If you are selling your MacBook or Mac, trading it in, or simply passing it on to friends or family - yous would be wise to wipe the Mac and restore it to factory settings first. This is partly so that your information stays prophylactic, only information technology will likewise avoid any issues at a later on engagement that could come about if you don't disconnect that Mac from various services and software you might use. It also means the new user tin can restart the Mac as if it was brand new.

Merely call up that if someone is going to be using the Mac after yous, removing personal information alone isn't enough - you also need to make certain there's a working version of macOS installed later on. Read our guide to selling a Mac.

Another reason why you might desire to wipe your Mac is to perform a make clean install of macOS - which tin can be a skillful fashion to fix bug with your Mac if it's starting to behave oddly or you are worried you might have a virus. Wiping a faulty Mac volition allow you to ready it up like a new Mac - which will hopefully set any software-related issues you lot are having.

Follow our guide to practise the following:

  • Clone or dorsum up your Mac
  • Erase all your data from your Mac
  • Restore your Mac to its mill settings
  • Reinstall macOS

First a bit of good news: If you have macOS Monterey on an M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, or a Mac with a T2 flake, the procedure for erasing the content on your Mac has just got so much easier thank you to a new option in System Preferences. We'll run through the new steps below.

Step 1: Back up your Mac

Before yous practise annihilation you should dorsum upward or clone your Mac. This is because - equally you would await - resetting a Mac to factory settings gets rid of all the data stored on that machine.

Don't fall in to the trap we cruel into: Because nosotros use iCloud to sync all files across all our Apple devices nosotros assumed that we could just recover everything we needed from the cloud - which was truthful to a certain extent, but it wasn't until after we wiped the Mac that we realised that the information for ane non-Apple app we used wasn't in the cloud. In these days of working predominantly in the cloud it is an easy mistake to make! Unfortunately you lot tin can't nevertheless back upwardly everything on your Mac to iCloud.

Luckily bankroll up your Mac is easy to exercise - as long as you have a external hard drive to use. This tin exist done very but using Apple's Fourth dimension Machine software - here's how to back up using Time Machine. The best affair about backing up with Time Auto is it makes it really easy to motion your data to a new Mac afterwards.

If you don't want to use Apple'due south free Time Automobile software, or yous tin make a clone of the whole hard drive using a program like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper (both are available equally free trials).

This cloned drive can be re-cloned dorsum to the principal drive if you lot decide to restore your Mac, or it can be used to access all the original files and transfer them and all your settings to your new figurer.

We have a complete guide that explains how to back up a Mac as well equally this guide to the best Mac Backup Software.

Step ii: Ready and erase your Mac

You lot know you need to erase the Mac before you lot laissez passer information technology on, but before you delete everything in that location'due south some more admin to do first.

If y'all accept a M1 Mac, or an Intel Mac with a T2 flake inside, and y'all are running macOS Monterey, this procedure is a lilliputian easier with many of the steps taken care of by a new option in System Preferences. If your Mac is older then the steps you demand to have are a footling more complicated, we'll run though the steps for older Macs below.

M1 Macs and Intel Mac with T2 flake running macOS Monterey

If you lot take a M1 Mac, or an Intel Mac with a T2 chip within, and you are running macOS Monterey this procedure is a little easier with many of the steps taken care of by a new option in System Preferences.

These Intel Macs accept the T2 security fleck:

  • MacBook Air from 2022
  • MacBook Pro from 2022
  • Mac mini from 2022
  • iMac 27-inch from 2022
  • iMac Pro
  • Mac Pro from 2022

How to erase an M1 Mac, or a Mac with T2 chip

A new choice arrived in Organization Preferences in macOS Monterey that takes care of a lot of the complicated steps involved in wiping your Mac - as long every bit it is an M1 Mac or one with a T2 chip, as detailed to a higher place.

