Best approach for: Dual boot Mac OS and Win 10 And shared files volume

I've got a somewhat older macbook pro (mid 2014) and it starts lagging. And since I'm working professionally on it I'm thinking of buying a new macbook or Win laptop. But since I never had a clean install I first want to try a few things.

Clean up internals, new cooling paste and clean OS install. But since I'm also thinking of switching from Mac to Windows I also want a dual boot of Win10. So I can try working with Windows for a month. Since I will be switching between operating systems I want to have an additional volume for all my work files.

But I'm not sure how to partition the 1tb ssd.

  • What partitions would I need and what type
  • Would there be performance issues working on a volume type that one of both don't prefer?

I'm thinking of, first make 3 volumes, install Mac OS, then on create a boot camp with Boot Camp Assistant.

Any help would be welcome


Steps to do a clean install of macOS and Windows

To do a clean install of the current versions of macOS and Windows, preform the following steps.

  1. Boot to a macOS installation media. For example, this could be a Mojave recover volume, internet recovery or a installation flash drive.
  2. Use the Disk Utility to erase the drive and create a single APFS volume.
  3. Install Mojave to this volume.
  4. Use the Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10. Include space for the MS-DOS (FAT) or ExFAT volume to be shared.

Steps to create a shared volume

This is to be done after installing macOS and Windows.

To create a MS-DOS (FAT) or ExFAT volume to be shared, preform the following steps.

  1. Under Windows 10, open Disk Management. Highlight the BOOTCAMP volume and select Shrink Volume…, as shown below.

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  2. Select the desired size, as shown below. Next, select the Shrink button,

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  3. Highlight the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume…, as shown below.

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  4. When the image shown below appears, select the Next button.

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  5. When a image similar to the image shown below appears, select the Next button.

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  6. In desired select a different drive letter, then select the Next button.

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  7. Select FAT32 and enter a volume label, as shown below. When finished select the Next button.

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  8. When a image similar to the image shown below appears, select the Finish button.

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  9. The result is shown below.

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  10. If you wanted ExFAT format, then restart back to macOS. Use the Disk Utility to erase the volume. Enter a name and ExFAT format, as shown below. When finished, select the Erase button.

Note about the Golden Rule

There is a Golden Rule which can be loosely stated as:

Never change the partitioning on a Mac from Windows.

In this case, the Golden Rule does not apply for the following reasons.

  • There no Mac OS Extended volumes on the drive.
  • Windows is installed to UEFI boot.