#Reset computer to factory settings how to
#Reset computer to factory settings install
#Reset computer to factory settings update
#Reset computer to factory settings software
#Reset computer to factory settings free

#Reset computer to factory settings update

If you have a Mac with a T2 chip you should be able to update it to macOS Monterey, or macOS Ventura, and use the Erase All Content and Settings option, which will be simpler than the steps would otherwise be. Which Macs have a T2 chip?Įrase All Content and Settings will work for Intel Macs that have the T2 security chip, these include: Once your Mac restarts you can go through the steps to set it up as new, or you can leave it at this stage for the next owner to set up. Having clicked the second Erase All Content & Settings your Mac will restart.

Click on Erase All Content and Settings.Īt this point you’ll be reminded to do a backup with Time Machine before you begin deletion.Ī window will then show you what will be deleted, including Apple ID, Touch ID, accessories, and Find My settings.įinally you will need to log out of your Mac and all related services using your Apple ID.īefore your Mac is erased you receive a final warning, so if you have second thoughts at least you can stop at this point!.

Click on System Preferences in the menu bar at the top of your screen.

Open System Preferences (System Settings if you are using Ventura).

To kick off this process you need to follow slightly different steps depending on which version of macOS you are using: It will also delete any applications installed on the Mac. It also removes all the accounts and their data and any volumes you have set up on the Mac–so if you share the Mac with someone else do make sure their stuff is backed up too. If you click on the new Erase All Content and Settings option then everything will be taken care of, including removal of your stored fingerprints for Touch ID and anything in the Wallet app, signing you out of your Apple ID, and turning off Find My and Activation Lock. The new option that arrived in macOS Monterey takes care of a lot of the complicated steps involved in wiping your Mac – as long as it is an M1- or M2-series Mac or one with a T2 chip. If your Mac is older then the steps you need to take are a little more complicated, we’ll run though the steps for older Macs below. It also needs to be running either macOS Monterey or macOS Ventura. However you will need to have a M1-series Mac, M2-series Mac, or a Mac with a T2 chip inside.

#Reset computer to factory settings install

Thanks to this new “Erase All Content and Settings” option, wiping your Mac so that you can pass it on, sell it, or just because you want to do a clean install in the hope that it will fix issues is quite a simple process. When macOS Monterey was introduced in 2021 Apple added a new option in System Preferences (System Settings as of macOS Ventura) for wiping a Mac and returning it to factory settings.

#Reset computer to factory settings how to

We have a complete guide that explains how to back up a Mac as well as this guide to the best Mac Backup Software. This cloned drive can be re-cloned back to the main drive if you 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 computer.

#Reset computer to factory settings free

If you don’t want to use Apple’s free Time Machine software, or you can make a clone of the whole hard drive using a program like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper (both are available as free trials). The best thing about backing up with Time Machine is it makes it really easy to move your data to a new Mac afterwards.

#Reset computer to factory settings software

This can be done very simply using Apple’s Time Machine software – here’s how to back up using Time Machine. Luckily backing up your Mac is easy to do – as long as you have a external hard drive to use. In these days of working predominantly in the cloud it is an easy mistake to make! Unfortunately you can’t back up everything on your Mac to iCloud. This is because – as you would expect – resetting a Mac to factory settings gets rid of all the data stored on that machine.ĭon’t fall in to the trap we fell into: Because we use iCloud to sync all files across all our Apple devices we assumed that we could just recover everything we needed from the cloud – which was true to a certain extent, but it wasn’t until after we wiped the Mac that we realised that the data for one non-Apple app we used wasn’t in the cloud. Before you do anything you should back up or clone your Mac.