{"id":2145,"date":"2018-01-03T22:03:10","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T04:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/?p=2145"},"modified":"2021-11-19T19:10:38","modified_gmt":"2021-11-20T01:10:38","slug":"reset-your-macbook-and-restore-to-factory-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/reset-your-macbook-and-restore-to-factory-settings\/","title":{"rendered":"Reset your MacBook and Restore to Factory Settings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Congratulations, you listed or already sold your used MacBook<\/a> on Swappa! (or eBay) Next you have to ship<\/a> the Apple laptop to the buyer, but first you have to wipe it clear, reset and restore to factory settings.<\/p>\n

Here’s how to reset your MacBook then restore to factory settings:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Backup your data<\/li>\n
  2. Sign out of Apple software<\/li>\n
  3. Reformat the hard-drive<\/li>\n
  4. Reinstall clean MacOS<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Let’s get started.<\/p>\n

    Backup your MacBook data<\/h2>\n

    There\u2019s a few different ways to backup your MacBook data. Time Machine<\/a> is the Mac’s built-in backup software and a good option, an explanation of which is outside the scope of this article.<\/p>\n

    \"MacBook<\/a>
    Time Machine can be used to backup and restore your MacBook hard-drive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Sign out of iTunes and iCloud<\/h2>\n

    Before passing on your MacBook to another user you\u2019ll want to ensure you have signed-out of and any software that is linked to your specific machine, including iTunes and iCloud.<\/p>\n

    Deauthorize iTunes<\/h3>\n

    Apple limits the number of Macs tied to your iTunes account than you can use to play music and movies. You don\u2019t want to pass that on to another user, so you should deauthorize your computer from iTunes.<\/p>\n

    How to deauthorize your MacBook from iTunes:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Open <\/span>iTunes<\/b><\/li>\n
    2. From the Account menu select <\/span>Authorizations<\/b> then <\/span>Deauthorize This Computer<\/b><\/li>\n
    3. Enter your <\/span>Apple ID<\/b> when prompted<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. From the Account menu select Sign Out<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \"Deauthorize<\/a>
      Deauthorize MacBook in iTunes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      <\/a><\/p>\n

      \"Sign<\/a>
      Sign out of iTunes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      Sign out of iCloud<\/h3>\n

      Your hard-drive will be wiped in the following step, but it\u2019s still a good idea to go ahead and disable iCloud on your MacBook.<\/p>\n

      How to sign out of iCloud on your MacBook:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your Mac’s screen<\/li>\n
      2. Select to open <\/span>System Preferences<\/b><\/li>\n
      3. Select <\/span>iCloud <\/b>from the settings panel<\/span><\/li>\n
      4. Uncheck the <\/span>Find My Mac<\/b> checkbox<\/span><\/li>\n
      5. Select <\/span>Sign Out<\/b> in the bottom right <\/span>\n
          \n
        1. Follow the prompts to remove data from the <\/span><\/li>\n
        2. Enter system password when prompted<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          \""System\"<\/a><\/p>\n

          Sign out of iMessage<\/h3>\n

          Your hard-drive will be reformatted in the following step, but it\u2019s still a good idea to go ahead and sign out of iMessage on your MacBook.<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Open Messages<\/strong> on your Mac<\/li>\n
          2. Select Messages<\/strong> in the menu bar towards the top-left corner of your screen<\/li>\n
          3. Select Preferences<\/strong> from the drop-down menu<\/li>\n
          4. Select your iMessage<\/strong> account<\/li>\n
          5. Click the Sign Out<\/strong> button<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Deauthorize other software<\/h3>\n

            It\u2019s also a good idea to sign out of and deauthorize any other third-party software that may be linked\/locked to your MacBook, such as Photoshop or Dropbox.<\/p>\n

