow the on-screen instructions to proceed. Another way to reinstall macOS is by using Apple App Store. Open the App Store and use the search field. Once you have found a version, download and install it. Back to Table of Contents.
Probably by now, most Mac users are now in using the macOS High Sierra as this is the newest operating system that is made by Apple specifically for their computers. However, there are some complaints that they are having some issues when they are in the process of installing the version or after installing the current version.
Apr 09, 2018 I too had this issue. But I found a fix. Follow these steps: 1. Once you hear the chime sound after turning on the Mac, press and hold CMD and R together till you see a Mac logo or a spinning globe. You will enter into recovery Mode.
And with that, one of the most common problems that they could be having is the error message “could not create a preboot volume for APFS install”. Thus, in this post, we are going to show you why you get this error message and at the same time, how you can fix this error you are having with your Mac.
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Part 1: What Is The Error “Could Not Create A Preboot Volume for APFS Install” Mean?
The error message “could not create a preboot volume for APSF install only means that the Preboot Execution Environment or PXE is not able to install your APFS volume. The reason behind it is because there is something wrong with your APFS or Apple File System which is not yet figured out by Apple. This is the new file system that Apple had introduced together with the High Sierra which is known to replace the HFS+.
The APFS is said to be a lot faster, comes with great security, and is made a lot compatible if you are going to use an SSD. However, the APFS does not goes with OS X or even on macOS that has an older version than the High Sierra. That is why when you try to have the High Sierra reinstall using the Recovery Mode of your Mac, it will not work because of the type of partition that the APFS have.
Part 2: How to Fix “Could Not Create A Preboot Volume for APFS Install”?
When you are having the error notification “could not create a preboot volume for APFS install”, then there are only two solutions that you can do on your Mac. One of them is by removing all of the volumes on your Mac and try to install the High Sierra again using the Internet or a USB. You can also make use of a bootable USB if you wish to. And the other way is to have the High Sierra be installed on the Internet Recovery Partition.
So with the two methods that we have mentioned, we are pretty sure that you are now wondering about how you can do this. So with that, we have included here an easy guide that you can follow for both the method that we have mentioned above.
Method #1: Remove Your Volume or Partition on Mac
Removing the partition on your Mac or its volume is considered to be the most effective way for you to fix the error notification “could not create a preboot volume for APFS install”. And here is how you can do this on your Mac.
- Turn off your Mac device.
- Then, go ahead and have your Mac reboot to its Recovery Mode. And for you to be able to do that, just simply press and hold on the power button + Command + R keys until such time that you see the Apple logo on your screen.
- Then you will be able to see the utility menu on your screen. From there, all you have to do is to choose on Disk Utility. Once that you click on that option, the drives on your Mac will then show up.
- From there, go ahead and choose on the internal drive and then hit on Erase for you to be able to remove the drive.
- After that, go ahead and close the Disk Utility.
Osx Could Not Create A Preboot Volume For Apfs Install
After doing all of the steps above, you have another two options that you can choose from. You can do one of the methods below for you to reinstall the High Sierra.
Option #1:
You can go ahead and open Disk Utility again on your Mac. After that, you can choose the internal drive that goes in the name of “Container 0”. From there, have it changed to “Mac OS Extended”. Then from there, you can reinstall your macOS.
Option #2:
Macos Could Not Create A Preboot Volume For Apfs Install Mac
Another thing that you can do is to turn off your Mac and then reboot it by pressing and holding down the buttons Option + Command + R keys on your Mac’s keyboard for you to go to Recovery Mode. Then after that, simply choose on Disk Utility. And once that you see a drive, go ahead and have reformated as “Mac OS Extended” ‘and change the name into “Macintosh HD”.
In case you were not able to see any drive, just go ahead and take a drive and format it to “Mac OS Extended”. And once that you are done, simply close the Disk Utility and hit on the Reinstall macOS button.
When you try to go and remove the drive, you also delete the APFS system which is the main cause as to why you are getting the error. This is also the reason as to why you are not able to reinstall your macOS. If in any case that this method does not work for you, then you can go ahead and proceed with the other solution.

Method #2: Go to Internet Recovery Mode
- Go ahead and reboot your Mac. And while it is in the process of rebooting, go ahead and press the following keys for you to get into Internet Recovery Mode. CMD + R + Alt/Option
- After that, go ahead and simply choose a Wi-Fi connection go into your utility menu.
- After which, simply click on the “Reinstall OS” option and your Mac will then install its original Operating System. And if in any case that you would like to get the macOS High Sierra version, you can go ahead and simply download it from your Mac’s App Store.
Part 3: Conclusion
As you can see, since the error “could not create a preboot volume for APFS install” is one common error of Mac devices, we have managed to get you the solution to it. Any of the two methods above will work for you to be able to fix the issue that you are having when reinstalling your macOS High Sierra.