If you lot click on the new Erase All Content and Settings pick and so everything will be taken care of, including removal of your stored fingerprints for Touch ID, your Apple tree ID, anything in the Wallet app, and Observe My. Activation Lock will also be removed and Bluetooth devices volition be unpaired. Information technology as well removes all your data and user-installed applications.

  1. Open Organization Preferences.
  2. Click on System Preferences in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
  3. Click on Erase All Content and Settings. How to delete Mac
  4. Enter your password.
  5. Y'all'll be reminded to do a backup with Time Automobile before you lot begin deletion - but you tin skip that stride.
  6. A window volition testify you lot what will be deleted, including Apple ID, Touch ID, accessories, and Find My settings.
  7. Finally you will need to log out of your Mac and all related services using your Apple ID.
  8. Before your Mac is erased you receive a terminal warning, so if yous have second thoughts at least you lot tin can stop at this bespeak! Erase Mac Monterey
  9. Having clicked the second Erase All Content & Settings your Mac will restart. Eventually yous will run into a black screen while it restarts.
  10. In one case your Mac restarts yous tin can go through the steps to ready it upwardly equally new, or y'all tin go out it at this stage for the next owner to fix. Only turn the Mac off first.

How to prepare and erase an older Mac

Unfortunately if your Mac is older than those above, or doesn't have Monterey installed (if the latter is the case then y'all will probably be better off updating the software commencement every bit it will brand things simpler for you), yous will need to run through the steps beneath:

1. Deauthorise your accounts

You need to disconnect the Mac from any services you are linked to.

That means signing out of things similar Apple tree Music/iTunes, iCloud, Messages, and Detect My.

For example, in the Music app (or iTunes in older versions of macOS) you lot will need to deauthorise your iTunes Shop account and log out. This is of import because you can only use upward to five Macs to play music and movies that are locked to your iTunes/Music account. The method of deauthorising your music services varies depending on which version you've got.

  1. Open up the Music or iTunes app and click on Account, then log out.
  2. Open the App Shop app, click on Store, and so log out.
  3. Click on System Preferences > Apple ID. And so click on Overview and Sign Out. When it asks if you desire to keep a copy of the iCloud data just deselect everything (of course brand sure you dorsum that information up somewhere). Then click Go along and expect for it to sign out (which may take a while). You'll eventually be asked if you lot want to download photos to the Mac (y'all don't unless you want to brand a back up). Finally enter your Apple ID Password to confirm, and enter the password for the Mac.

2. Unpair Bluetooth devices

This is especially important if yous are passing your Mac on to someone in your dwelling house or part equally whatsoever Bluetooth device that may have one time been paired with your old Mac may connect to the old one again - which could be frustrating if you want to utilise information technology with your new Mac. It might besides hateful your new keyboard or mouse won't work.

3. Plough off FileVault (if you use information technology)

FileVault encryption can make it difficult for unauthorized persons to access the data on your Mac. If you are using FileVault to encrypt the data on your Mac before you lot delete your data and prepare the Mac for auction you should turn it off - this seems illogical as you desire to protect your data, but you volition be removing the data.

  1. To turn it of go to System Preferences
  2. Click Security & Privacy.
  3. Click on FIleVault.
  4. Click on the lock and enter your name and password.
  5. Click Turn Off FileVault.

4. Reset NVRAM

Another mode to exist absolutely sure that none of your personal settings remain on the Mac is to reset the NVRAM.

The NVRAM is a small amount of retentiveness that your Mac uses to store certain settings. Resetting it will clear your user settings and restore any security features you lot might accept adjusted.

Hither'due south how to reset the NVRAM:

  1. Agree downwards Choice/Alt, Control, P and R.
  2. Look twenty seconds and release the keys.

Note, y'all can't reset the NVRAM on an M1 Mac in the same way. You can modify the settings just you can't reset it. Withal, you lot may not need to because it seems to be the case that the M1 Chip tests the NVRAM when the computer is started from shutdown (i.e. not after a normal reboot). If something is wrong with the memory it is reset automatically. We draw how to reset NVRAM in this article: How to reset NVRAM on an M1 or Intel Mac. Of course, if you accept an M1 Mac you won't need to do this step anyway.

