2 Answers. Reinstalling macOS from the recovery menu does not erase your data. However, if there is a corruption issue, your data may be corrupted as well, its really hard to tell. … Reinatalling the os alone does not erase data.

Can you reinstall macOS without losing data?

Option #1: Reinstall macOS without Losing Data From Internet Recovery. Click the Apple icon>Restart. Hold down the key combination: Command+R, you will see the Apple logo. Then choose “Reinstall macOS Big Sur” from utilities window and click “Continue”.

What happens if I reinstall macOS?

2 Answers. It does exactly what it says it does–reinstalls macOS itself. It only touches operating system files that are there in a default configuration, so any preference files, documents and applications that are either changed or not there in the default installer are simply left alone.