The new APFS (Apple File System) was introduced with macOS High Sierra and continued for later versions of macOS such as Mojave and Catalina. Known for its efficient data management, APFS has been the preferred file system over the previous HFS or HFS+ versions.
Despite the credibility, the APFS drives could underperform due to bad sectors in the drive, abruptly shutting down the computer or the drive could be nearing its end. In any of these cases, the drive is always vulnerable to data loss. Regardless, there are ways to repair APFS disk and recover the data. Adhere till the end of the article to know more.
Caution: If your priority is safeguarding the data on the corrupted APFS drive, make sure you recover the files from the APFS formatted drive before you conduct any repair. Click here to learn more on how to safely recover the data before repairing the APFS drive.
Repair APFS disk with Disk Utility:
The Mac computer equipped with a built-in Disk Utility that can greatly aid in repairing APFS disk. Follow the steps below to perform the repair.
- Reboot the system, press and hold Command+R as the computer starts
- The computer will boot into recovery mode, from the list displayed click on Disk Utility option
- From the left sidebar, select the APFS volume or disk to be fixed and click on First aid
- In case the utility is not able to fix the drive, the computer shows the message stating “First Aid process has failed. If possible back up the data on this volume. Click Done to continue”.
- If no message is displayed click on Run. After completion of the process, you will be able to repair APFS disk
The effectiveness of the above-mentioned steps can be limited as they resolve only minor issues. Once the computer notifies that the disk cannot be repaired, it can be a serious threat to the data as well as the drive. You will need to take precautions and recover APFS data, as the disk might fail at any point in time.
However, if the Disk Utility could not repair your APFS disk, try fixing the disk by running the FSCK command as mentioned in the further section
NOTE: The FSCK command should be used as a last solution to fix the drive. The FSCK method does not guarantee to fix the Corrupted APFS drive.
Fix APFS volume by running FSCK command:
Repair APFS by following the instructions mentioned in this section. The FSCK method needs to be performed in single-user mode.

- Start the Mac computer, press and hold Command+R as the computer starts
- After entering the Single User Mode, you will see a white text which will appear on the screen
- To start the file system check, type the fsck –fy and hit enter
- After completion of the check, if the computer generates a message stating “File system was modified”, then run fsck –fy again
- Upon running the command again, the message “The volume appears to be OK' will be displayed
- Type reboot on the command and hit enter to restart the computer
Despite trying the above-mentioned steps, if the problem on the APFS disk still persists, then you may have to format the drive with a fresh copy of macOS Catalina. Make sure you recover or backup the data before installing the new macOS. As you can never estimate the extent of damage the drive has undergone, use a professional recovery tool such as Remo Recover and follow the below-mentioned steps to recover the APFS disk.
Additional Information: If you come across APFS Volume Superblock is invalid error, get more information on how to fix the error by clicking on the given link.
Why it is recommended to recover data before Repairing the APFS disk
Although disk repair is done to overcome corruption, there can be a possibility that the repair process could damage the drive even further. This is because a corrupted disk is weak and prone to failure. Sometimes making any changes to the APFS drive can eventually leads to data loss.
Hence, before going any further it is always better to recover APFS data before performing any repair. However, if your APFS volume is severely corrupt, the manually recovered data could not be intact or complete. In some cases, the hard drive could be inaccessible due to complete failure. In such cases, you definitely need the aid of a trusted APFS data recovery software to recover the data.
Mac Os Install Could Not Create A Preboot Volume For Apfs Install
Performing data recovery on any corrupted disk could is very risky, as the drive could be inaccessible. But with the Remo APFS data recovery tool on your side, you can safely recover data from APFS disk, despite being corrupt and inaccessible. The advanced scan engine glides through the hard disk sector by sector to recover the data. Download and try the software for free now.
How to recover data from APFS volume?
Download and install the Remo Mac data recovery software and follow the steps.
- From the main screen click on Recover Volumes / Drives button
- Next, choose the Formatted/Reformatted Recovery option
- From the list of drives shown, choose the volume to be recovered
- Select the type of files that you choose to recover and click on Next
- After the completion of the recover process, choose the file and click on Preview to validate recovered file
- Finally, click on Save and browse for a location to save the recovered data
Conclusion
Reinstall Macos Could Not Create A Preboot Volume For Apfs Install
The new APFS file system is highly reliable to save data on Mac hard drive. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the hard drive can get corrupted. But if the Disk Utility prompts you to back up the data, try recovering the data and replacing the corrupt hard drive.
Macos Could Not Create A Preboot Volume For Apfs Installer
The troubleshooting steps mentioned in this article will help you to repair the APFS disk. In case the solutions provided in the article fail to repair APFS disk, create a Pre-Boot volume for APFS and reinstall macOS. However, take a backup of the drive before reinstalling the operating system. If you have any questions related to the APFS repair or recovery, please share them in the comment section below.