Catalina Internet Recovery

If you have installed Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave or earlier versions, you may have to reinstall macOS for following reasons:

• Reinstall When There is New macOS Version Available

Apple keeps working constantly to fix bugs, make performance tweaks, add new features or enhance coding. Therefore, doubtless, there will be new versions of macOS available to upgrade and reinstall.

UPDATE 01/08/21 FIXED!!!! Starting in early December, macOS Big Sur Internet Recovery was replaced by Catalina as the newest version available. Issue #2: Big Sur Internet Recovery not always available. In order to workaround the issue of upgrading to Big Sur in a Catalina recovery, it is recommended to boot to Big Sur internet recovery by holding Command-Option-R (⌘-⌥-R) on a Mac that supports Big Sur. However, some Macs will not boot to Big Sur even if the Mac is compatible.

• Your Mac is Running Slow

As we all know, for no specific reason, system reinstallation can magically solve a slow Mac in most cases.

• Your System Keeps Crashing or Works Improperly

When you continuously see error messages appear on your mac, or your programs randomly crash/freeze for no reason, like FaceTime won't work, Contacts or Calendar shows a delay or mess, blue teeth or WiFi won't connect…Then, you have a good reason to reinstall macOS.

• You are Going to Sell the Mac

In the case that you want to sell your mac, besides erasing all your personal data and traces on the mac, you will need to reinstall macOS as well.

It is not complicate to reinstall macOS Big Sur or Catalina, but if you want to reinstall macOS without losing data, there are 3 steps you must follow.

Recover Files after macOS Reinstall

• Recover data lost due to macOS reinstallation, upgrade, downgrade
• Recover data lost due to accident deletion, formatting, etc.
• Restore data from both internal and external storage device
• Recover videos, audios, images, documents, and other 200+ files
• 5 recovery modes to find files back easily
• High recovery rate
• Support Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave and earlier

3 Steps to Reinstall macOS Big Sur or Catalina without Losing Data

We all save tons of data on our Mac, so when we decide to reinstall macOS Big Sur/Catalina, the top concern always goes to “will I lost everything if I reinstall macOS”. In fact, reinstallation of macOS doesn’t necessarily cause lost data, it just create a new copy, your existing files and data saved in programs won't be altered or deleted. But just in case of bad luck, we need to do some work on BACKUP, this is crucial for macOS reinstallation without losing data.

Step 1. Prepare Your Mac for Reinstallation.

How Do You Fix Internet Recovery On A Mac

• Make enough room for Big Sur or Catalina reinstallation, at least 36GB, so the reinstallation process won't pause or stopped for insufficient space.
• Also, quit all apps or programs under work, so your Mac is fully geared to reinstall.
• Check drive conditions. Open Disk Utility and perform the Frist Aid on your hard drive where to reinstall the macOS to make sure your drive is in good condition for reinstallation.

Step 2. Backup All Your Files for macOS Install (Crucial)

Backup is an indispensable step involved in the macOS reinstallation, here are several options to backup your data.

Option One: Using Time Machine

1. Go to Finder>Application, launch Time Machine and choose “Set Up Time Machine”.
2. Click “Select Backup Disk” to choose an external hard drive to back up the files.
3. Then Check the box before “Back Up Automatically”. Also, you can adjust the backup setting in menu “Options”.

If this is the first time you use Time Machine to backup, wait patiently for Time Machine to complete the backup, it will prompt the notification once finishes.

Option Two: Using Hard Drive

1. Connect your hard drive to Mac.
2. Open Finder to check if your hard drive is present under “Devices”.
3. Create a new folder, copy and paste or directly move the items you want to save from Mac to this folder.
4. Finally, eject your hard drive.

Option Three: Using iCloud Service (Backup Desk and Documents Folders)

1. Go to Finder>System Preference, click on “iCloud” to bring up its main interface.
2. Click the “Options” button for “iCloud”, and check the box before “Desktop and Documents Folders”, then click on “Done”.

