Hello, so this is the deal, i bought an used MacBook Pro and when I received it I made sure that the owner signed out from iCloud, once he did that i brought the Mac to home and erased the disk through the Internet Recovery Utility, but now it says 'Activation Lock' and I have to put the owner's Apple ID and password to re-install de OS. I think I locked myself out of my MacBook Pro. I tried resetting password in terminal by pressing command R, then using resetpassword in terminal, but instead of seeing my username, nothing is displayed in the window. My username is 'jess' and I keep my Apple ID, system admin, and all other passwords on a printout.
- Reset Macbook Pro
- Reset Macbook Pro
- How To Factory Reset Macbook
- How To Factory Reset Macbook Pro When Locked Out Windows 10
When your Mac runs increasingly slow, you may want to reset your Mac to give it a fresh restart but keep the files on it. To factory reset your MacBook or iMac without losing data, you can first back up your Mac, then reset your Mac, and last recover your files from the backup. Each procedure is detailed below. Follow to see how to factory reset your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, etc. on macOS Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or earlier operating systems with ease now.
Applies To: MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro; iMac, iMac Pro
Are you looking for a reliable and complete guide to factory reset Mac computer without losing any data? If yes, follow this page and you will go through a safe guide to manually reset Mac to factory settings with ease:
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
---|---|
Part 1. Back Up Mac | Use backup software or Time Machine to back up important data on Mac in advance..Full steps |
Part 2. Reset Mac | Prepare Mac ready by signing out of apps that are used or licensed > Reset Mac computer..Full steps |
Part 3. Restore from Backup | After resetting the Mac computer, restore Mac backup with Time Machine or backup software..Full steps |
How to Factory Reset Mac Without Losing Data
Is your old Mac getting slower after installing the latest macOS Mojave? Have you ever thought about resetting your Mac such as MacBook Pro or iMac to the factory settings? Do you want to reset your Mac but keep the files on it? If your answer is 'Yes'. You are here at the right place for you will be presented the whole process of factory resetting your Mac without losing data. Follow to get things done.
Reset Macbook Pro
Resetting Mac without losing data can be easily achieved by backing up the files on your Mac in advance and restoring the files after the resetting. To illustrate the process clearly:
Microsoft office standard 2019 v16 34. Follow the guide below to reset your Mac to factory resettings without losing any data now.
Part 1: Back Up Your Mac to an External Storage Device
To avoid data loss due to factory resetting your Mac, you can make a backup of your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, or other Macs to an external hard drive with Time Machine or EaseUS file backup software for Mac.
Time Machine is the built-in backup feature of your Mac. With this utility, you can make a backup of all your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and system files to an external storage device. While the versatile file backup software - EaseUS Todo Backup provides you with more flexible backup solutions. There are some advantages of the third-party backup tool over Time Machine:
- Back up the files on your Mac to internal or external drives - Time Machine only supports the backup to external drives
- Selectively back up the content on your Mac - With Time Machine, you have to make a backup of all the supported content
- Save more space on the target device - You can compress the backup to free up space on your disk.
Based on these features, I recommend you choose EaseUS Todo Backup for Mac as your backup option, which is easier and more flexible. If you prefer Time Machine, jump to the corresponding guide here.
Option 1: Back Up the Mac with EaseUS Todo Backup
Step 1: Connect an external drive with enough space (larger than the files you'd like to back up) to your Mac, launch EaseUS Todo Backup. Click the plus icon in the bottom-left corner to add a new project. Enter the name of the project and click 'OK'.
Step 2: Set up the backup destination and other backup settings. After that, click 'OK'.
Step 3: Click 'File+' to choose the files you'd like to backup. Click the Start button to begin backing up the selected files on your Mac to another drive or an external storage device.
With simple three steps, you can back up your important files on your Mac elsewhere and eliminate your worries of losing the data while resetting your MacBook or iMac.
Option 2: Back Up the Mac with Time Machine
Step 1: Connect a usable external storage device to your Mac.
Step 2: A window will pop up asking you how to use the drive. Select 'Use as Backup Disk'. If the window doesn't appear, go to Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Time Machine. Click Select Backup Disk and choose your external drive. (If the external hard drive shows up as 'Read Only' on your Mac or isn't formatted as required by Time Machine, you will need to reformat the disk.)
Step 3: Then Time Machine will back up your Mac automatically. Generally speaking, the first backup will take a long time. if Time Machine is stuck on preparing backup, check the fixed from the linked page.
After choosing one of the methods above to back up your Mac, now you can start resetting your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, or other Macs.
