Is your Macbook Air or Macbook Pro starting to lag? Do you want to sell your Macbook? Do you think there is a load of unwanted data that you want to get rid of? All these questions have one answer. Factory reset your Mac.
But how do you do that?
Do we lose all the data?
Will our pc really get faster?
We will address all these questions of yours. Read this article to find out how to
factory reset Macbook Pro , Macbook Air.
You need to keep a few things in mind. First and foremost being the backing up of your data, which becomes vital if you do not want to lose it. To add to that if you are selling off your Macbook you must make sure that you have logged out of iMessage, iCloud or any of these other accounts before you trade it for some bucks.
So firstly, let’s take a look at what you need to do before you factory reset your Mac.
Essentials Before Resetting Your Macbook
Before you actually
factory reset macbook pro, there are some precautions that you might take so that you don’t lose any important data, personal files, apps, media, etc.
These are precautions you need to consider :
Backing up your PC. This is one of the most important steps and it’s importance cannot be overstated. If you don’t back up all of your essential files, everything will be lost after the Macbook is factory reset.
Signing out of iTunes. Go to Account then to Authorizations then Deauthorize This Computer. If you’re working on the latest MacOS then you can skip this step.
Signing out of iCloud. After clicking on the Apple menu, go to System Preferences then click the Apple ID. From the side panel choose iCloud then Turn off Find my Mac. Now click on Overview then Sign out.
Signing out of iMessage. After opening the Messages app, choose Messages then Preferences. Click iMessage then Sign Out.
Unpairing the bluetooth devices. First go to the apple menu then to System Preferences and then select Bluetooth. Now you can unpair keyboards, headphones and the other bluetooth peripherals.
After all these steps, you are all set to reset your computer. Your data is backed up and you’re logged out of all your accounts.
Steps to
factory reset Macbook Pro or Macbook Air
First enter the Recovery Mode
For you to get access to the options for erasing your data and reinstalling the operating system, you need to first enter macOS Recovery. But with the release of the new Macs, this can now be done in two different ways, depending on the chip inside your computer.
For Macs with an intel processor.
For the Macs which have an intel processor, hold the power button down and choose the Restart option from the pop-up menu. Or you could also open the Apple icon in the top-left corner of the screen and click on Restart. After this, hold Command + R till the Apple logo appears. Then release the keys and let the Mac boot up and open into Recovery.
For Macs with Apple silicon processors.
For Macs with an Apple silicon a completely different method is used where you must actually switch off the computer completely. First open the Apple menu and select Shut Down or hold down the power button then click on Shut Down from the pop-up menu. Now Hold the power button down so that the Mac is on again and then hold for several seconds till the “Loading startup options" appears. Now, click on Options from the startup screen to enter macOS Recovery.
Erase Your Data
However you get here, after this you must select a user who has administrator privileges and fill in their account credentials before you gain access to the start-up options of the computer. After the PC is fully in macOS Recovery, select Disk Utility and clear the hard drive.
Then in the Disk Utility menu, click on the drive Macintosh HD under the Internal heading and then click on Erase on the top toolbar. A dialog box pops up requiring the drive name and format. Write the name as Macintosh HD and ensure that the format is set to APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Then click on Erase Volume Group to wipe the drive, then make sure that the other internal drives are cleared in so that the computer can be totally wiped and the errors during the reinstall process be avoided. Move out of the Disk Utility window to the Recovery screen.
Keep in mind that once this process is done, no data that had been there in the drive can be recovered. If you feel that there is anything on the hard drive that you need you should make sure that it is backed up before this process.
Reinstall and Restore
Now if you want to sell your Mac and move ahead, your work is over. For the ones who want to keep their Mac and get started with it again, now you need to reinstall the MacOS on your computer again.
Make sure that your computer is connected to a power source and that you are connected to the internet. Move back to the macOS Utilities screen and click Reinstall macOS. Then follow the instructions and download a new version of the operating system.
If your files have been saved by a Time Machine backup, you can now restore all the files through the Migration Assistant in the reinstall process. There will be a choice of whether you want to transfer information from another Mac or a Time Machine backup. Click on Time Machine and continue the process.Your files will be restored.
If you did not do this while wiping your Mac, you can go back into the macOS Recovery screen and choose the Restore From Time Machine Backup option. Then select the desired backup from the list and reinstall your saved files.
Conclusion
Now most of your questions are answered and the haze around the question of whether
factory reset Macbook pro is safe and if the data can be preserved is cleared. So now, if you feel like your Macbook is lagging behind or you want to change your PC, you can very well go ahead and reset your Mac. Just keep in mind the precautions you need to take before resetting and perform the mentioned steps wisely.
You May Also Like
