When macOS Monterey was introduced in 2021 Apple added a new option in System Preferences (System Settings as of macOS Ventura) for wiping a Mac and returning it to factory settings. We have a complete guide that explains how to back up a Mac as well as this guide to the best Mac Backup Software. This cloned drive can be re-cloned back to the main drive if you decide to restore your Mac, or it can be used to access all the original files and transfer them and all your settings to your new computer. If you don’t want to use Apple’s free Time Machine software, or you can make a clone of the whole hard drive using a program like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper (both are available as free trials). The best thing about backing up with Time Machine is it makes it really easy to move your data to a new Mac afterwards. This can be done very simply using Apple’s Time Machine software – here’s how to back up using Time Machine. Luckily backing up your Mac is easy to do – as long as you have a external hard drive to use. In these days of working predominantly in the cloud it is an easy mistake to make! Unfortunately you can’t back up everything on your Mac to iCloud. This is because – as you would expect – resetting a Mac to factory settings gets rid of all the data stored on that machine.ĭon’t fall in to the trap we fell into: Because we use iCloud to sync all files across all our Apple devices we assumed that we could just recover everything we needed from the cloud – which was true to a certain extent, but it wasn’t until after we wiped the Mac that we realised that the data for one non-Apple app we used wasn’t in the cloud. Once you've confirmed your choices, the utility goes about the business of wiping the drive.Īfter that's done, you can go back to the Reinstall macOS option we mentioned above-choose the Macintosh HD drive, or whatever you've called it, as the destination drive.Before you do anything you should back up or clone your Mac. You may be prompted to enter your Apple ID and password.Ĭhoose a name to give the disk once it's been reset "Macintosh HD" will do just fine again, unless you've got a good reason to change it. With that done, select Macintosh HD-your main startup disk-and click Erase, then follow the prompts. When the Disk Utility appears, delete any drive volumes with "Data" labels-typically there'll be one Macintosh HD - Data entry that you need to select and delete. Once you’ve made extra certain all the stuff you care about is safely backed up, you can blitz everything by choosing Disk Utility. You should try a basic reinstall first, but if it still doesn’t give you the performance and decluttering boost you need, you can move on to a more comprehensive reset of your laptop. Visit the Apple website for more info about how to set up Time Machine. People who back up their macOS with the Time Machine feature can also load previously saved data. When Windows reappears, if you've chosen the Remove everything option, you'll need to log in again from scratch using your Microsoft account credentials and put all your programs and files back in place. Otherwise you can leave it be.Ĭlick Reset to confirm, and the process will get underway it might take a while, so be patient. ![]() ![]() It’s off by default, but it’s a good idea to turn it on if you're selling your laptop or giving it away. Users who choose to keep their files will need to decide whether they want to erase the computer’s preinstalled apps.īefore the reset starts, click Change settings to choose whether the Data erasure feature is enabled this essentially overwrites data on disk and makes sure it can't be recovered. ![]() Pick Keep my files to reset Windows core settings and files without interfering with your personal stuff pick Remove everything for a more comprehensive wipe, which means you'll need to add your files again later from your backup. In other words, make sure they're still backed up, just in case. Don't assume that Windows will know where all your personal files are kept. On the next screen, Windows gives you the option of removing everything or keeping your personal files-essentially what you've got saved on the desktop and in the designated user folders (Documents, Pictures, Music, and so on).
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