            Now you should be ready to reformat the hard-drive.<\/p>\n

            Reformat the MacBook hard-drive<\/h2>\n

            After you\u2019ve backed up your MacBook and signed out of software you\u2019ll want to erase everything by reformatting the hard drive.<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Restart<\/b> your MacBook<\/span><\/li>\n
            2. Hold down <\/span>Command + R<\/b> while it\u2019s starting up, and keep holding until you see the <\/span>macOS Utilities<\/b> screen<\/span><\/li>\n
            3. Select <\/span>Disk Utility<\/b> from the Utilities menu<\/span><\/li>\n
            4. Click the <\/span>Continue<\/b> button<\/span><\/li>\n
            5. Select your startup disk, usually named “<\/span>Macintosh HD<\/b>” or similar<\/span><\/li>\n
            6. In the Disk Utility click the <\/span>Erase<\/b> button along the top button bar<\/span><\/li>\n
            7. In the Erase dialog select <\/span>Mac OS Extended (Journaled)<\/b> as the Format drop-down<\/span><\/li>\n
            8. Click the <\/span>Erase<\/b> button, wait for process to complete<\/span><\/li>\n
            9. Then select Quit Disk Utility<\/b> from the Disk Utility application menu<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              \""macOS\"<\/a><\/p>\n

              \""Disk\"<\/a><\/p>\n

              Now that you\u2019ve erased and reformatted your MacBook hard-drive it\u2019s time to reinstall a clean installation of MacOS.<\/p>\n

              Reinstall clean MacOS<\/h2>\n

              Now we’ll install a fresh copy of MacOS on our just reformatted hard-drive. Note that you will just want to install the OS, not continue on to setup, if you are shipping the MacBook<\/a> to a new owner.<\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Restart<\/b> your MacBook<\/span><\/li>\n
              2. Hold down <\/span>Command + R<\/b> while it\u2019s starting up, and keep holding until you see the <\/span>macOS Utilities<\/b> screen<\/span><\/li>\n
              3. Select <\/span>Reinstall macOS<\/b> or Reinstall OS X from the Utilities menu<\/span><\/li>\n
              4. Click the <\/span>Continue<\/b> button<\/span><\/li>\n
              5. Select your startup disk, usually named “<\/span>Macintosh HD<\/b>” or similar<\/span><\/li>\n
              6. Click on <\/span>Install<\/b> to begin the operating system installation that came with your Mac<\/span><\/li>\n
              7. Your Mac will restart after the installation is complete<\/span><\/li>\n
              8. If you are shipping the MacBook<\/a> to a new owner you do not want to complete the setup process. Instead hold down Command + Q<\/b> then click Shut Down<\/b> to power down.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                \""macOS\"<\/a><\/p>\n

                With a fresh install of MacOS your MacBook is ready to be used by a new user.<\/p>\n

                Selling and Shipping your MacBook<\/h2>\n

                Did you reset your MacBook because you\u2019ve sold it to another user? When you sell<\/a> your MacBook<\/a> on Swappa or eBay you\u2019ll want to ensure it is shipped affordably to arrive safely. Check out our MacBook Shipping Guide<\/a> for the best way to ship your MacBook.<\/p>\n

                Swappa offers a convenient MacBook Shipping Kit<\/a> that includes the materials you need to safely package your console. Order one now for just $10 delivered. It’ll make shipping your MacBook way easier.<\/p>\n

                Thanks for using Swappa to sell your next piece of used tech with no seller fees!<\/p>\n\n\n

                \n\n\n\n

                Snag the best\u00a0deals on\u00a0used MacBooks<\/a>\u00a0deals wherever you go. Download the\u00a0Swappa App<\/a>\u00a0today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                \"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
                \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Congratulations, you listed or already sold your used MacBook on Swappa! (or eBay) Next you have to ship the Apple laptop to the buyer, but first you have to wipe it clear, reset and restore to factory settings. Here’s how to reset your MacBook then restore to factory settings: Backup your data Sign out of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[49,337],"products":[],"class_list":["post-2145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-macbook","tag-factory-reset","tag-macbook"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2145"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24873,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2145\/revisions\/24873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2145"},{"taxonomy":"products","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/products?post=2145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}