If you see the alert 'Installation cannot proceed with Boot Camp configured'
This alert may appear when installing macOS Mojave or later on certain iMac models that have a 3TB hard drive. Learn what you can do.
If Boot Camp is configured on one of the following iMac models, you might see the alert ”Installation cannot proceed with Boot Camp configured” when attempting to upgrade to macOS Mojave or later. The alert appears because the Windows partition created by Boot Camp on these models isn't compatible with the file system used by the new version of macOS.
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014): Follow the steps below to remove Windows, upgrade macOS, then reinstall Windows.
iMac (27-inch, Late 2013): Follow the steps below to remove Windows, upgrade macOS, then reinstall Windows.
iMac (27-inch, Late 2012): Follow the steps below to remove Windows, then upgrade macOS. After upgrading, you can no longer use Boot Camp to install Windows.
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)
If you have either of these models configured with a 3TB hard drive, you must remove the Boot Camp partition before you can upgrade to macOS Mojave or later. This also removes Microsoft Windows and all of the data you saved to your Mac from within Windows. After upgrading macOS, you can install a compatible version of Windows.
If you want to save any of your Windows data, start up your Mac in Windows and make a backup of that data before continuing.
Start up your Mac in macOS, then open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
Click Continue, then select the checkbox labeled ”Remove Windows [version] or later version.”
Click Continue again, then follow the onscreen instructions to remove Boot Camp.
Quit Boot Camp Assistant when done.
You can now upgrade to macOS Mojave or later.
After installing macOS, you can use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10.
iMac (27-inch, Late 2012)
If you have this model configured with a 3TB hard drive, you must remove the Boot Camp partition before you can upgrade to macOS Mojave or later. This also removes Microsoft Windows and all of the data you saved to your Mac from within Windows.
After upgrading, you can no longer use Boot Camp to install Windows on this Mac. Boot Camp will display an alert saying that new installations of Windows are not supported on this Mac.
If you want to save any of your Windows data, start up your Mac in Windows and make a backup of that data before continuing.
Start up your Mac in macOS, then open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
Click Continue, then select the checkbox labeled ”Remove Windows [version] or later version.”
Click Continue again, then follow the onscreen instructions to remove Boot Camp.
Quit Boot Camp Assistant when done.
You can now upgrade to macOS Mojave or later.
Learn more
Learn how to identify your iMac model.
