If you’re going to sell your MacBook or Mac, trade it in, or simply
pass it on to friends or family, you should clean it and restore it to
factory settings first.
This is partly to keep your data safe,
but it’s also to avoid any future problems that might arise if you don’t
detach that Mac from the numerous services and apps you use.
It
also means that the new user will be able to restart the Mac as if it
were new. Just keep in mind that erasing personal information isn’t
enough if someone else will be using the Mac after you; you’ll also need
to make sure there’s a working version of macOS installed.
Another
reason you might want to wipe your Mac is to do a clean install of
macOS, which can be an useful approach to solve problems with your Mac
if it’s acting strangely or you’re scared you’ve got a virus.
Wiping a broken Mac will allow you to set it up as if it were a new Mac, perhaps resolving any software-related difficulties.
lone or back up your Mac
Erase all your data from your Mac
Restore your Mac to its factory settings
Reinstall macOS
First,
some good news: If you’re running macOS Monterey on an M1, M1 Pro, M1
Max, or a Mac with a T2 chip, deleting your Mac’s content has just
gotten a whole lot easier thanks to a new option in System Preferences.
We’ll go over the new stages in detail below.
Step 1: Back up your Mac
Before you begin, make a backup or clone of your Mac.
This is because, as you might think, restoring a Mac to factory defaults erases all of the data it contains.
Don’t fall into the same trap we did:
We
figured that because we use iCloud to sync all of our Apple devices’
files, we’d be able to retrieve anything we needed from the cloud –
which was true to some extent, but we didn’t realize it until after we
cleaned the Mac that the data for one non-Apple program we used wasn’t
in the cloud.
It’s simple to make a mistake in these days of working primarily on the cloud!
Unfortunately, you can’t yet use iCloud to back up everything on your Mac.
Fortunately, backing up your Mac is simple if you have an external hard disk to utilize.
This is really easy to perform with Apple’s Time Machine software; here’s how to back up with Time Machine.
The nicest part about backing up with Time Machine is that it makes transferring your data to a new Mac a breeze.
If
you don’t want to use Apple’s free Time Machine software, you can use a
program like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to generate a clone of
your entire hard drive (both are available as free trials).
If
you decide to restore your Mac, this cloned drive can be re-cloned back
to the primary drive, or it can be used to access all of your original
files and move them along with all of your settings to your new machine.
We have a comprehensive guide to backing up a Mac as well as a list of the top Mac backup software.
Step 2: Prepare and erase your Mac
You know you need to wipe the Mac before handing it over, but there’s some more administrative work to be done first.
If
you have an M1 Mac or an Intel Mac with a T2 processor and are running
macOS Monterey, this process is a little easier because a new option in
System Preferences takes care of many of the stages.
If your Mac is older, the steps are a little more involved; we’ll walk you through the stages for older Macs below.
M1 Macs and Intel Mac with T2 chip running macOS Monterey
If
you have an M1 Mac, or an Intel Mac with a T2 processor inside, and
you’re running macOS Monterey, the process is a little easier, as a new
option in System Preferences takes care of many of the tasks.
These Intel Macs have the T2 security chip:
MacBook Air from 2018
MacBook Pro from 2018
Mac mini from 2018
iMac 27-inch from 2020
iMac Pro
Mac Pro from 2019
How to erase an M1 Mac, or a Mac with T2 chip
In
macOS Monterey, a new option in System Preferences takes care of a lot
of the tedious steps needed in wiping your Mac – as long as it’s an M1
or T2 Mac, as described above.
Everything will be taken care of
if you select the new Erase All Content and Settings option, including
the elimination of your saved fingerprints for Touch ID, Apple ID,
anything in the Wallet app, and Find My.
The Activation Lock will be disabled, and Bluetooth devices will be disconnected.
It also deletes all of your data as well as any user-installed programs.
Open System Preferences.
Click on System Preferences in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
Click on Erase All Content and Settings.
Enter your password.
Before you start deleting, you’ll be reminded to back up your data with Time Machine, but you can skip this step.
What will be removed will be displayed in a window, including Apple ID, Touch ID, accessories, and Find My Settings.
Finally, using your Apple ID, log out of your Mac and all associated services.
You’ll get a final warning before your Mac is erased, so if you have second thoughts, you may at least stop now!
1. Deauthorise your accounts
You need to disconnect the Mac from any services you are linked to.
That means signing out of things like Apple Music/iTunes, iCloud, Messages, and Find My.
For
example, you’ll need to deauthorize and log out of your iTunes Store
account via the Music app (or iTunes in prior versions of macOS).
