Isolation Day 48: I Finally Reinstalled MacOS
Now Just to Install the Apps and Updates
For a while now, I’ve been meaning to reinstall macOS. I usually do this once a year to clear out the accumulated digital "rubbish," but I’ve been putting it off since I’ve been using this machine for my university work for the past three years.
Today was the day my MacBook Pro finally got a refresh. After spending five hours backing up everything to my network drive (The Barn)—turns out those wedding photos take a fair chunk of space!—I gathered all my installers: MimoLive, QLab, CleanMyMac X, Little Snitch, Logic Pro, and uTorrent, to name a few.
Creating the boot USB was the trickiest part, mostly because I couldn’t remember the specific Terminal command off the top of my head! An hour (and some hunter chicken and chips) later, I had the OS up and running. It’s amazing how a clean install cleared out over 100GB of junk files. It feels like a brand-new machine again.
Fortnite & Cross-Platform Play
One of the main motivations for this refresh was to get Fortnite running properly on my laptop. When Abi and I play together, she’s usually on the PlayStation while I’ve been stuck on the iPad. The issue there is that the "Save the World" mode isn't supported on mobile, so we couldn't play that specific mode together.
It’s been a fun way to kill time during lockdown. We’re currently grinding to build up our V-Bucks for the Battle Pass—it’s a bit of an experiment to see if the pass rolls over, and Abi is dead-set on unlocking that Deadpool costume.
I’ve had a few run-ins with some very vocal 12-year-olds in squad play—one even promised to buy us an iPhone 11 if we turned our mics on!—but that’s the joy of the "mute" button. I’m actually tempted to start streaming some of our matches. Not that many people would watch, but it would be a fun way to document our lockdown experience.
A quick note for 2026: Since we’re now well past the macOS Catalina days you were writing about, just a heads-up that if you’re still using that same MacBook Pro, you’re likely running macOS 26.5 (Tahoe) if your hardware supports it! Also, it’s great that Fortnite is still fully cross-platform compatible across PC, console, and mobile, so you and Abi can keep gaming together without those device restrictions you ran into back then.
Do you regularly wipe your operating system of choice, or do you prefer to keep your install "clean" through other means? What are your "must-have" apps to install on a fresh system? And are you still getting those Victory Royales? Let me know in the comments below!