How to Skip Converting to APFS When Installing macOS High Sierra

How to Skip Converting to APFS When Installing macOS High Sierra

MacOS High Sierra includes the all new APFS file system, which is arguably one of the most significant new features introduced in the new Mac operating system update. Nonetheless its possible that some Mac owners with SSD volumes will want to . With a little command line magic, you can if desired. How to Install macOS High Sierra Without Converting to APFS File System This is not recommended and should only be applicable to advanced users who have specific reasons to not want to convert a Mac to APFS. APFS is faster and offers better encryption, amongst other benefits, so its generally recommended to use APFS if the Mac supports it. APFS is currently only supported on SSD drives, with Fusion drives support for APFS soon to arrive in a future Mac software update. By skipping APFS conversion of file system, macOS High Sierra will install with the longstanding HFS+ file system instead. * You will need the full installer to have the Contents/Resources/ options available to you. You can if youre getting the little mini-installer without /Content/Resorouces/ folder. In case you were wondering, skipping APFS can be achieved when running the High Sierra installer directly from Mac OS or when using a . Mac users who ran the beta of macOS High Sierra may remember earlier versions of the beta builds had a toggle setting during installation to skip APFS conversion, but that option toggle is no longer available in the installer. Regarding APFS and macOS High Sierra, on a knowledge base support article: When you install macOS High Sierra on the Mac volume of a solid-state drive (SSD) or other all-flash storage device, that volume is automatically converted to APFS.Fusion Drives, traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), and non-Mac volumes arent converted. You cant opt out of the transition to APFS. Despite the Apple support article saying that you cant opt out of the transition to APFS, it turns out that you can skip APFS if you choose to start the installer from the command line of Mac OS and give a directive to skip file system conversion. Outside of using the Terminal approach outlined above, or installing on an HDD or Fusion drive, there is no known other method to skip APFS. Again, there is no benefit or particular reason for most users to skip APFS conversion. Skipping APFS file system on a Mac with a flash drive means the computer wont see the potential performance boost offered by APFS with High Sierra. This is really only for advanced users who need to skip APFS for a specific reason, usually for networking or drive sharing compatibility purposes.