Most of our mac users prefer to backup all files but apps. So, to save you from troubles of lost data due to macOS reinstallation, you are recommended to keep records of what apps you have installed, the account and password, also, you can take screenshots of the settings.

Step 3. Reinstall macOS Big Sur or Catalina without Losing Data.

Option #1: Reinstall macOS without Losing Data From Internet Recovery

1. Click the Apple icon>Restart.
2. Hold down the key combination: Command+R, you will see the Apple logo.
3. Then choose “Reinstall macOS Big Sur” from utilities window and click “Continue”.
4. Select your hard drive, click “Install” and wait for end of reinstallation.

Option #2 Reinstall macOS without Losing Data From USB

1. Download the macOS Big Sur install from Mac App Store onto your Mac;
2. Then connect the USB flash drive to your Mac;
3. Open Disk Utility program on your Mac, choose the USB flash drive and click Erase to have a clean drive for the reinstallation;
4. Open Terminal, copy and paste sudo /Applications/Install macOS Big Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia;
5. Then add the volume of usb flash drive: --volume /Volumes/MyVolume, replace MyVolume with your usb flash drive name, mine is Untitled;
6. Press Enter, input password and wait for the process to finish;
7. Quit Terminal, restart your Mac, hold Command+R when starting Mac until you see the apple logo;
8. Login into your Mac with password, go to the menu bar>Utilities>Startup Security Utility, enter password again;
9. Choose Medium Security under Secure Boot and allow booting from external media;
10. Restart your Mac, in the same time, hold the Option key;
11. Choose Install macOS Big Sur, click Next and input password, choose Install macOS, continue to finish mac reinstallation from usb.

Mac Won't Turn on after Update to macOS Big Sur?

Here are 10 solutions to fix 'Mac won't turn on after update to macOS Big Sur, Catalina or other versions'.

What if You Lost Data After macOS Big Sur Reinstallation?

However, losing data after reinstallation still happens. It may result from a interrupted installation (power-off/poor internet connection), corrupt setup, insufficient space or improper actions. Then, what to do if you lost data after reinstallation? Here are 2 methods.

Method 1: Use Cisdem Data Recovery to Recover Data

In the case you didn’t do backup before reinstallation, you will need a dedication data recovery program to find the lost data for you.

Here we recommend Cisdem Data Recovery, a powerful mac program allowing users to recover lost/deleted/corrupted/formatted files from a wide range of external or internal storage devices, no matter the file is lost due to human errors, power-off, reinstallation, upgrade, virus attack or disk crash.

Main Features of Cisdem Data Recovery

Catalina Internet Recovery Free

• Recover files lost due to OS reinstallation, upgrade, downgrade;
• Recover deleted, formatted and lost files;
• Restore files from internal and external hard drive, USB, SD Card, flash drive, etc.;
• Restore videos, audios, images, documents, archives, 200+ types;
• 5 recovery modes: Basic, External Drive, Formatted Drive, Trash, Advanced;
• Preview files before recovery;
• Fast scanning and recovery;

Steps to Recover Lost Data after MacOS Reinstallation

1. Download and install Cisdem Data Recovery on Mac.
   Free Download
2. Choose a Recovery Mode according to your need.
   If you want an efficient recovery, choose “Basic Data Recovery”, if you want to recover files with a higher success rate, try “Advanced Data Recovery”.
3. Select the hard drive where you originally stored the files on mac. Then click “Scan”.
4. Check and preview files found by Cisdem Data Recovery.
5. Select files to recover.
   Check the box before files that you want to recover, then click “Recover” to find back the lost data caused by reinstallation.

Method 2: Use Time Machine to Recover Data with Backup

If you have backed up your files on mac, you can use Time Machine to restore the lost data.

• Step1. Go to Finder>Applications>Time Machine, launch it and choose “Enter Time Machine”.
• Step2. In the popped-up window, use the arrows and timeline to browse the local snapshots and backups.
• Step3. Find the deleted files, then click “Restore” to recover the lost data caused by reinstallation.

