What If I Forgot To Clean Out Old Laptop Before Selling

So, you're thinking about buying (or already bought) a new Mac, and you're because what to do with your sometime one. You lot could paw it over to a friend or family member, go on information technology every bit a just-in-case backup (you know, for testing betas!), or you could sell it. If you know it'due south leaving your hands, you must reset the Mac before selling information technology or giving it away. Not but will this protect your information, but it'southward also harder for the new owner to use or access some of Mac'south features if your digital prints are all over it.

The offset thing you should do before hitting the streets to sell your one-time Mac is clear information technology of whatever personal information. You don't want to accidentally sell your computer to a stranger when you are still logged into iCloud.

The next step is to reinstall Mac'south operating organisation so that the new owner tin can get started without having to effigy out how to outset upward in recovering fashion. Believe me that tin exist a pain.

If you're going through erasing your onetime Mac and reinstalling the operating system, nosotros've got some common troubleshooting tips to assistance you out. Don't forget to follow the additional steps if y'all're selling a MacBook with Touch ID.

Here'southward how to reset your Mac before selling it or giving it away.

Make clean the Mac of your personal information earlier erasing information technology

If yous're about to sell your old Mac, the one thing y'all don't want to do is to give abroad the information you've been storing on it all these years. It'due south a security and privacy thing for y'all, merely it's also important for the buyer. If y'all go out behind anything that needs to be logged into with a countersign, that buyer will have to track you downwards and get your password to change buying. A completely fresh-from-scratch Mac is the best way to exercise this.

Stride 1: Back up your Mac

If yous already accept your new Mac on hand, you can transfer all of your data from your old Mac or use an older Time Machine backup. If you don't have your new Mac all the same, well ... and so yous probably shouldn't be selling your sometime i still. But, if you really don't think you'll need your old computer before getting your new i, make sure to back up your information and so that zero happens to information technology before you get what you lot demand onto your new Mac.

How to back up and restore your Mac with Time Machine
How to clone your Mac

Step 2: Sign out of everything

The software you have on your Mac is licensed to you lot, which ways information technology doesn't go transferred to your computer's new owner (except the operating organization). To avoid complications with the new owner attempting to download and install software licensed by you, brand sure to sign out of everything your personal data is connected to.

How to sign out of iTunes (macOS Mojave and older) or the Music app (macOS Catalina or later on)

Open up iTunes/Music on your Mac.
Click Account in the Menu bar on the left side of your screen.
Select Sign Out.

Source: iMore

How to sign out of iMessage

Open Messages on your Mac.
Choose Messages in the Menu bar at the peak left corner of your screen.
Click Preferences from the drop-down menu.
Select your iMessage business relationship.
Click on Sign Out.

Source: iMore

How to sign out of iCloud

Click on the Apple tree icon in the upper-left corner of your Mac's screen.
Select Organization Preferences from the drop-down menu.
Cull on Apple ID (on macOS Mojave and older, click on iCloud).

Source: iMore
Un-tick the box for Find My Mac.
Enter your organisation countersign when prompted.
Click on Overview under your Apple tree ID.
Click on Sign Out.
Untick all of the boxes that go along a copy on the Mac. You lot do not want to keep a re-create of anything on this Mac. The data will be saved on other iCloud devices.
Click Go on.
Click Delete from Mac to remove Safari passwords and credit cards from this Mac.

Pace 3: Unpair your Bluetooth devices

If you're keeping your Bluetooth devices, y'all don't want to leave them paired to a Mac that yous're getting rid of. It isn't really that important of a step, but if you lot sell your old Mac to, say, a roommate or someone living in the same house as you, yous may experience accidentally connecting dorsum to it.

Click on the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of your Mac'southward screen.
Click Arrangement Preferences from the drop-down menu.
Click on Bluetooth.
Hover over the device you desire to unpair.
Click on the 10 side by side to the device.

Notation: If you lot're unpairing a keyboard, trackpad, or mouse on a desktop Mac, be certain to have a wired 1 plugged in, or yous won't be able to type or utilise a curser, and yous'll accept to repair it all again.

Step 4: Erase your hard bulldoze

Once your information is backed upwards and you've signed out of everything that might connect your old Mac to your personal data, you can erase everything on it by reformatting the hard drive.

Restart your Mac.
While the startup disc is waking up, hold down the Control+R keys simultaneously. Your Mac will boot into macOS Recover.
Select Disk Utility.
Click on Continue.

Source: iMore
Click on View.
Click on Show all Devices.
Find your Startup disk (it should exist named "Machintosh HD" unless you renamed information technology) in the sidebar.
Select the data disk under the startup disk.
Click Edit in the Mac screen'south upper left corner in the carte du jour bar.
Click Delete APFS Volume from the menu bar or click the Remove button in the disk utility bar.
If the Erase Group Volume push button appears, click that to erase all of the volumes associated with the bulldoze
Confirm by clicking Delete when prompted.
Click Done when prompted.

After you've deleted each data deejay, it'due south time to erase your startup disk.

Select your Startup Disk. This will be the master internal bulldoze on your Mac. Information technology's unremarkably called Apple HHD or Apple SSD or something similar.
Click the Erase button at the peak of the Disk Utility window.
If your Mac uses HFS+, select Mac Os Extended (Journaled) from the format listing. If your Mac is using APFS, select APFS from the format list. See Troubleshooting for more information on which format to select.
If the Scheme is available, select GUID Division Map.
Click Erase.

Source: Apple
Select Quit Disk Utility from the Disk Utility drop-down bill of fare in the upper left corner of the screen after the process is complete.

Source: iMore