How To Clean Up Your Macbook Air Before Selling

Preparing a Macbook Air for Resale

When preparing your Macbook Air for resale, there are several important steps to take. First, you should cancel or transfer any AppleCare coverage that is associated with the device. If the feature is available, you should also use the ‘Erase All Content and Settings’ function to securely erase all of your personal data from the device. You should then back up or transfer any important files that you want to keep before signing out of iTunes, iCloud, iMessage, and any other services you may have been using. Additionally, it’s a good idea to unpair any Bluetooth devices that are still connected. Finally, you should erase your Macbook Air and reinstall macOS before completing the sale. Taking these steps will ensure that the MacBook air is ready for the new owner and protect your personal information from being compromised.

Source: techcrunch.com

Completely Wiping a Macbook Air

Yes, it is possible to completely wipe a Macbook Air. To do so, you will need to go to the Apple menu > System Preferences > General, then click ‘Transfer or Reset’ on the right side of the window. From there, select ‘Erase All Contents and Settings.’ This will open an Erase Assistant that prompts for your administrator information and unlocks the settings. You should review all items that will be removed in addition to your current content and settings before confirming the process. Once you have confirmed it, your Macbook Air will be wiped clean.

Completely Wiping a Mac to Sell It

Before selling your Mac, you should completely wipe it to ensure that all of your personal data is removed. To do this, you can use Mac’s built-in disk utility program.

First, backup any important files that you want to keep on an external drive or cloud storage. Then, open the Disk Utility program by selecting Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select your hard drive from the list of drives on the left side of the window. Choose “Erase” from the top bar and then choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format for erasing your drive. Enter a name for your drive and click “Erase.” Afterward, you may be asked to enter an administrator password; if so, enter it in and click Erase again.

Once this is finished, you can go ahead and reinstall macOS from Recovery Mode by restarting your computer and holding down Command + R until you see the Apple logo appear onscreen. Once in Recovery Mode, select Reinstall macOS from the utility menu and follow the steps to reinstall macOS onto your Mac’s hard drive. Finally, follow Apple’s instructions on how to reset your Mac before selling it.

By wiping your hard drive with Disk Utility before installing a fresh copy of macOS through Recovery Mode, you can be sure that all of your personal data has been removed before selling or giving away your Mac computer.

Source: apple.com

Unavailability of the ‘Erase All Content and Settings’ Option on Mac

Unfortunately, the “Erase all Content and Settings” option is only available on Macs released after mid-2013. MacBook Pro (Early 2015) models do not support this feature, so you will need to use another method to erase your Mac and reinstall macOS. To do this, you can use Disk Utility to create a new partition on the drive and then install a fresh copy of macOS. This process is explained in detail in Apple’s support article: Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac – Apple Support.