How to Delete Everything on MacBook [Two 2024 Solutions]

Why would you want to erase a MacBook?

Do you want to know how to erase everything on your MacBook Pro? There are many reasons why you might want to reset your MacBook. For one, you might be doing a major clean-up, or even selling it to someone else. In either case, you'll need to wipe all of the data from it so that it's like brand new.

Another reason you might want to know how to wipe your MacBook Air is if it's been infected by a computer virus. If your Mac has been compromised by a virus, it's best to erase everything and start over. You can also perform a reset to improve your system's performance.

There are a couple of ways to erase everything on a MacBook. You can use Disk Utility or the Erase Assistant to erase and reset your MacBook. It's important to understand that the "Erase All Content and Settings" option on a MacBook will remove everything from the system.

We also have a video that helps explain this.

• 00:46 Press and hold Command + R while starting up your Mac. Keep these keys pressed until you see the progress bar.
• 01:08 Select your language.
• 01:14 The macOS Utilities window appears on screen.
• 01:59 In the macOS Utilities window, click Reinstall macOS.
• 02:41 When the Software License Agreement appears, click Agree.

Solution 1: Manually Erase Everything on MacBook

To manually erase everything from your MacBook, follow these steps:

A. Turn off FileVault on your MacBook

FileVault is one of the most important built-in features on a MacBook. It encrypts your hard drive and protects the files stored on it. When someone tries to access the storage, it prompts for authentication. However, this feature might interfere with deletion if it's enabled. You'll need to turn it off before starting the reset process. Here's how:

Step 1: Open Finder. Click the Apple menu. Click System Preferences from the drop-down menu.

Step 2: Choose Privacy and Security.

Step 3: Scroll down to the “FileVault” tab.

Step 4. Click the “Turn Off FileVault” option if it's on. You may be asked to enter your password.

Sign out of iCloud, iTunes, and iMessage on your MacBook

Next, you should sign out of iTunes, iCloud, and iMessage on your MacBook. To turn off iTunes on a Mac, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the music app.

Step 2: From the menu, select "Account."

Step 3: A drop-down menu will appear. Click Authorize.

Step 4: Choose “Deauthorize this computer.”

Step 5: Enter your password.

Step 6: Click on “Revoke Access.”

To exit iMessage on your Mac, follow these steps:

Step 1. Open Messages

Step 2: Go to Settings.

Step 3: Click on the iMessage tab, then click on the Settings tab.

Step 4. Click Log Out.

To sign out of your iCloud account, follow these steps:

Step 1. Go to System Settings. Click on the profile name at the top.

< strong >Step 2</strong>. Scroll down and tap Log Out.

Step 3: You'll see a pop-up asking if you want a copy of your iCloud data.

< strong >Step 4:</ strong > Deselect everything and click &quot;Continue.&quot;

C. Unpair a Bluetooth device from a MacBook

Before erasing everything, you should also consider unpairing Bluetooth devices. To do this, follow these steps:

Step 1: Click the Apple menu and select System Preferences.

Step 2: Select Bluetooth. Hover over the "i" icon in the devices list to disconnect and remove a device.

Erase the MacBook hard drive with Disk Utility

Before you can use Boot Mac into Disk Utility to erase your Mac or MacBook, you must shut it down. Then, hold down Command and R while pressing the power button. Keep these keys held down until you see the Apple logo. Follow the steps below:

Step 1. In the Utilities window, click Disk Utility.

Step 2. Select the disk you want to remove. If you want to delete everything on your system, choose the "Macintosh HD" drive.

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Step 3: Click the Erase button.

Step 4. Enter a name, format, and scheme for the disk.

Step 5: Click “Erase” to remove all content from the system.

Erase the hard drive and reinstall macOS on a MacBook

Now that your Mac is erased, you can reinstall macOS. To do so, follow these steps to learn how to reinstall macOS:

Method 1: Open the macOS Utilities window.

**Step 2:** Now, select the “Reinstall macOS” option.

Reinstall macOS

Step 3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Note: Reinstalling macOS takes some time.

Solution 2: Erase All Content and Settings on MacBook

Another way to wipe everything from your MacBook is by opting for the “Erase Assistant.” With the “Erase All Content and Settings” option, Mac users can easily clear out everything on their device. It also helps in resetting the system smoothly to its factory settings. You can now safely erase everything.