5. Restart your Mac in Recovery

Now yous have backed everything upward, deauthorised your accounts and unpaired devices, you lot are prepare to outset to erase everything on the Mac. To do and so you need to enter Recovery mode. This volition enable you to wipe the Mac.

How to enter Recovery on an Intel Mac

  1. Click the Apple logo at the top left of the screen and select Restart.
  2. Immediately hold down the Command and R keys until you see an Apple logo or spinning globe. (You lot may be amend off using a dissimilar key combination depending on the age of your Mac, and which macOS y'all want installed or was installed on the Mac when you bought it - we have a complete guide to starting a Mac in Recovery Style hither). For example, Apple recommends that "if you're selling or giving away a Mac that is using OS X El Capitan or earlier, use Option-Command-R to make sure that the installation isn't associated with your Apple ID".
  3. Expect it to take a while for the Mac to commencement up in this mode.
  4. You lot may see a screen asking you lot to cull a linguistic communication.
  5. The side by side screen you lot'll come across is the Recovery Mode Utilities window. Since macOS Sierra and later it looks something similar this:

How to factory-reset a Mac: Recovery Mode Utilities

If you're having problems because Control + R isn't doing the trick, read this: How to reinstall macOS if Recovery won't work.

Note: The process past which you access Recovery on a M1 Mac is different to the process on an older Intel-powered Mac, simply, because if you take an M1 Mac y'all will probably have used the Erase All Settings this shouldn't be necessary for you lot. If you practise desire to enter Recovery on an M1 Mac, instead of pressing the Command and R buttons when you restart your Mac you lot will need to do the post-obit:

  1. Turn off the computer by clicking on the Apple logo and choosing Shut Downward...
  2. Now press and hold the ability push to turn the Mac on over again. Go on holding the power button!
  3. When the Apple logo appears you'll also see text informing you that if you continue belongings you will be able to admission startup options.
  4. Continue to agree the button down (probably for around 5 more seconds) and the text should switch to Loading Startup Options.
  5. Eventually you lot will be able to select Options > Go on.
  6. This will open upward Recovery.

We also item how to access Recovery on an M1 Mac in this commodity: How to practice everything on an M1 Mac.

six. Erase and reformat your Mac

Now yous have entered Recovery you can erase your Mac.

Once again, the instructions are a fiddling different depending on the version of macOS you are using and whether your Mac is Intel or M1.

Nosotros'll run through the method in Monterey, Large Sur and Catalina, before moving onto Mojave and previous versions of macOS below that.

How to delete your Mac in Large Sur/Monterey on an Intel Mac

  1. At present that you are in Recovery, every bit per the instructions in a higher place, y'all demand to select Disk Utility from the listing.
  2. In one case in Disk Utility select Macintosh HD (or whatever you lot have called your 'hard drive').
  3. There are diverse options along the top: click on Erase.
  4. Yous should see the name of your drive and the format should be APFS. Underneath you should see an option to Delete Volume Group (this volition ensure you delete both the Macintosh HD and Macintosh Hard disk Data.)
  5. Once you have deleted the Macintosh HD you can then click on whatever other drives and volumes and click the - to delete the volume.

To make sure you delete everything you volition need to choose Erase Volume Group, if you don't see this option try the instructions beneath.

How to delete your Mac in Catalina

When Apple tree introduced macOS Catalina in 2022 it added a new read-but volume where the operating system lives. This volume is Macintosh HD (yours may have a different name). Alongside information technology you lot volition also take a Macintosh Hard disk drive - Data volume. This is where your information resides.

The reason Apple tree separated the two volumes in Catalina is to ensure that critical operating organisation data tin can't be overwritten. Because of this extra volume the procedure is a little different to how it works on older Mac.