Part 2: Reset the MacBook/iMac
Resetting a Mac is not a simple thing like resetting your iPhone. You need to make preparations and then perform the resetting.
Phase 1: Set Your Mac Ready for Factory Resetting
Before resetting and erasing your Mac, make sure to sign out of the apps that are used or licensed.
1. Deauthorize iTunes
Open iTunes on your Mac > Click 'Account' and choose 'Authorizations' > 'Deauthorize This Computer' > Enter your Apple ID and password, click 'Deauthorize'.
2. Turn off FileVault
Go to Apple menu, click 'System Preferences' > 'Security & Privacy', tick 'FileVault' > Click the lock icon and unlock it > Enter your Administrator account and password, Turn off FileVault.
3. Disable iCloud
Go to Apple menu, click 'System Preferences' > 'iCloud' > 'Sign Out' and confirm that you want to remove data from your Mac.
4. Sign out of iMessage
Open iMessage and click 'Messages' in the Menu bar > choose 'Preferences' from the drop-down menu > select your iMessage account and click 'Sign Out'. Cyberduck 6 4 6 – ftp and sftp browser.
5. Erase Touch Bar Data
Turn on or restart your Mac and hold 'Command + R' keys > 'Utilities' > 'Terminal' > Type: xartutil --erase-all and press 'Return' > Type: yes and press 'Return' again > 'Terminal' > 'Quit Terminal'.
Phase 2: Reset Your MacBook Pro/MacBook Air/iMac and More
Now, you can get to wiping and resetting your Mac.
Step 1: Reboot Mac in Recovery Mode
- Go to Apple menu in the top left corner of your Mac screen and click 'Restart'.
- As the system restart, hold 'Command and R' keys together to bring up the macOS Utilities window.
Step 2: Erase Mac hard drive
- Choose 'Disk Utility' and click 'Continue'.
- Select your startup disk which is usually named Macintosh HD and click 'Erase' from the buttons at the top of the Disk Utility window.
- Choose 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' from the menu and click 'Erase'.
Step 3: Reinstall macOS on your Mac computer
- Go to Disk Utility in the top left corner of your screen.
- Click 'Reinstall macOS'.
- Confirm that you want to reinstall macOS and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.
Now you've successfully reset your Mac to factory settings. You can restore files from the backup to your Mac and then continue using them again.
Part 3: Restore Files from the Backup
According to the backup scheme you choose in Part 1, carry out one of the methods below to get the files back to your Mac.
If you use EaseUS Todo Backup:
Step 1: Connect the external storage device that contains the backup to your Mac, then open EaseUS Todo Backup.
Step 2: Select the backup project you want to restore and click the 'Restore' button. (By default, the program selects the most recent backup in the menu. Make sure the correct backup is selected.)
Step 3: Select the files you want to restore from your external hard drive (use Cmd + Shift keys for bulk selection).
Step 4: Choose whether to restore to the original or to a custom folder.
Step 5: Click the 'Restore All' or 'Restore Selected' button to start the recovery process.
If you use Time Machine:
Step 1: Connect your Time Machine backup disk to your computer and turn on your Mac.
Step 2: Go to 'Finder' > 'Applications' > 'Utilities' > 'Migration Assistant' and click 'Continue'.
Step 3: In the Migration Assistant window, choose 'From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk' and click 'Continue'.
Reset Macbook Pro
Step 4: Select your Time Machine backup and click 'Continue'.
Step 5: Choose the backup you made in Part 1 from the list of available backups.
Step 6: Select the category/categories to transfer and click 'Continue'. Then wait for the process to finish.
HomeAppleHow to Factory Reset MacBook Pro with MacOS
If you are looking to sell your MacBook Pro or any other Mac, or you just want to start with a fresh MacOS, you need to factory reset your MacBook Pro or other Mac’s. As the days goes on, you may feel that your MacBook is getting slower and slower. You may sometimes experience the lag too, and that could be frustrating at times. Like every other PC’s, MacBook is also prone to glitches, and it’s quite normal to get slower with time. So if you are looking to factory reset your MacBook Pro or any other Macs, then this guide will be a perfect match for you. By following this guide, you will be successfully able to factory reset your MacBook Pro, Air and more.
If you are resetting your MacBook in order to sell it or give it away, then you must keep in your mind that your MacBook had stored all your personal data, media files, important documents and so on. So you will need a backup after the reset.
And before you proceed to factory reset, there are some of the tasks you need to perform like deauthorize a Mac, Sign out from iCloud and so on. So to perform all this necessary task follow the steps given below.
