How to factory reset your MacBook or iMac

If you plan to sell your Apple computer or give it to a family member, you must factory reset your Mac so that your personal data is no longer on it. Whether you have a MacBook or a Mac desktop, this article will show you how to do it.

Restore factory settings to a modern MacBook or Mac desktop

If your machine is running macOS Sonoma, Ventura, or Monterey, there's a quick way to factory reset your Mac. You can do this through System Settings (or System Preferences). On macOS Ventura or Sonoma, follow these steps:

1. Click the Apple icon on the menu bar and select System Settings from the drop-down list.
2. Select General from the sidebar, then click Transfer or Reset on the right.
3. Click Erase All Content and Settings.

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On the other hand, if your Mac is running Monterey then here's what you need to do:

1. Click the Apple icon on the menu bar and select System Preferences.
2. Next, click System Preferences in the menu bar and select Erase All Content and Settings from the drop-down list.

After selecting Erase All Content and Settings, you will have to enter your Mac's administrator password. Erase Assistant will open next and ask if you want to back up your Mac using Time Machine.

Once you take a few more steps, such as signing out of your Apple ID and clicking Erase All Content & Settings again, your Mac will begin to reset.

The method to factory reset your Mac on older versions of macOS varies significantly. The article will cover that next.

Factory reset your MacBook and older Mac desktops in macOS Recovery

If your Mac is running a version of macOS older than Monterey, you'll need to use macOS Recovery to erase your Mac. We won't get into that here, but whether you have an Intel or Apple silicon Mac, it's easy to learn how to boot into macOS Recovery.

Note: Before you enter macOS Recovery, remember to sign out of your iCloud account.

You'll know if you're in macOS Recovery mode because the wallpaper will be black and no apps or files will be available.

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Erase your Mac in macOS Recovery

Before continuing with this step, make sure you have backed up all your important data first. Remember that you can use Time Machine to back up your Mac easily.

Once you're in macOS Recovery, select Disk Utility from the on-screen options and click Continue. Then, select the Macintosh HD drive in the Internal section on the left.

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Now click Erase on the toolbar at the top of the window. A dialog box will appear on the screen. Here, name the new drive Macintosh HD and set the format to APFS or Mac OS Extended. Then click Erase (sometimes you'll see Erase Volume Group instead).

Make sure you complete the same process for any other drives in Internal, but most people won't have any. Any external hard drives or USBs will show up in the External section and you won't delete them, but it's still best to unplug them.

Exit Disk Utility to return to the macOS Recovery screen.

Reinstall macOS using macOS Recovery

Once you're back in the main macOS Recovery window, you can reinstall your new copy of macOS. This is a necessary step to reuse the device, because you essentially erased the operating system when you erased the hard drive in Disk Utility.

Before continuing, plug your Mac in to charge and connect to a WiFi network. Then, select Reinstall macOS and click Continue in macOS Recovery.

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Your Mac will take you through a set of on-screen instructions to complete the reinstallation of macOS. Each tutorial is very easy to understand and you don't need to do much. Essentially, your Mac will download and install the latest version of macOS from the web.

This process may take a few minutes, so please be patient. But once you're done, you can leave your Mac as is if you're selling it, or boot it up and use Setup Assistant to go through the initial macOS setup process just like you would a new device.

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Setup Assistant will prompt you to select your country and region, then you'll need to sign in with your Apple ID. You also need to choose some basic settings for your Mac and connect it to a WiFi network. Your Mac will be ready to use once you take these small steps. And because you've erased all your data, your Mac will perform faster.

Lesley Montoya

Update 11 March 2024