How Do I Make My Mac Start From Scratch Again

So, you're thinking about ownership (or already bought) a new Mac, and yous're because what to do with your quondam one. You could hand it over to a friend or family fellow member, keep it equally a just-in-instance backup (y'all know, for testing betas!), or you lot could sell it. If you know it's leaving your hands, you must reset the Mac before selling information technology or giving it away. Not only will this protect your information, simply it's too harder for the new owner to apply or access some of Mac'southward features if your digital prints are all over information technology.

The get-go matter you should practise before hitting the streets to sell your old Mac is articulate it of any personal data. You don't want to accidentally sell your computer to a stranger when you are still logged into iCloud.

The adjacent footstep is to reinstall Mac'due south operating system so that the new owner can get started without having to figure out how to kickoff up in recovering fashion. Believe me that can be a pain.

If you're going through erasing your old Mac and reinstalling the operating system, nosotros've got some mutual troubleshooting tips to help you lot out. Don't forget to follow the additional steps if yous're selling a MacBook with Touch ID.

Here's how to reset your Mac before selling it or giving information technology away.

Make clean the Mac of your personal data before erasing it

If y'all're about to sell your old Mac, the one affair you don't desire to do is to give abroad the data you've been storing on information technology all these years. It's a security and privacy thing for you, merely it's also important for the heir-apparent. If you leave behind anything that needs to exist logged into with a password, that heir-apparent will have to track you down and go your password to change ownership. A completely fresh-from-scratch Mac is the all-time way to exercise this.

Footstep one: Back upwardly your Mac

If you already have your new Mac on manus, you tin can transfer all of your data from your old Mac or use an older Time Motorcar fill-in. If you don't take your new Mac all the same, well ... then you probably shouldn't be selling your one-time one yet. Merely, if you actually don't think you'll need your old computer earlier getting your new ane, make sure to support your information and so that nothing happens to it before you become what you lot need onto your new Mac.

• How to support and restore your Mac with Time Auto
• How to clone your Mac

Stride ii: Sign out of everything

The software you take on your Mac is licensed to y'all, which means it doesn't go transferred to your computer's new owner (except the operating system). To avert complications with the new owner attempting to download and install software licensed past you lot, brand certain to sign out of everything your personal information is connected to.

How to sign out of iTunes (macOS Mojave and older) or the Music app (macOS Catalina or later)

1. Open iTunes/Music on your Mac.
2. Click Account in the Carte bar on the left side of your screen.

3. Select Sign Out.

   Source: iMore

How to sign out of iMessage

1. Open Messages on your Mac.
2. Cull Messages in the Menu bar at the top left corner of your screen.
3. Click Preferences from the drop-down bill of fare.
4. Select your iMessage account.

5. Click on Sign Out.

   Source: iMore

How to sign out of iCloud

1. Click on the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of your Mac'due south screen.
2. Select System Preferences from the drop-down menu.

3. Choose on Apple ID (on macOS Mojave and older, click on iCloud).

   Source: iMore

4. Un-tick the box for Find My Mac.
5. Enter your system password when prompted.
6. Click on Overview nether your Apple ID.
7. Click on Sign Out.
8. Untick all of the boxes that continue a re-create on the Mac. Yous do not want to proceed a re-create of anything on this Mac. The data will exist saved on other iCloud devices.
9. Click Go on.
10. Click Delete from Mac to remove Safari passwords and credit cards from this Mac.

Step three: Unpair your Bluetooth devices

If you're keeping your Bluetooth devices, yous don't want to leave them paired to a Mac that you're getting rid of. Information technology isn't really that of import of a footstep, merely if yous sell your erstwhile Mac to, say, a roommate or someone living in the same business firm as you, you may feel accidentally connecting back to information technology.

1. Click on the Apple tree icon in the upper-left corner of your Mac's screen.
2. Click Organization Preferences from the drop-down menu.
3. Click on Bluetooth.
4. Hover over the device you want to unpair.
5. Click on the X next to the device.

Notation: If you're unpairing a keyboard, trackpad, or mouse on a desktop Mac, exist sure to take a wired one plugged in, or y'all won't exist able to type or use a curser, and you'll accept to repair it all again.

Step iv: Erase your hard bulldoze

In one case your information is backed upward and you lot've signed out of everything that might connect your old Mac to your personal information, you can erase everything on it past reformatting the hard drive.

1. Restart your Mac.
2. While the startup disc is waking upwardly, concord down the Command+R keys simultaneously. Your Mac will boot into macOS Recover.
3. Select Deejay Utility.

4. Click on Go on.

   Source: iMore

5. Click on View.
6. Click on Show all Devices.
7. Notice your Startup deejay (information technology should be named "Machintosh Hard disk drive" unless you renamed information technology) in the sidebar.
8. Select the data disk nether the startup disk.
9. Click Edit in the Mac screen's upper left corner in the bill of fare bar.
10. Click Delete APFS Volume from the bill of fare bar or click the Remove button in the disk utility bar.
11. If the Erase Group Book button appears, click that to erase all of the volumes associated with the drive
12. Confirm by clicking Delete when prompted.
13. Click Done when prompted.

Later you've deleted each information disk, it'due south fourth dimension to erase your startup disk.

1. Select your Startup Deejay. This will be the main internal drive on your Mac. It's normally called Apple HHD or Apple tree SSD or something similar.
2. Click the Erase push at the tiptop of the Disk Utility window.
3. If your Mac uses HFS+, select Mac Os Extended (Journaled) from the format listing. If your Mac is using APFS, select APFS from the format list. See Troubleshooting for more information on which format to select.
4. If the Scheme is available, select GUID Sectionalization Map.

5. Click Erase.

   Source: Apple tree

6. Select Quit Deejay Utility from the Disk Utility driblet-down menu in the upper left corner of the screen after the procedure is consummate.

   Source: iMore

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Source: https://www.imore.com/how-to-prepare-mac-for-sale

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