What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac

Reset your Mac to factory settings to prepare it for the new owner.

Before you begin

• If your Mac is covered by an AppleCare plan, you can cancel your AppleCare plan or transfer your AppleCare plan to a new owner.

• If your Mac doesn't turn on or start up, learn what to do if your Mac doesn't start up all the way. Then return to this article if your Mac starts up successfully.

• These steps erase all of your data from your Mac. If you back up your Mac first, you can use that backup to restore your files to a new Mac. Or you can transfer your files from this Mac to another Mac.

Use Erase All Content and Settings

The Erase All Content and Settings feature makes it easier to reset your Mac to factory settings. If your Mac meets these requirements, use Erase All Content and Settings to reset your Mac to factory settings:

• Mac with Apple silicon or Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip

• macOS Monterey 12 or later

If you can’t use Erase All Content and Settings

If your Mac doesn’t have the Erase All Content and Settings feature, follow these steps instead.

1. Sign out of iTunes

If your Mac is using macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, you can skip this step.

1. Open iTunes.

2. From the menu bar in iTunes, choose Account > Authorizations > Deauthorize This Computer.

3. Enter your Apple Account (Apple ID) information and click Deauthorize. Learn more about deauthorizing.

2. Sign out of iCloud

When you sign out of iCloud, you're asked whether to keep a copy of your iCloud data on this Mac. It's faster to keep a copy, because you will erase your Mac later.

• macOS Ventura 13 or later: Choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click your name in the sidebar of System Settings. Scroll down on the right and click Sign Out.

• macOS Monterey 12, macOS Big Sur 11, macOS Catalina 10.15: Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Apple ID. Select Overview in the sidebar, then click Sign Out.

• Earlier versions of macOS: Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Sign Out.

3. Sign out of iMessage

1. Open the Messages app.

2. From the menu bar in Messages, choose Messages > Settings (or Preferences).

3. Click iMessage.

4. Click Sign Out.

4. Optional: Rename or unpair Bluetooth accessories

Consider these steps if you have been using a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, or other Bluetooth accessory with this Mac.

• If you aren't keeping the accessory, check Bluetooth settings to see if the accessory’s name includes your name or other personal information. If it does, you can change the name of the accessory.

• If you're keeping the accessory, but it will remain in Bluetooth range of the Mac, you can unpair the accessory to prevent accidental input on the Mac. Caution: If you unpair your only keyboard and mouse, you’ll need to connect a USB keyboard and mouse to complete the remaining steps in this article. When you’re ready, choose Apple menu  > System Settings (or System Preferences), click Bluetooth, Control-click the connected accessory’s name, then choose Forget (or Remove).

5. Erase your Mac and reinstall macOS

1. Start up from macOS Recovery.

2. Use Disk Utility to erase your Mac from Recovery.

3. Reinstall macOS from Recovery.

4. After reinstalling macOS, your Mac restarts to a setup assistant. Press Command-Q to shut down instead of continuing setup.

6. Reset NVRAM

1. If you're using an Intel-based Mac, resetting NVRAM clears user settings from memory and restores certain security features that might have been altered. Learn how to reset NVRAM.

2. After resetting NVRAM, your Mac starts up to the setup assistant again. To leave the Mac in an out-of-box state, press Command-Q to shut down instead of continuing setup.

Trade in or recycle your Mac

No matter the model or condition, we can turn your device into something good for you and good for the planet. Learn how to trade in or recycle your Mac with Apple Trade In.