How To Reset A Mac to Factory Settings (Intel & Apple Silicon)?

Quick Navigation:

• Why Factory Reset Your Mac?
• Step 1: Back Up Your Data
• Step 2. Start the Factory Reset Process
• Step 3. Wipe Personal Data Permanently after Factory Reset [Optional]
• Conclusion

Is your Mac running slowly, or are you getting ready to sell it? You should do a complete factory reset for the Mac. If your Mac has software problems, a factory restart can fix them and give you a fresh start. This complete guide will walk you through every step of the process, whether you want to fix problems that won't go away, delete all of your data before giving your device to someone else, or start over.

We'll show you how to start over, back up your important files, and log out of important services. Keep reading to find out how to return your Mac to its original settings and ensure it's ready for anything. Take a look and start making your Mac experience better, faster, and safer!

Why Factory Reset Your Mac?

In many situations, you might need to perform a factory restart. Knowing these reasons can help you decide if a reset is right for your case.

🔹 Preparing for Sale or Transfer

A factory restart will remove your personal information from your Mac before you sell or give it away. The new owner can set up their account and settings without anyone else seeing them.

🔹 Troubleshooting Persistent Issues

A factory reset might be the best way to fix problems with your Mac that won't go away, like frequent crashes, slow performance, or software bugs that can't be fixed with normal repair steps. This process completely erases the system, getting rid of any damaged files or program conflicts that might be the cause of the issues.

🔹 Starting Fresh

It can be nice to start over with a clean system every once in a while. If you have a lot of apps, files, and settings on your Mac that you no longer need or want, a factory reset can help you start over without all of your old info.

Step 1: Back Up Your Data

It's important to back up your info before you do a factory reset to avoid losing any important files. You can back up your Mac in three ways:

🔹 Using Time Machine

1. Connect a hard drive from outside your Mac.
2. Go to System Settings (or System Preferences) > General > Time Machine.

3. Click Add Backup Disk and pick out your USB drive.

4. Press Back Up Now to begin the backup process.

🔹 Using iCloud

1. Go to iCloud in System Settings (or System Preferences) and then to Apple Account.

2. Check the iCloud Drive box.

3. You can back up different files by checking the boxes next to them.
4. Make sure your Mac is connected to the internet and wait for the info to sync with iCloud.

🔹 Using an External Drive

1. Connect a USB flash drive or portable hard drive.
2. Find the things you wish to save.
3. Drag and drop folders and files from your Mac to the external drive.
4. Ensure you've copied all the important files before moving on.

🔹 Create a bootable clone

The most secure and complete backup is a bootable clone for the Mac. If there is any problem happen during the factory reset, you can go back to the previous status with the bootable system and all personal data. You can use the software DoYourClone for Mac to create a bootable clone backup for macOS.

You can use the Clone OS feature of the software to clone the Mac to an external hard drive. It can ensure all the system and personal data cloned. Most important, the cloned external hard drive will be bootable directly.

Step 2. Start the Factory Reset Process

Make sure that your Mac is plugged in and that it can reliably connect to the internet. During the reset process, you'll need to get the macOS startup files.

🔹 For Apple Silicon and T2 Security Chip Mac machines:

1. Click the the Apple icon to open the Apple menu, select System Settings, choose General, click on the button Erase All Content and Settings...

2. It will ask for the Mac's password, enter the password, click the Unlock button to continue. It ask if you want to back up the data with Time Machine. If you need, you can open Time Machine to back up the data first. Then click Continue and go to next step.

3. It will show the information that all settings, media, and data for all volumes on the Mac will be erased. And it will show the items that will be removed from the Mac. Click Continue button to process further.
4. Here you need to enter the password for your Apple account to deauthorize all the apps on the Mac.

5. At last, it will show you that the erase process will start if you confirm it and please note that the process cannot be undo.

6. Then the software will restart and please ensure to turn on the WiFi to activate the Mac. Once it's activated, it will show the welcome screen and you can follow the guide to reconfigure your Mac.

🔹 For other Intel chip Mac machines:

To factory reset macOS on the Mac with Intel chip, you need to manually sign out the accounts and services.