Here are some steps to consider:

Step 1: Click the Apple menu and select System Preferences.

Step 2: On the left, select “General.” Then, on the right, click the “Transfer or Reset” option.

Step 3: Select the "Erase All Content and Settings" option. Enter your administrator password. Your Mac will prompt you to make a Time Machine backup of your Mac.

Step 4. Click on “Continue” to proceed. You'll see a list of items that will be removed from your Mac.

Step 5: Click “Continue.” Exit the Apple ID account.

Step 6. Tap on “Erase All Content and Settings.” Then, select “Restart.”

How to recover deleted files from MacBook using software?

Accidentally deleted an important file? Forgotten to back up your files before erasing everything on your MacBook? Don't worry!

Mac Data Recovery Wizard is a professional, reliable, and user-friendly data recovery tool. It's easy to use and suitable for various scenarios.

1. This software is capable of helping to recover data in various situations, including virus attacks, failed MacOS Ventura upgrades, hardware failures, system crashes, unintentional deletions without backups, human errors, and sudden shutdowns. With this excellent data recovery tool, you can effortlessly retrieve your lost data. 2. This tool can restore deleted images, videos, audio files, emails, and more from various Mac devices. Furthermore, it can recover data from HDDs, SSDs, hybrid drives, memory cards, cameras, and USB drives, as well as restore Time Machine backups. 3. The Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is highly user-friendly, suitable for both beginners and experts. It scans the files you wish to recover and completes the process swiftly. It also offers file filtering options, enabling you to locate and recover the desired data more efficiently.

Aside from that, the tool also offers users the chance to send recovered files to cloud storage. If you run into issues, you can also get remote IT support. Here's a tutorial on how to recover deleted data on Mac following these steps:

Notice: Create a backup first by clicking on "Disk Backup" on the left. The software will recover the deleted files from the backup image, preventing further damage to the disk and data for added safety and reliability.

1. Scan for deleted files

Select the hard drive, external hard drive, or SSD that previously stored the important data and files you accidentally deleted, and then click “Search for Lost Files”.

**Step 2: Filter out missing files**

The software will run a quick and deep scan and try to find as many deleted files as possible on the selected volume. You can filter the files to look for by “Type” and “Path.”

Step 3: Recover the deleted files

Double-click the deleted file to preview it, and then click the "Recover" button to get it back.

Conclusions

Knowing how to erase everything on a MacBook is useful and often necessary, for example, if you're selling the device or want to protect your system from malicious viruses. Erasing everything on the system ensures that sensitive data doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

There are two ways to wipe everything off your system. You can either choose to use the Erase Assistant or opt for Disk Utility. However, there might be times when you forget to back up your data or delete something you didn't want to. In such cases, you can seek help from the best Mac Data Recovery Software.

Tools Mac Data Recovery Wizard is an efficient and user-friendly data recovery program. You can use this software to retrieve any data that you need. Try this excellent data recovery tool now!

How to erase everything on a MacBook? FAQ

There are several ways to erase everything on a MacBook. For more information, check out the questions and answers below:

How do I reset my MacBook Pro or Air?

To perform a factory reset on a MacBook Pro or Air, go to the Apple menu and choose System Preferences. In macOS Ventura, click 'General.' Now, select either 'Transfer' or 'Reset.' Choose 'Erase All Content and Settings' to reset the device. If using macOS Monterey, you can easily find the 'Erase Assistant' in System Preferences.

How can I recover files that I accidentally deleted on my MacBook?

Go to the "Trash" option to recover files that you accidentally deleted on your MacBook. You'll find your deleted files here. Select the file you want to restore and drag it to your desktop. If you permanently deleted a file without a backup, you can opt for a professional data recovery tool, and tools Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is a wise choice.

When and why would you want to erase everything from your MacBook?

If you want to sell your MacBook, improve its performance, or protect it from viruses, you need to erase everything on it. This is mostly to safeguard sensitive data.

How to Erase MacBook Automatically?

If you're running macOS Big Sur or an earlier version of macOS on your MacBook, you'll need to erase your Mac using Disk Utility. A new feature in macOS Monterey allows you to use the macOS Erase Assistant to automatically erase your MacBook.