If you are planning to sell, trade-in, or give away your Mac, simply deleting your files and emptying the trash is not enough. To protect your privacy and ensure the new owner can set up the computer without encountering your iCloud activation locks, you must perform a complete factory reset.
The process for erasing a Mac has changed significantly in recent years. Depending on which operating system you are running and what kind of processor your Mac has (Apple Silicon or Intel), the steps will vary. Here is exactly how to wipe your Mac clean.
Step 1: Back Up Your Data
Before proceeding, ensure you have a complete backup of your files. Once you erase the Mac, your data is permanently destroyed and cannot be recovered.
- Connect an external hard drive and run a Time Machine backup.
- Alternatively, ensure all your important desktop documents and photos are fully synced to iCloud Drive.
Step 2: Sign Out of Your Accounts (For Older Macs)
Note: If your Mac is running macOS Monterey (12.0) or newer, you can skip this step, as the modern “Erase All Content and Settings” tool handles this automatically.
If you are using an older Mac, you must manually deregister the device from Apple’s services to remove Activation Lock:
- Sign out of iTunes/Music: Open the Music app, click Account in the menu bar, and select Authorisations > Deauthorise This Computer.
- Sign out of iCloud: Open System Preferences, click Apple ID, select Overview, and click Sign Out.
- Sign out of iMessage: Open the Messages app, click Messages > Preferences in the menu bar, go to the iMessage tab, and click Sign Out.
Method 1: Erase a Mac Running macOS Monterey or Later
Apple introduced a highly convenient “Erase All Content and Settings” feature for modern Macs, similar to the reset button on an iPhone. This feature is available on all Macs with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3 chips) and Intel Macs with the T2 Security Chip running macOS Monterey, Ventura, or Sonoma.
- For macOS Ventura and Sonoma: Click the Apple menu () and select System Settings. Click General in the sidebar, then click Transfer or Reset on the right. Finally, click Erase All Content and Settings.
- For macOS Monterey: Click the Apple menu () and select System Preferences. Then, in the top menu bar, click the System Preferences drop-down menu and choose Erase All Content and Settings.
- Enter your administrator password to open the Erase Assistant.
- The assistant will warn you about all the data, Apple ID accounts, and Bluetooth accessories that will be removed. Click Continue.
- Enter your Apple ID password to sign out of iCloud and disable Activation Lock.
- Click the red Erase All Content & Settings button to confirm.
Your Mac will restart and display a black screen with an Apple logo and a progress bar. When it finishes, you will see the “Hello” setup screen. Press and hold the power button to shut it down—it is now ready for the new owner.
Method 2: Erase an Older Intel Mac (macOS Big Sur or Earlier)
If your Mac is older and does not have the “Erase All Content and Settings” option, you must erase the hard drive manually using macOS Recovery.
- Shut down your Mac completely.
- Press the power button to turn it on, then immediately press and hold the Command + R keys.
- Release the keys when you see an Apple logo or a spinning globe.
- When the macOS Utilities window appears, select Disk Utility and click Continue.
- In the left sidebar, select your primary hard drive, usually named Macintosh HD.
- Click the Erase button in the top toolbar.
- Keep the name as “Macintosh HD” and ensure the format is set to APFS.
- Click Erase Volume Group (or just Erase).
- Once the process is complete, quit Disk Utility to return to the main Recovery window.
- Select Reinstall macOS and follow the on-screen prompts to install a fresh copy of the operating system.
When the installation finishes and you see the setup screen asking you to choose a country, do not continue. Press Command + Q to shut down the Mac. It is now safely wiped and ready to be sold.