How To Reset To Factory Settings Imac

Macs are by and large reliable. Merely as with any computer, sometimes things become wrong. Earlier you lot spend big on a new Mac, though, try a manufacturing plant reset, which wipes your calculator and reinstalls a clean version of macOS. A factory reset is also the best way to prepare your old estimator for a new owner to brand sure no leftover data falls into the wrong easily.

The process has been the same for years on Macs with Intel processers, notwithstanding, the move to Apple silicon has slightly altered the method for wiping and reinstalling the Os. And with the jump to macOS Monterey, certain computers gain a new pick to erase all content and settings. Here's how to erase your hard drive and reinstall the operating system on your Mac, whether it has Apple's M1 scrap or features Intel components.

Be aware that once your computer has been reset, yous volition no longer be able to recover any deleted data that was left on the drive. If you think y'all may all the same demand what is on your hard drive, nosotros propose y'all to first back it up through Time Auto or by syncing of import files to iCloud.

Certain Macs have a new option for erasing information. If you're running macOS Monterey on an Apple silicon-based Mac or an Intel-based Mac with the Apple tree T2 flake, you lot at present take the Erase Assistant tool. Open System Preferences > Erase All Content and Settings in the menu bar.

Enter your admin countersign in Erase Assistant, then review the items that volition be removed. Along with erasing all settings, media, apps, and information for all accounts and volumes on the drive, the tool will besides sign you lot out of iCloud, delete Impact ID fingerprints, disable location services, unpair Bluetooth devices, and remove Apple Wallet items.

At this time, you take 1 terminal chance to create a Time Motorcar backup before continuing. Click Open Time Machine to create it, if yous haven't already done so.

Enter your password to sign out of your Apple tree ID, and then permit the erase process finish. Once complete, your Mac will be returned to manufactory settings. If you don't plan on keeping this computer, y'all're done. Otherwise, you tin get through the setup banana as if you are setting up your Mac for the first time.

Erase Data and Reinstall macOS With Disk Utility

The other option for resetting your Mac is Disk Utility, which is bachelor to all users. In order to admission the options for wiping your data and reinstalling the operating system, you need to enter macOS Recovery. How yous do this depends on the chip within your computer.

If y'all have an M1 Mac or Intel-based Mac with the T2 bit, shut downwardly your computer completely and hold down the power button until Loading startup options appears on the screen. Select Options to enter the recovery screen.

If your Mac has an Intel processor and doesn't have the T2 chip, restart your computer. From here, hold downwardly Control + R until the Apple logo appears. Release the keys and allow the Mac to kicking up and open into Recovery.

If your computer is frozen and the normal means of resetting aren't working, endeavour the Command + Command + Eject (or power button) shortcut.

No matter how you lot get here, y'all must then select a user with administrator privileges and enter their account credentials before gaining access to the computer'south startup options. Once fully in macOS Recovery, select Disk Utility and choose the volume you want to erase.

Did you previously create any additional volumes on your difficult drive? If and then, remove them first. Cull the partitioning and select the minus (-) push to remove the volume. You lot can then move on to your main drive. Select Macintosh HD and click Erase in the superlative toolbar.

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A dialog box will popular up asking for the bulldoze name and format. Keep the name as Macintosh Hard disk drive and make sure the format is set up to APFS or Mac Bone Extended (Journaled). Click Erase Volume Group (or Erase if that button isn't shown) to wipe the drive.

You should also make sure whatever other internal drives are also erased in guild to completely wipe the computer and avoid any errors during the reinstall process. Go to Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility to exit the Disk Utility window and get back to the Recovery screen.

If you programme to sell the computer, you can stop here and let the new possessor install a clean version of macOS. For those who programme to proceed their Mac, your next footstep should be to reinstall macOS onto the computer.

Your computer should exist hooked upwardly to a power source and continued to the cyberspace. Back at the macOS Utilities screen, click Reinstall macOS and follow the instructions to download a new version of the operating system.

If you saved your files to an external storage device through a Time Machine backup, y'all can now restore those files through the Migration Assistant as part of the reinstall process. Y'all volition be asked if you want to transfer information from another Mac or a Fourth dimension Auto backup. Select Time Machine and continue the procedure to restore your files.

If you make up one's mind not to restore your fill-in at this time, you tin can ever go back into the macOS Recovery screen and choose the Restore From Time Machine Backup option. Select the advisable backup from the list to reinstall your saved files.

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