How to Factory Reset a Mac

Mac computers are generally reliable. But as with any computer, sometimes things go wrong. Before you spend big on a new Mac, though, try a factory reset, which wipes your computer and reinstalls a clean version of macOS.

A factory reset is also the best way to prepare your old computer for a new owner to make sure no leftover data falls into the wrong hands. Whatever the reason, here's how to wipe everything and start from scratch with a factory reset.

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  Restart Your Mac

  First, restart your computer. The most straightforward way is to hold down the power button until a dialog box appears, then choose the Restart option.

  Otherwise, you can select the Apple icon in the top-left corner of the screen and choose Restart. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Control + Command + Eject (or power button) if your computer is frozen and you can't rely on macOS to get the job done.
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  Open in Recovery Mode

  Once the computer turns off, hold Command + R until you see the Apple logo show up. Release the keys and allow the Mac to boot up. Instead of opening to your desktop as normal, your Mac will boot into Recovery Mode. Here, you can restore from a backup, install a new copy of macOS, repair a damaged disk, or erase all data. Choose Disk Utility to continue the erasing process.
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  Erase Your Data

  Choose your startup disk, then click Erase at the top of the Disk Utilities window. A dialog box will pop up. Change the Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then click Erase. Once the process is complete, go to the Disk Utilities menu in the upper-left-hand corner and choose Quit Disk Utility.

  Be aware that once this process has completed, you will no longer be able to recover any deleted data that was left on the drive. If you think you may still need what is on your hard drive, we advise you to first back it up onto an external hard drive or sync important files to iCloud.
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  Reinstall MacOS

  If you plan to sell the computer, you can let the new owner reinstall macOS. Otherwise, you'll have to reinstall it. At the Recovery Mode screen, click Install macOS and follow the instructions to reinstall a clean version of the operating system.
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  Restore from Backup

  If you had to wipe your hard drive because something was wrong with your computer, you can restore the device's files from a Time Machine backup. Boot into Recovery Mode and select Restore from Time Machine Backup, then go through the steps needed to restore the hard drive.