Contents
- 5 Factory Reset MacBook Pro and other Macs Using MacOS Recovery
Take a Backup of MacBook Pro
Factory resetting your MacBook will erase all your personal data including media, documents, files and so on. So it’s better to take a backup before proceeding to factory reset. Take a backup using Time Machine or any other application, using a 2×2 rule with 2 clouds and 2 physical backups. You can also use a drive cloning app like Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper, ChronoSync or any other which you would prefer.
These apps are trustworthy and are fully bootable backups. Accidentally if anything goes wrong with your MacBook, you can just boot your MacBook using these clones.
Turn Off FileVault if Enabled
Most of the MacBook doesn’t have this feature turned on. But it’s better to be sure. To prevent unauthorised access to information on your startup disk, FileVault is used. You have to disable it before resetting the MacBook. Here is how to do it.
Step 1: At first, go to System Preferences.
Step 2: In System Preferences, Go to Security and Privacy.
Step 3: Now click on the FireVault tab.
Step 4: Now select the lock button.
Step 5: You need to enter Administrator and Password.
Step 6: Now you can turn off FireVault.
Step 7: Reboot and you are done.
Remove iTunes Authorization
Before factory resetting your iTunes, it’s better to remove authorization of iTunes from your MacBook. To do so follow below given steps.
Step 1: Go to iTunes.
How To Factory Reset Macbook
Step 2: In iTunes, Go to Account.
Step 3: In Account, Authorizations.
Step 4: Click Deauthorize this computer.
That’s all you need to do. You have successfully removed iTunes authorization and deauthorized your computer.
Sign Out of iCloud
Note: If you have enabled Find My Mac, be sure to make copies of your iCloud data before proceeding.
Step 1: Click Delete from Mac, in order to delete all your personal a from iCloud.
Step 2: Go to Apple Menu’s top left of your screen and select System Preferences – iCloud – Click Sign Out
Step 3: All your iCloud data including iCloud contacts, calendars, etc. will be deleted from your iCloud.
That’s all you need to do. You have successfully signed out from iCloud.
Factory Reset MacBook Pro and other Macs Using MacOS Recovery
Once you have done with all the above tasks, you can factory reset your MacBook Pro or any other Mac’s using MacOS Recovery tool.
Note: Follow this reset process is only if you are keeping your MacBook. If you are selling or giving away your MacBook, then follow the next method.
Step 1: At first restart/reboot your MacBook, and press and hold Command(⌘) + R Keys.
Step 2: When you see Apple logo on your display, release those keys.
Step 3: Now you can use Disk utility, in order to erase your internal Hard disk and Startup disk.
Step 4: Select your drive from the left side list and click on Erase.
Step 5: Now in the Format Menu, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Step 6: Now type a new name for your disk, ( recommended the default name Macintosh HD).
Step 7: Now click on Erase.
Step 8: Thus erasing is a lengthy process, it will take some time to complete.
Step 9: Once the process gets successfully completed, you can quit Disk Utility.
Step 10: Now in Recovery menu, choose to reinstall MacOS.
Step 11: Now you should follow the On-screen instructions.
Step 12: Once the process gets completed, MacBook automatically restarts to an setup assistant.
Step 13: Enter the respective credentials as requested.
That’s it! You have factory reset your MacBook running MacOS.
Factory Reset if You are Giving Away or Selling your MacBook
If you want to perform a factory reset in order to sell or give away your MacBook, you can follow the below-given step.
Step 1: At first restart/reboot your MacBook, and press and hold Command(⌘) + R Keys.
Step 2: When you see Apple logo on your display, release those keys.
Step 3: Now you can use Disk utility, in order to erase your internal Hard disk and Startup disk.
Step 4: Now you can select your drive from the left side list and click on Erase.
Step 5: Now in the Format Menu, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
How To Factory Reset Macbook Pro When Locked Out Windows 10
Step 6: Now type a new name for your disk, ( recommended the default name Macintosh HD).
Step 7: Now click on Erase.
Step 8: Thus erasing is a lengthy process, it will take some time to complete.
Step 9: Once the process gets successfully completed, you can quit Disk utility.
Step 10: Now in Recovery menu, choose “reinstall MacOS”.
Step 11: Now you should follow the On-screen instructions.
Step 12: Once the process gets completed, MacBook automatically restarts.
Step 13: As you are giving away or selling your MacBook, you don’t need to proceed, and follow the setup options. You can just press Command – Q and then Click on Shut down.
The setup and the information will be filled by the person to whom you are selling or giving away your MacBook.
This is all you need to know about factory resetting your MacBook Pro or any other MacBook.