  1. Every bit per the steps above start up your Mac in Recovery.
  2. In one case Recovery starts upward choose Deejay Utility.
  3. You lot should see ii disks - Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD - data (shown beneath - sad about epitome quality!) This data drive is where your data is stored separately to the macOS installation. (It'due south possible your drive is called something else, like Home HD for case). Macintosh HD Data
  4. Click on this Macintosh Hard disk - Information bulldoze to select information technology.
  5. Either click on the - push or get to the menu and choose Edit > Delete APFS volume.
  6. You will see a message alert you that this will permanently erase your data. Click on Delete.
  7. Look while the volume is deleted. Delete Macintosh HD Data
  8. Now you lot demand to go back to Disk Utility to delete the Macintosh Hd. You have to do both steps as you won't just be able to reinstall macOS over the peak of macOS. And yous will need to reinstall the macOS in guild to recreate the Macintosh Hd-Data volume. Click on Macintosh HD to select information technology.
  9. Nosotros recommend that you click Unmount. Initially when we tried to delete Macintosh HD nosotros saw an fault message that stated: Erase process has failed because volume Macintosh HD on disk 2s5 couldn't be unmounted considering it is in use by process 793 (kextcache). Unmounting first fixed this problem.
  10. With Macintosh HD still selected click on Erase. Erase Macintosh HD
  11. Enter a proper name you want to requite the bulldoze once you take reformatted it, such as Macintosh Hd.
  12. Cull the format. This is will be APFS if you are using Catalina - older OSs might have had the option of  Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
  13. Click Erase and enter your Apple ID if required. Await.
  14. 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 every bit there isn't the second Data book to delete outset.

As higher up, start upward in Recovery.

  1. Select Deejay Utility from the options, and click Continue.
  2. Click on your main difficult drive, typically called Macintosh HD, in the sidebar on the left. Yous're looking for the disk name, not the volume name indented underneath it if that appears. How to factory-reset a Mac: Disk Utility
  3. To wipe your hard drive, click the Erase push, so click Erase. Annotation that this permanently erases all data on the hard drive and then 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
  4. When it's finished, exit the programme by going to the acme menu and selecting Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility.

Step three: Reinstall macOS

The next stride involves reinstalling macOS - you tin't simply sell your Mac having erased the contents - if y'all exercise the new user will be confronted with a flashing question mark when they first upwardly the Mac because at that place will be no operating system installed. You need to reinstall macOS earlier you lot tin can sell it on.

If y'all take an M1 Mac, or a Mac with the T2 scrap, this will be handled past the Erase All Contents and Settings selection in Arrangement Preferences, every bit 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 only wanted to do a make clean install you volition desire to install a version of macOS.

You should even so be in macOS Utilities equally per the steps above.

  1. Choose Reinstall macOS from Utilities and follow the instructions that appear  to reinstall macOS.
  2. Your Mac will start to download and install which always version of macOS your Mac was running - alternatively, if you wanted to install an older version of macOS we accept more than information beneath.
  3. Eventually later on the longest-ever 49 mins or then your Mac will restart. Only the wait isn't over. It will yet accept a little time while you lot start upwardly and watch the white bar. Ours said 11 minutes remaining around that time, but it took a lot longer than that. Simply leave your Mac to go on with it and ignore any fourth dimension remaining indicators.
  4. Finally you lot volition see the Welcome screen. If you are selling or passing on your Mac you tin can leave it at this phase because the new user will need to input their details. If you lot want to keep to utilize the Mac then follow the steps to set information technology 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. Information technology won't upgrade you to the latest version if you lot 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 beginning upwards yous could printing Shift + Option/Alt + Command R (if yous are running Sierra 10.12.four of afterwards) 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 lot could make a bootable drive containing the version of macOS that you want to run and install it on your Mac using that. Read how to practise that hither: How to make a bootable macOS installer on an external drive.

If you need to install an older version of the Mac operating system and are wondering how you can do that if you lot haven't got the original discs, read this: How to install old versions of macOS or Mac Bone X.

We have some other commodity that goes into more detail on how to install an older version of macOS using Recovery manner.