This is significant since you can only play music and movies restricted to your iTunes/Music account on up to five Macs.
Depending on the version you have, the technique for deauthorizing your music services differs.
Open the Music or iTunes app and click on Account, then log out.
Open the App Store app, click on Store, then log out.
Select Apple ID from the System Preferences menu.
After that, go to Overview and Sign Out.
Deselect
everything when it asks if you want to keep a copy of your iCloud data
(of course make sure you back that information up somewhere).
Then click Continue and wait for it to complete the sign-out process (which may take a while).
You’ll be asked whether you want to download images to your Mac at some point (you don’t unless you want to make a backup).
Finally, validate your Apple ID password by entering it, as well as the Mac’s password.
2. Unpair Bluetooth devices
This
is especially crucial if you’re giving your Mac to a family member or
coworker, as any Bluetooth device that was previously associated with
your old Mac may reconnect with it, which might be inconvenient if you
wish to use it with your new Mac.
It’s also possible that your new keyboard or mouse will not work.
3. Turn off FileVault
Unauthorized people may find it difficult to access the data on your Mac if you use FileVault encryption.
If
you’re using FileVault to encrypt your data on your Mac, you should
switch it off before deleting it and preparing the Mac for sale. This
may sound counterintuitive because you want to safeguard your data, but
you’ll be deleting it.
To turn it of go to System Preferences
Click Security & Privacy.
Click on FIleVault.
Click on the lock and enter your name and password.
Click Turn Off FileVault.
4. Reset NVRAM
Resetting the NVRAM is another approach to ensure that none of your personal settings remain on the Mac.
Your Mac’s NVRAM is a little amount of memory that stores key settings.
Your user settings will be cleared, and any security features you’ve tweaked will be restored if you reset it.
Here’s how to reset the NVRAM:
Hold down Option/Alt, Command, P and R.
Wait 20 seconds and release the keys.
On an M1 Mac, though, you can’t reset the NVRAM in the same way.
It is possible to adjust the settings, but not to reset it.
5. Restart your Mac in Recovery
You’re
ready to start erasing everything on the Mac now that you’ve backed
everything up, deauthorized your accounts, and unpaired your gadgets.
You’ll need to go into Recovery mode to do so.
You will be able to clean the Mac as a result of this.
How to enter Recovery on an Intel Mac
Click the Apple logo at the top left of the screen and select Restart.
Hold down the Command and R keys simultaneously until you see an Apple logo or a spinning globe.
NOTE:If
you’re selling or giving away a Mac running OS X El Capitan or older,
press Option-Command-R to ensure that the installation isn’t associated
with your Apple ID,” Apple advises.
Expect it to take a while for the Mac to start up in this mode.
You may see a screen asking you to choose a language.
The next screen you’ll see is the Recovery Mode Utilities window. Since macOS Sierra and later it looks something like this:
How to factory-reset a Mac: Recovery Mode Utilities
Turn off the computer by clicking on the Apple logo and choosing Shut Down.
Now press and hold the power button to turn the Mac on again. Keep holding the power button.
When
the Apple logo appears you’ll also see text informing you that if you
continue holding you will be able to access startup options.
Continue to hold the button down (probably for around five more seconds) and the text should switch to Loading Startup Options.
Eventually you will be able to select Options > Continue.
This will open up Recovery.
We also detail how to access Recovery on an M1 Mac in this article: How to do everything on an M1 Mac.
6. Erase and reformat your Mac
Now you have entered Recovery you can erase your Mac.
Again,
the instructions are a little different depending on the version of
macOS you are using and whether your Mac is Intel or M1.
We’ll
run through the method in Monterey, Big Sur and Catalina, before moving
onto Mojave and previous versions of macOS below that.
How to delete your Mac in Big Sur/Monterey on an Intel Mac.
Now that you are in Recovery, as per the instructions above, you need to select Disk Utility from the list.
Once in Disk Utility select Macintosh HD (or whatever you have called your ‘hard drive’).
There are various options along the top: click on Erase.
You
should see the name of your drive and the format should be APFS.
Underneath you should see an option to Delete Volume Group (this will
ensure you delete both the Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD Data.
Once you have deleted the Macintosh HD you can then click on any other drives and volumes and click the – to delete the volume.
To
make sure you delete everything you will need to choose Erase Volume
Group, if you don’t see this option try the instructions below.
How to delete your Mac in Catalina
When
Apple introduced macOS Catalina in 2019 it added a new read-only volume
where the operating system lives. This volume is Macintosh HD (yours
may have a different name). Alongside it you will also have a Macintosh
HD – Data volume. This is where your data resides.
