My 2015 MacBook Pro had to be reset recently. The old age of the device was evident in its painfully sluggish performance. Therefore, I started again by erasing all the previous information and installing macOS Big Sur from scratch. Around this time, I had the idea of writing down my thoughts. And experiences to share with our audiences. Therefore, in this post, I will demonstrate how to perform a complete factory reset on a Mac and reinstall macOS. I’ll let you in on my experience and describe how difficult or simple it was for me. In that case, let’s go right in.
Clear Macs cache and install macOS from scratch.
There are three main parts to this article. I’ll explain how to reset a Mac in the first part of this article. In the following part, I’ll demonstrate how to use a bootable device to install macOS. And now, at long last, I shall impart my wisdom. Use the navigation options below to get to the part of the article quickly. That piques your interest.
- Reset your Mac to its original settings.
- Perform a clean installation of the Mac OS X software from a bootable device.
- My reflections on the procedure
What You Need to Know About Resetting Your Mac to Factory Settings
If you’ve exhausted all other troubleshooting steps and your aging Mac still gives you difficulties. The last resort is to restore it to factory settings. This is useful when selling the Mac to a new owner since it guarantees that no private information will be left behind.
If you follow this guide, you may lose all of your data. Therefore you should back it up beforehand. Visit https://perfectpcserver.com/ to know more about resetting your mac to factory settings. Furthermore, the erased information is irretrievably lost to you. After that disclaimer, we can proceed:
- Initiating Recovery Mode on your Mac is the first order of business. Restart your Mac while holding down the CMD+R keys to do this. Whenever the Apple logo displays, you may let go of the keys.
- You’ve successfully entered recovery mode. Select Disk Utility from the menu.
- The Macintosh HD & Macintosh HD: Data partitions will be visible if you use macOS Catalina. This is because macOS Catalina is a standalone, read-only operating system (learn more here).
- Click the minus sign () and then choose “Delete” next to the second disc named “Macintosh HD – Data.”
- Click the Erase button once you have selected the “Macintosh – HD” volume. You may give your hard disc a custom name by filling in the fields below and then confirming the action with a click on the “Erase” button.
- In the main “macOS Utilities” folder, choose To reinstall macOS. This will download a full new copy of macOS Catalina, so you’ll need an active internet connection.
- After the new macOS has finished downloading and starting up, you can proceed with the installation.
Set up Mac OS X from a USB Flash Drive
It’s convenient to use a USB flash Drive to reinstall macOS. Rather than having to download the operating system from scratch. My Mac’s Wi-Fi card stopped working. Therefore I had to resort to this workaround involving a USB Wi-Fi adapter (Tp-link T2U Nano). In addition, my Wi-Fi is not operational during setup since I had not downloaded the necessary drivers.
Here’s how to generate a bootable drive for macOS and then use it to do a clean installation of the operating system. Suppose you have the same difficulty or prefer to work with a bootable drive.
- We first need to get a copy of macOS to install on a bootable device. Download the public beta of macOS from the Apple Beta website. Or get the latest stable release of macOS in the App Store.
- After the operating system has been successfully downloaded to a USB drive, the disc may be used (it should be at least 16 GB).
- Now. Start Terminal from Spotlight.
- Run the following command for macOS Catalina into Terminal. You can find the commands for other OS versions here.
Don’t forget to change “volume” to the actual name of the USB drive.
- Just press enter, and you’ll be prompted to enter a password. Remember that you won’t be able to watch the user input the password. Don’t panic; just input your password and press return again.
- The final verification will be requested. Just press enter after typing y.
- Your Mac will now make the drive bootable. The Terminal program will display the current status. Remove the drive after it’s finished.
- To reinstall macOS, all you need to do is insert the disc into your computer. It’s as simple as unplugging the drive and turning off your Mac. Once you start up your Mac after holding down the option key, you’ll be presented with the choice to reinstall the OS. Choose the setup file, then press enter.
How I Felt During the Procedure
Because of Apple, it’s a breeze. Following the instructions carefully will ensure success, despite the task’s seeming difficulty initially. The external Wi-Fi adapter I utilized was the primary cause of my computer’s problems. I had to make a bootable disc before I could wipe the Mac. Suppose you want to restore your Mac to factory settings and install macOS from scratch. All you need to do is follow the first step.
At first, I attempted to install macOS Big Sur Beta but ran into a difficulty that was not Apple’s fault. When I got to the point of installing the operating system, I discovered that the drivers for the Wi-Fi card were incompatible. Luckily, I had access to a second Mac, which allowed me to make a bootable disc of macOS Catalina. So I could try installing it once again.
This makes sense if you need extra software or hardware to make your Mac work. You shouldn’t install the unfinished beta operating system on your computer.
The trip was fantastic for me as a whole. Firstly, you need only exert effort during the first 2 minutes. A new OS may be installed in as little as the time required to download it. Put everything together and take off immediately. And it will be ready to go when you return.
You should reset your Mac to factory settings and reinstall macOS Catalina.
I hope this instruction helped you restart your Mac. The instructions are straightforward, so I do not doubt anyone can follow them. If you have any problems, please let us know in the comments, and we will do our best to assist you.
Pro Tip
MacBook with macOS Monterey, reset to factory settings
As of 2018, Macs running macOS Monterey have access to a brand new Erase Assistant. Resetting a Monterey-based Mac to factory settings is the simplest option if you haven’t yet updated.
- Perform a brand-new copy of your Mac’s backup.
- Retrieve the Settings’ menu from the System Menu.
- Erase all data and settings by going to Device Manager in the top menu bar and selecting that option.
- To completely remove all data from your Mac, just follow the on-screen directions.
- The new erasing procedure in macOS Monterey takes care of everything. Just as with iOS, so that you can be assured that your Mac has been completely erased.
- In other words, the present version of macOS will continue to function.
Macs with OS versions prior to Big Sur can be restored to factory settings.
- Create a whole new copy of your Mac’s backup.
- Leaving iCloud requires signing out (Settings > Apple ID > Overview > Sign Out).
- Turn off FaceTime and iMessage (in Preferences for each app)
- Clear NVRAM (see below for details on steps 4-7)
- Start Apple’s Recovery Mode for Mac
- Clear your boot drive’s memory
- Install a new copy of macOS.