Conclusion

The key to reinstall mac OS Big Sur, Catalina or Mojave without losing data is the backup, since no one can guarantee all data will be perfectly maintained after macOS reinstallation. However, if we unfortunately lost files after macOS reinstallation, Time Machine or Cisdem Data Recovery is helpful to recover them back.

So, do you have any other tips to reinstall macOS without losing data? Please share with more of our mac users.

Summary :

When you want to reinstall macOS on your Mac computer, you may encounter different kinds of issues like the recovery server could not be contacted. Do you know the reason for this issue and how to fix it? In this post, MiniTool Software will show you the information you want to know.

Why the Recovery Server Could Not Be Contacted on Your Mac?

The recovery server could not be contacted is an error message that you may receive when you want to reinstall macOS 10.13 High Sierra/macOS 10.14 Mojave/macOS 10.15 Catalina/macOS 11 Big Sur in recovery mode or update your macOS. When this issue occurs, you will see the following interface. This issue stops you from installing macOS you want to use.

Top Reasons for the Recovery Server Could Not Be Contacted on Mac

During the macOS installation process, your computer needs to establish a connection with the Apple recovery server. If you receive the Mac recovery server could not be contacted error, it usually means that the connection between your Mac computer and the Apple recovery server is not successful.

The main causes are here:

• Your Mac computer is not connected to the network, or the network connection is not stable, or the network connection is faulty.
• Your Mac computer’s date and time are not correctly synced with the Apple recovery server.
• Too many users are trying to install the macOS update, bringing heavy burdens to the Apple recovery server and making your Mac can’t connect to the Apple recovery server.
• Some other reasons….

When you look for solutions to solve this issue on the internet, you will find that many users have been bothered by it or are getting into this trouble currently. That is to say, it is a common problem.

The solutions from the internet are various. Which is the best method to solve this issue? We have collected some approaches that are proved to be effective. If you are not sure which situation you are facing, you can try all these solutions to find the most suitable one.

Recommendations:

Here are some other issues (as follows) you may encounter when you want to reinstall or upgrade macOS. We hope the following guides can help you out:

How to Fix the Recovery Server Could Not Be Contacted on Mac?

1. Check Your Network Connection
2. Check Your Date and Time on Mac
3. Use the macOS Installer
4. Try Reinstalling or Updating Your macOS Later
5. Erase Your Mac Disk and Reinstall macOS

Method 1: Check Your Network Connection

The first thing you need to do is to check your Mac network connection.

Whether Your Mac Is Connected to an Available Network

1. Click the Wi-Fi icon at the right end of the menu bar to unfold the list of the available networks.
2. If the Wi-Fi is off, you need to click Turn Wi-Fi on to enable it. Wait and see whether your Mac is connected to an available Wi-Fi. If not, you need to manually add one.

Whether the Network Connection Is Stable

If your network connection is not stable or the signal is weak, you can also encounter a Mac recovery server could not be contacted issue. So, when your Mac is using an available Wi-Fi connection but the issue persists, you need to check whether the connection is stable and strong.

It is easy to do this: press and hold the Option key on the keyboard while clicking the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar. Then, you can see the signal strength in decibels of the Wi-Fi network you are using.

How To Install Catalina From Internet Recovery

Whether the Network Connection Has Issues

If your Mac can’t connect to a Wi-Fi network even after you turn Wi-Fi on, you need to take some measures to fix the connection issue. This post is helpful: If your Mac doesn't connect to the Internet over Wi-Fi.

Method 2: Check Your Date and Time on Mac

If your Mac computer’s date and time are not properly synced to the Apple recovery server, you can following these steps to correct the issue:

1. Click the OK button to close the error interface and you will return to the macOS Utilities interface.

2. Click Utilities from the top Apple menu bar and then select Terminal to open it.

3. Type ntpdate -u time.apple.com and press Enter.

The whole process will last for a while. You need to wait until it ends. After that, you can trying reinstalling macOS again to see whether the issue is solved.