The reason
Apple separated the two volumes in Catalina is to ensure that critical
operating system data can’t be overwritten. Because of this extra volume
the process is a little different to how it works on older Mac.
As per the steps above start up your Mac in Recovery.
Once Recovery starts up choose Disk Utility.
Two disks should appear: Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD – data (seen below – apologies for the poor image quality!)
Click on this Macintosh HD – Data drive to select it.
Either click on the – button or go to the menu and choose Edit > Delete APFS volume.
You will see a message warning you that this will permanently erase your data. Click on Delete.
Wait while the volume is deleted. Delete Macintosh HD Data
You
must now return to Disk Utility and erase the Macintosh HD.You must
complete both stages since you will not be able to reinstall macOS on
top of macOS.In order to recreate the Macintosh HD-Data volume, you’ll
need to reinstall macOS.
To pick Macintosh HD, click on
it.Unmount is the option we propose.When we first tried to erase
Macintosh HD, we received the following error message: Erase process
failed because volume Macintosh HD on disk 2s5 could not be unmounted
since it is in use by process 793. (kextcache).This issue was resolved
by unmounting first.
With Macintosh HD still selected click on Erase.
Enter a name you want to give the drive once you have reformatted it, such as Macintosh HD.
Choose the format. This is will be APFS if you are using Catalina – older OSs might have had the option of Mac OS Extended.
Click Erase and enter your Apple ID if required. Wait.
Now quit Disk Utility to return to the MacOS Utilities screen.
How to delete your Mac in Mojave or earlier
The
process for deleting and reformatting your Mac is slightly less
complicated in macOS Mojave or earlier as there isn’t the second Data
volume to delete first.
As above, start up in Recovery.
Select Disk Utility from the options, and click Continue.
Click
on your main hard drive, typically called Macintosh HD, in the sidebar
on the left. You’re looking for the disk name, not the volume name
indented underneath it if that appears. How to factory-reset a Mac: Disk
Utility.To wipe your hard drive, click the Erase button, then click
Erase. Note that this permanently erases all data on the hard drive so
don’t do this unless you’ve cloned the drive or are happy to never
access anything on that drive again. How to factory-reset a Mac: Erasing
the hard drive
When it’s finished, exit the program by going to the top menu and selecting Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility.
Step 3: Reinstall macOS
The
next step involves reinstalling macOS – you can’t just sell your Mac
having erased the contents – if you do the new user will be confronted
with a flashing question mark when they start up the Mac because there
will be no operating system installed. You need to reinstall macOS
before you can sell it on.
If you have an M1 Mac, or a Mac with
the T2 chip, this will be handled by the Erase All Contents and Settings
option in System Preferences, as detailed above. But if that isn’t an
option for you then the below guide should help:
How to reinstall macOS
Whether
you are reselling the Mac, or just planning to continue to use the Mac
and just wanted to do a clean install you will want to install a version
of macOS.
You should still be in macOS Utilities as per the steps above.
Choose Reinstall macOS from Utilities and follow the instructions that appear to reinstall macOS.
Your
Mac will start to download and install which ever version of macOS your
Mac was running – alternatively, if you wanted to install an older
version of macOS we have more information below.
Your Mac will
eventually resume after the longest-ever 49 minutes or so.However, the
wait isn’t over yet.While you start up and keep an eye on the white bar,
it will take some time.Ours claimed there were 11 minutes left about
that time, but it took a lot longer.Ignore any time remaining signs and
just let your Mac go on with it.
Finally you will see the
Welcome screen. If you are selling or passing on your Mac you can leave
it at this stage because the new user will need to input their details.
If you want to continue to use the Mac then follow the steps to set it
up.
How to install an older version or downgrade macOS
The
method above will work if you want to install the latest version of
macOS installed on the Mac. It won’t upgrade you to the latest version
if you aren’t already running it.
There are other options if you want to install a different version of the macOS.
Instead
of pressing Command + R at start up you could press Shift + Option/Alt +
Command R (if you are running Sierra 10.12.4 of later) to install the
version of macOS that came with your Mac, or the one closest to it that
is still available. (Command + R won’t work on an M1 Mac).
Alternatively, you might create a bootable disc with the macOS version you want to use and use that to install it on your Mac.
How to create a bootable macOS installer on an external disk may be found here.
If
you need to install an older version of the Mac operating system and
don’t have the original discs, follow these instructions: How to install
outdated versions of macOS or Mac OS X.