1. Sign Out of Services. To ensure the move goes smoothly and there are no problems, log out of all your Mac accounts and services. This step is crucial to prevent data loss or problems during restarting.

• Sign Out of iCloud. Click the Apple sign in the upper left corner and choose System Settings (or System Preferences). Click on it to get to Apple ID. Select iCloud from the list on the side. The "Sign Out" button is in the bottom left corner of the window. Follow the on-screen instructions to remove your iCloud information on your Mac. This ensures you have a copy of any information you might need.

• Sign Out of iMessage. Launch the Messages app from the Applications folder or the Dock. Click on Messages in the menu bar at the top, and then select Preferences. Click "Sign Out" in the iMessage tab. When asked, confirm the move.
• Sign Out of Other Accounts. Ensure you log out of all the other accounts connected to your Mac, including email, social media, and cloud services. This will erase all personal information and prevent any problems with entry after the reset. Your accounts and data will be safe, and your Mac will be ready for a new start after you sign out of these services.

2. Erase the hard drive. You need to erase the drive and do the factory reset manually via macOS Recovery mode. macOS Recovery gives you the tools to fix problems and restart macOS. To get to Recovery for macOS:

• Press the Apple icon in the upper left area and pick Restart.
• Hold the Command and R keys right after restarting the computer until the Apple logo or a spinning globe appears.
• Click Continue after choosing Disk Utility in the macOS Utilities box.

• In Disk Utility, select your startup disk, generally called "Macintosh HD."
• After pressing the Erase button, name the disk and pick a format (APFS for newer Macs or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for older Macs).

• Wait for Erase to Complete: Shut down Disk Utility when it's complete and go back to the macOS Utilities screen.

3. Reinstall the macOS. As soon as you delete your disk, you can install macOS again:

• Click Continue after choosing Reinstall macOS [name] in the macOS Utilities screen.

• Follow the steps on the screen to reinstall macOS. It might take a while.

After downloading, your Mac will restart, and the Setup Assistant will appear. Just do what it says, and your Mac will be ready.

Step 3. Wipe Personal Data Permanently after Factory Reset [Optional]

At last, if you will sell the Mac after a factory reset, you should know that the data removed during a factory reset is still recoverable. With professional Mac data recovery software, it's easy to recover the files after a factory reset.

To keep your privacy security and avoid sensitive data being leaked, it's important to wipe the data permanently. How to wipe the data removed during a factory reset? You can use reliable data-wiping software to overwrite the free space of the Mac drive. Then there is no chance to recover the data in any way.

One of the best data-wing software, DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac, can be used to wipe the free space of Mac drive. Professional data sanitation algorithms can ensure the data be overwritten and unrecoverable. You can download and use it to wipe your drive data and keep your private information safe:

After downloading and installing the software on your Mac, you can then follow the instructions here to wipe the removed data after a factory reset on Mac:

Step 1. Launch the data wiping software from Applications or launchpad. Choose the mode Wipe Free Space and select your Mac drive, click the Wipe Now button to go to the next step.

📍 Note: As the wiped data will not be recovered in any way, ensure to choose the correct data and mode to wipe data from your drive.

Step 2. Select a proper data erasure standard from the list. If the data is sensitive, you can choose a higher-level algorithm to wipe the data, although it will take more time to complete.

Step 3. After confirming the data wiping algorithm, you can click the Continue button. The software will start to wipe the data from the free space of the hard drive.

Once it's done, all the removed personal and private information is totally overwritten and wiped from the hard drive. There will be no possibility to extract the data from the Mac. You can feel free to give it to another hand without worrying about data breach.

Conclusion:

By following the steps in this guide, you can fix problems that won't disappear, prepare your Mac for a new owner, or start over by factory restarting it. This process ensures that your Mac returns to its original settings, ready you to start over. A factory restart can give your Mac a new lease on life by making it run better and faster. If the Mac will be given to a new user, don't forget to wipe your private information permanently using DoYourData Super Erasure for Mac even after a factory reset.