How to Wipe MacBook Before Selling? Complete Guide

Summary: Before selling your MacBook or giving away, it is important to double check that your data is permanently deleted. As having a proper wipe, it not only protects your sensitive information from the outside world but also prepares a device for new owner use. In this guide we will be focusing on how to wipe MacBook before selling, reasons to erase, manual steps, and potential limitations, in order to prepare your mac for the new owner’s confidence.

Reasons to Erase Your MacBook

There are various factors to keep in mind when you want to know how to wipe MacBook before selling a related task. Go through these points given below:

• When you are wiping your MacBook, it ensures that the new owner will not be able to access your personal files or confidential data.
• It reduces the risk of any unauthorized access like identity theft, online scams, which usually happens when your stored information is accessed by someone.
• Starting your System from scratch can boost your MacBook performance. So that it can run faster when the next user will start operating.
• It is more appealing to the buyers when you have a clean MacBook. As this shows them that it is well maintained and ready to use.

How to Wipe MacBook Before Selling – Manual Methods

Now, we will walk you through five different manual methods to erase your MacBook Pro before selling. Let’s know them one by one:

1. Backup Your Data:

Before you plan to wipe your mac, you need to take back your essential data to prevent loss. As, erased data cannot be recovered again. Know how to do it:

• Time Machine: It is Apple’s built-in tool to create backups. Connect an external hard drive  > Open Time Machine > Select “Backup Now”.
• Manual Backup: Try to keep the copy of your important files to an external drive or cloud storage like Google Drive, iCloud, or Dropbox to access the data if required urgently.

Once you have done the steps given above, then you can wipe your MacBook pro before selling it.

2. Sign out of iCloud, iTunes & Other Accounts:

Make sure to sign out from all your services linked to your Apple ID to make the wiping process easy and leave no data scope.

• iCloud: Go to Apple Menu → System Preference → iCloud → Sign Out.
• iTunes: Open iTunes, go to Account → Sign Out.
• iMessage: Open Messages, view to preferences → Sign Out.
• App Store: Open the App Store, click on the name in the bottom left → Sign Out.

It ensures that your accounts are delinked from the MacBook device before selling it.

3. Erase the Hard Drive Using Disk Utility:

It is one of the most effective methods on how to wipe MacBook before selling it. As, it will erase the hard drive to ensure that the data is unrecoverable. Follow the below steps:

• Restart in Recovery Mode: Restart your Mac by holding Command + R until the Apple logo appears on the screen.
• Open Disk Utility: In the macOS utility Window, select “Disk Utility” and click on “Continue”.
• Select the Drive: Choose “Macintosh HD”.
• Erase the Drive: Firstly, click on “Erase”, then set the name, format (APFS or Mac OS extended), and scheme (GUID Partition Map). Confirm by clicking “Erase”.

It securely wipes your MacBook data before you sell it to the new owner.

4. Reinstall macOS:

Here, you will need to reinstall your macOS to restore the system to factory settings. Now, focus on the steps to accomplish this:

• Return to the recovery mode by closing disk utility.
• Select “Reinstall macOS” and follow the on-screen steps to reinstall the operating system.
• Now, it will completely erase your mac data and make the device new and the owner can start from scratch.

Limitations of Wiping Mac Using Manual Methods

There are some drawbacks which come when you are trying to know how to wipe MacBook before selling it.

• It can be a time consuming task as it can take several hours depending upon the erase method which you have chosen to wipe your mac.
• There is still a chance of potential data recovery, as the advanced tools can recover some residue data.
• Older MacBook versions may not support the latest version of macOS. So, it makes the reinstallation process more difficult.

How to Wipe MacBook Before Selling – Secure Data Wipe

When you plan to sell your MacBook, it is important to keep an eye on whether your personal data is erased or not. Just by normal erase method or reformatting will not be enough to prevent potential recovery of your confidential data. To make sure that your data is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered by anyone. You can use SysTools Data Erasure Software which is the best approach for data erasure and an ideal situation for selling a MacBook. Like, every bit of data on your mac is overwritten multiple times.

 
Features of This Automated Tool

• It complies with more than 20+ global standards which includes PCI DSS compliance, EU-GDPR, GLBA, FERPA, etc.
• Wipe all data residue or classified data spills.
• After the wiping process, it generates data destruction reports.
• The Tool is capable of wiping data of HDD drive, erasing an SSD drive, permanently erasing NVMe and M.2 drive etc.

Final Takeaway

So, in this article we have discussed the manual methods of how to wipe MacBook before selling it. Further we have also seen the reasons to do so, possible drawbacks. As it is important to protect your sensitive information. So, this manual approach will not be enough to complete, so we have come up with an automated tool to ensure secure data destruction. By which your data is permanently deleted and you can pass it on to the next owner without worrying about your data.