If the above command doesn’t work for you, you can try the other command:

1. Use the method mentioned above to open Terminal on your Mac.
2. Type date and press Enter to see the data of your Mac computer.
3. If your date and time are wrong, you need to type the current time with the following command date mmddhhssyy. Take 22 February 22, 10:10 am, 2021 as an example, the command should be date 0222101021.
4. Press Enter.

After these steps, you need to exit your Mac Terminal and then reinstall macOS to see whether the process is successful.

Method 3: Use the macOS Installer

To avoid the recovery server could not be contacted Mojave/High Sierra/Catalina/Big Sur, you can also reinstall macOS via the full version of the macOS installer rather than using the Reinstall macOS option in Mac Recovery Mode.

If your Mac won’t boot into Recovery Mode or Command-R not working, do you know how to fix it? In this post, we will show you some effective solutions.

You need to first create a bootable installer for macOS and then use it to reinstall or update your macOS. This article shows you the detailed steps: How to create a bootable installer for macOS.

Method 4: Try Reinstalling or Updating Your macOS Later

Another method to solve the recovery server could not be contacted High Sierra/Mojave Catalina/Big Sur is to just quit the macOS installation process and select another time to do the job. You can use this method when the latest macOS has just been released because there should be many users are updating macOS, causing busy and crowded usage of the Apple recovery server.

Method 5: Erase Your Mac Disk and Reinstall macOS

If all of the above methods can’t solve the issue, you may need to erase your Mac disk and then reinstall your macOS in recovery mode.

1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine.
2. Close your Mac.
3. Press the Power button and immediately press & hold Command-R to start your Mac in recovery mode (macOS Utilities).
4. Select Disk Utility and use it to erase your Mac disk (usually it is the Macintosh HD volume).
5. Go back to the recovery mode and then click reinstall macOS.

Do you know how to delete Time Machine backups on your Mac computer? In this post, we will show you different cases and different methods.

This time, you should be able to successfully upgrade your macOS.

These are the effective methods to solve recovery server could not be contacted on your Mac computer. We believe that there should be one suitable method for your situation.

If You Want to Recover Your Lost Mac Data, Try This Software

Some of your important Mac files may get lost when you solve your Mac issues. To get them back, you can use Stellar Data Recovery for Mac, a free Mac data recovery software.

This software is specially designed to recover data from internal hard disks, external hard drives, SD cards, memory cards, and more on your Mac computer. Before recovery, you can even select the data types you want to restore and choose to perform a deep scan or not.

It has a trial edition. You can first use it to scan the drive you want to recover data from and then verify whether it can find your needed Mac files. If yes, you can use a full edition to recover all your files without limits. You can go to the MiniTool official download center to get this freeware.

Here is a detailed guide on how to use this software to scan and recover your lost and delete files on Mac.

1. Open the software.

2. You can customize the data types you want to recover if necessary. On the other hand, if you don’t have this requirement or want to recover all kinds of files, you can just turn on the button for Recover Everything.

3. Click the Next button to continue.

Macos Catalina Internet Recovery

4. On the next interface, you need to select the disk you want to recover data from. A deep scan can help you find more data but the scan process will last longer. If necessary, you can turn on the button for Deep Scan.

5. Click the Scan button to start scanning your selected disk.

6. When the scanning process ends, the software will show you the scan result by Classic List. This is the default mode. You can also switch to File List or Deleted List to find your needed files.

7. This software also allows you to preview the scan result. You can double-click one file to preview it and confirm whether it is the file you want to recover.

8. If you want to use this software to recover files on Mac, you can upgrade it to a full edition. You can go to the MiniTool site to select a suitable edition according to your situation.

Bottom Line

After reading this article, you should know how to fix your Mac recovery server could not be contacted issue if it occurs to you. Additionally, if you want to recover your lost and delete files on your Mac machine, you can try Stellar Data Recovery for Mac.

If you are bothered by some other Mac issues and don’t know how to fix them, you can let us know in the comments or contact us via [email protected].

The Recovery Server Could Not Be Contacted FAQ

1. Close the Server
2. Open Terminal.
3. Type sudo slapconfig –destroyldapserver and press Enter.
4. Restart your computer.