How to delete a Mac and prepare it for gift, recycling or sale

Whether you’re looking for a new Mac M1 or just want to get rid of an old macOS device in an environmentally responsible way, it’s important to properly install some services and remove your old data before doing so.

The process is relatively simple but may take some time, so be sure to budget some time to prepare your Mac before uninstalling it. Also, these steps only apply to Intel-based Macs, as Apple Silicon devices have a slightly different step or two.

With both of these in mind, here’s how to get your Mac ready before you get rid of it.

Make sure you back up your Mac before proceeding.

If you plan to sell, reprogram, or recycle your Mac device, you probably have already thought about the data stored on it. If not, leave this as a reminder.

Preparing a Mac to transfer to a new owner should include deleting all data for security and privacy reasons. If you do not want to lose that data forever, you need to back up your device before proceeding to further steps.

The simplest way to back up your Mac is to use the Apple-based Time Machine feature. There are other options to consider, and more information is available here.

It’s a good idea to sign out of your services and your Apple ID.

Deleting your Mac usually ensures that your data stays in your own hands. However, depending on the version of macOS the Mac is running, there are a few extra steps you could take.

If you are on OS X Mountain Lion or earlier, it is good practice to sign out of iMessage. Here’s how.

1. Open the iMessage app on your Mac.
2. Select Messages from the top menu bar, and then select Options.
3. In this menu, click on iMessage.
4. Finally, click Sign Out.

If you plan to move a device running macOS Mojave or earlier, you will want to sign out of iTunes as well.

1. Open iTunes.
2. In the iTunes window, select Account and Authorities.
3. From that drop-down menu, select Deauthorize this computer.
4. You will be asked to enter your Apple ID credentials and password.
5. Once you’re done, hit Deauthorize.

Lastly, it ‘s a good idea to sign out of iCloud on any Mac device before you get rid of the driver.

In macOS Catalina and macOS Big Sur, this is done by clicking on the Apple icon in the top menu bar, and then navigating to System Preferences> Apple ID. From here, select Overview and then click the Sign Out button.

It looks only slightly different on macOS Mojave and earlier. Select the Apple icon in the menu bar, select System Preferences, click iCloud, and then click Sign Out.

You may be asked if you want to keep a copy of the iCloud data on your Mac. It doesn’t matter one way or the other, as you will overwrite your drive and any iCloud data will still be aligned with your Apple cloud storage.

Apple also recommends that users reinstall the NVRAM on their devices.

One step that many people miss is resetting the nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM) and RAM parameter (PRAM) before reinstalling macOS.

It is best practice, however. Resetting the PRAM clears some user settings from your Mac’s memory. It also brings back some security features at a deeper level that can be changed. Here’s how to do it.

1. Scroll down to Mac.
2. Turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold Option, Command, P and R.
3. After about 20 seconds, you can release your keys.

You’ll know that the reset worked if you see the Apple logo appear and disappear for the second time on Macs with T2 hardware. On older Macs, you’ll hear that signature start sound.

Note that resetting the NVRAM and PRAM using this method will only work on Intel-based Macs. There is no option to manually reset NVRAM on Apple Silicon Macs.

In addition to resetting your NVRAM, you may also want to update Bluetooth devices from your Mac.

This step is not necessary, but it could avoid confusion if you live with the person you are moving the Mac to. It may also alleviate any Bluetooth security concerns you may have.

Just navigate to Apple menu> System Preferences> Bluetooth. Navigate to the devices you would like to upgrade and click on the X icon next to them.

When you are done with the necessary steps, you can reinstall a new copy of macOS.

Now that all is done, you are finally ready to erase your Mac driver and revert back to its factory default settings.

There are several ways to do this, but the easiest is to use Disk Utility to configure your driver and reinstall macOS.

1. Scroll down to Mac.
2. Turn on your Mac and immediately press and Command and R.
3. You may be prompted to select a user and log in with the password for that account.
4. From here, you will be presented with a resource window. Select Disk Utility.
5. Select Macintosh HD from the sidebar.
6. Click on Erase and enter a new name and format. For simplicity, you can exit both Macintosh HD and APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
7. Next, click on the Erase Volume group. If that is not an option, click on Erase.
8. If Find My is enabled, you will be prompted to turn it off with your Apple ID and password.
9. You may want to delete any other books inside as well as Macintosh HD. Just click on the minus icon next to each book.
10. Finally, disable Disk Utility

Now that your disk has been erased, you can select Reinstall macOS (Name of the version) from the utility window.

As soon as macOS completes the installation, it looks like you will have a configuration assistant. It is at this point that you should shut down your Mac and leave the configuration process to see whoever gets it.