How to factory reset or completely erase your Mac

by Edward Harper July 31, 2024

Planning to sell or give away your iMac, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro? Or is its performance lagging due to too much content on your drives, and you want to see if a fresh start will help? Consider resetting your Mac, giving it a fresh installation of macOS like the day it rolled off the assembly line.

A factory reset isn't something that should be done lightly, which is why the "Erase All Content and Settings" feature isn't easy to access. When started, it quickly and permanently erases all the settings, data, and apps on your Mac. In this guide, we walk through the steps required to factory reset your Mac computer using Erase All Content and Settings.

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How to reset an iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or Mac Mini

Factory resetting your Mac is a smooth process if you prepare beforehand. To get started, you'll need to determine what kind of Mac you own and what version of the macOS operating system it runs. Once you know this information, back up all your important data to cloud storage, a removable drive or both before erasing anything. Ensuring you don't lose any vital documents, programs or settings. Not sure what any of that means? We'll show you how to find the necessary information.

Some requirements you need to check

You'll, of course, need your Mac -- it doesn't matter if it's an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, or Mac Mini, they all reset the same way -- to use the "Erase All Content and Settings" feature to factory reset your Mac. To use the procedure outlined below, you must have either a Mac with an Apple Silicon processor or the Apple T2 Security Chip, and it must be running macOS Monterey or later. Not sure if that's what you have? Here are a few links to Apple support pages to help you figure out what you have:

If the "Erase All Content and Settings" feature isn't available on your Mac, then you'll need to follow Apple's instructions here to erase your Mac. Otherwise, you can follow the instructions below to reset your Mac.

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How to erase all content and settings

After you've backed up your Mac and all of your important documents, you'll need to navigate to the Erase All Content and Settings option on your Mac. Its location depends on the version of macOS you're running. Below are the steps for macOS Monterey, macOS Ventura and macOS Sonoma.

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For macOS Ventura and Sonoma:

Click the Apple menu icon in the top-left corner of your screen.
Select System Settings.
Click General in the sidebar.
Click Transfer or Reset on the right.
Select Erase All Content and Settings.

For macOS Monterey:

Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen.
Select System Preferences.
From the System Preferences menu in the menu bar, select Erase All Content and Settings.

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Following either method will then start the reset process, which starts with a prompt to enter your administrator credentials (the same credentials you use to sign in to your Mac). You'll then be reminded to back up your Mac; click Continue if you already have or don't need a backup. Next, you'll be shown all the information that will be removed from your Mac -- click Continue after you've read through it.

You'll then need to enter your Apple ID/iCloud password, and the reset process will start. You may see another popup window with one last warning about losing all of your information. If that does happen, click Erase All Content and Settings and let your Mac take care of the rest.

Need more help? See Apple's support page for more detailed instructions.

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What happens after you reset your Mac?

Once you confirm you want to erase all content and settings on your Mac, the computer will display either a black screen or a progress bar while it wipes the drive. When it is completed, the computer will automatically restart. Once it restarts, an assistant will guide you through the setup process, just as if you're setting up your Mac for the first time. This is when you can customize your settings and preferences, set up your user account, and more. To leave the Mac in an "out-of-box state" if you plan to resell or donate it, just press Command-Q to shut down your Mac instead of continuing the setup process.

Why would you erase all content and settings from your Mac?

There are multiple reasons why a user might choose to factory reset or erase all content and settings on a Mac.

If you are preparing the Mac for sale or donation, you definitely want to remove all of your personal data from the machine's hard drive. While it's possible to individually delete all the files through the Finder, it could take an incredibly long time. By erasing all content and settings through the automated process, you can ensure that your personal data is completely wiped from the computer, protecting your privacy and security. This can also help to ensure that the new owner will have a fresh start with the Mac and won't have any issues with prior settings or your user preferences.

Another common reason to factory reset a Mac is to address persistent performance issues. If the Mac is experiencing recurring problems such as crashes, freezes, or performance issues that can't be resolved through other troubleshooting methods, a factory reset can sometimes help to resolve the issue. It essentially wipes the slate clean, which can often help to eliminate bugs that hide out of the reach of other system repair methods. It's often a last resort, but it works.

A factory reset can also be useful if you are looking to clear up space on a Mac. Hard drives can easily become cluttered with downloads, cache files, unused programs and more. Wiping the slate clean can be a less stressful way of cleaning them out to start anew.

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How to reset your NVRAM

NVRAM stands for non-volatile random access memory. In addition to your computer's hard disk drive or solid state drive, the NVRAM can hold information even when the computer is powered down. Within Mac computers, it is most commonly used for storing certain system settings that need to be accessed quickly.

In a support document, Apple recommends owners of Intel Macs without the Apple T2 Security Chip reset their NVRAM after factory resetting their Mac before selling it or trading it in. This will wipe out user settings and restore security defaults. Here’s how to do it:

First, shut down your Mac computer.
Power it back on, and immediately press and hold the Option, Command, P and R keys together.
Release the keys after about 20 seconds.
Your Mac will start up with the setup assistant as if you were booting it for the first time.

How to factory reset or completely erase your Mac