This article explains how to erase and factory reset your Mac if you plan to give it away, sell it, or trade it in. Apple silicon Macs and Intel Macs with a T2 security chip (2017-2020 models) have an "Erase All Content and Settings" option available in macOS Monterey and later. If you have an older pre-2017 Mac, it's a more convoluted process – follow this link instead to erase and factory reset your machine.


Traditionally, wiping a Mac and returning it to factory settings involved manually signing out of a range of services, erasing your Mac's internal drive, then reinstalling macOS. These steps are quite involved when you consider how easy it is to wipe an iPhone or iPad (Settings -> General -> Transfer or Reset iPhone -> Erase All Content and Settings).

Fortunately, Apple includes the same option on newer Macs running macOS Monterey and later. Erase All Content and Settings in macOS offers a very simple and straightforward way to erase your Mac without needing to reinstall the operating system. Thanks to the way storage is encrypted on Macs with Apple silicon or the T2 chip, the option is able to instantly and securely "erase" all user date by destroying the encryption keys.

Not only does this effectively erase all user data and user-installed apps from your Mac without reinstalling macOS, it also signs out your Apple Account from a range of services, removes any Touch ID fingerprints, purchases, and all Apple Wallet items, and turns off Find My and Activation Lock, making it far easier to restore your Mac to like-new factory settings.

The following steps show you how it's done. Whether you simply want to start fresh with your Mac or are planning to sell or gift your computer to another person, after erasing it using this option, your Mac will display the Setup Assistant and be ready to be set up like new.

  1. Click the Apple () symbol in the menu bar and select System Settings (System Preferences... if you're not running macOS Ventura or later).
  2. If you're running macOS Ventura or later, select General in the sidebar, then choose Transfer or Reset -> Erase All Content and Settings.... Otherwise, select System Preferences -> Erase All Content and Settings from the menu bar.
    settings

  3. Enter your admin password in the Erase Assistant dialog prompt and click OK.
  4. If you haven't already backed up your important data, heed the onscreen Time Machine advice. Otherwise, click Continue.
    erase content settings mac

  5. Note all the settings, data, media, and other items that will be removed. Click Continue if you're sure.
    erase

  6. Enter the password for your Apple Account to sign out, click Continue, then click Erase All Content & Settings in the prompt to confirm.
    erase

After following these steps, allow the erase process to complete. Your Mac may restart more than once during the process. Once finished, you'll see the "hello" message on your Mac's screen, indicating that your Mac has been restored to factory settings and Setup Assistant is ready to start anew.

Top Rated Comments

heystu Avatar
19 weeks ago
Sorry I’m just too paranoid to trust it, I have to clean format the drive, overwrite it with zeros 50 times, smash it to pieces with a sledgehammer, encase it in magma and bury it 200 feet underground. I’m still confused though why I never seem to get a decent trade in price.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
19 weeks ago

If you are going to sell the Mac, be careful. Buyer may revive the erased contents. Use secureErase utility to erase permanently.
I don't think that is really the case anymore with Filevault. Once the encryption keys are wiped, it's unrecoverable.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Arytonsenna Avatar
19 weeks ago

There are some restore utilities that can walk a hard drive and find all kinds of documents and files and photos, it’s good to at least do one secure pass. :rolleyes:
I think you're a bit clueless how this feature works. It tosses out the keys in the secure enclave and generates new ones. It makes no attempt to erase your data, because it's no longer readable without the original keys.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Weaselboy Avatar
19 weeks ago

Question......I assume if we want to just revert to factory settings for our own use, just to go back to a clean state or to regain performance from the degradation that comes with general use, these steps would apply also. Correct?
Correct... this gives you the same end result as the old wipe/erase and reinstall OS routine.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
neuropsychguy Avatar
19 weeks ago

A couple years ago, during a major purge of old tech I had in the basement, I had about twenty spinning-platter hard drives to get rid of. Didn't want to bother wiping them so I took them outside and used my oxy-acetylate cutting torch to blow holes though every one of them.

Good luck!
Not enough. Any competent law enforcement or "hacker" group from a movie or TV show will be able to reconstruct pictures of your dog from them.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fishrrman Avatar
19 weeks ago
I used this procecure recently on my 2021 MacBook Pro (m1pro), and it went quickly -- seems like less than 5 minutes (might have been only a minute or two, I should've had a stopwatch going).

Then... restored from a CarbonCopyCloner backup. That, too, went quickly (about 10 minutes), but I don't keep lots "of stuff" on it, and the backup was on a USB3.1 gen2 SSD.

A VERY nice improvement by Apple over "the old way of doing things"...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...