How to reset a 2022 macbook air

It's a crucial security measure you don't want to skip. Your Mac's hard drive is bursting with sensitive information that you wouldn't want to be accessible, even if you trust your laptop's next owner. There's always a chance that some malware could snake its way in and uncover your personal details.

Here's how to remove all traces of your data and return your old Mac to its default factory settings.

1. Sign out of your accounts

After migrating your data to your new Mac or making one last backup to preserve your data, it's time to remove all traces of yourself from the machine. First, you'll need to sign out of all of your accounts. Years ago, this was done using iTunes, but you now must individually sign out of three apps -- Music, TV and Books. Open up any of those apps and go to Account > Authorizations > Deauthorize This Computer. You'll need to enter your Apple ID and password and then hit the Deauthorize button.

Next, you'll need to turn off Find My Mac and sign out of iCloud. Go to System Preferences > Apple ID, click iCloud in the left panel and then uncheck Find My Mac. Next, click Overview from the left panel and then click the Sign Out button.

Lastly, you'll need to sign out of Messages. Open the Messages app, go to Messages > Preferences, click the iMessage tab and then click Sign Out.

2. Bluetooth unpairing

If you're handing down your old Mac to your kid or someone else in your house, then it's a good idea to unpair any Bluetooth devices from it so your mouse or keyboard controls the new Mac and doesn't interfere with the old one. Go to System Preferences > Bluetooth, mouse over the device you want to unpair, click the X button to the right of its name, then click Remove.

3. Reset NVRAM

NVRAM is memory to which your Mac saves settings that it needs before loading MacOS: things like screen resolution, time zone, volume level and startup-disk selection. Sometimes these files can get corrupted, so give your Mac's next owner a fresh start by resetting the NVRAM. To do so, shut down your Mac, then turn it on and immediately press and hold four keys together: Option, Command, P, and R. You can release the keys after 20 seconds or so. That's it! Your Mac's NVRAM has been reset.

4. Factory reset

You need to put your MacBook into Recovery Mode in order to erase all of your data and reinstall MacOS. To enter Recovery Mode on an old Intel-based Mac, restart it and immediately press and hold Command-R. You can release the keys once you see the Apple logo. On an M1-based Mac, booting into Recovery Mode is slightly different. You simply press and hold the power button until you see the startup options window, then click Options and Continue to get to the utilities window.)

Next, you'll see the MacOS Utilities window. Choose Disk Utility, click Continue and select your startup disk -- unless you renamed it, odds are it's labeled Macintosh HD or something similar. Next, click the Erase button at the top of the Disk Utility window and fill out these two fields:

• Name: Choose a name for the fresh, new volume. Why not go with the tried-and-true Macintosh HD?
  
• Format: Choose APFS. 

If you are trying to sell an ancient Mac that has a mechanical hard drive instead of a solid-state drive, then choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for Format.

Next, click the Erase Volume Group and after Disk Utility does its thing, quit Disk Utility. (If you don't see the Erase Volume Group button in the lower-left corner, then click the Erase button in the lower-right corner instead.)

You should return to the MacOS Utilities window. (If not, restart your Mac again, holding down Command-R while it reboots.) From the MacOS Utilities window, select Reinstall MacOS and follow the instructions to install the operating system. After MacOS has been reinstalled, you'll be greeted by the Setup Assistant, which you can then quit out of and shut down your Mac. It's now ready for a fresh start with its next owner.

Have you recently purchased any MacBook Pro iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook Air, or Mac Studio? If yes, all these gadgets undoubtedly utilize Apple's own processor, for example, Apple M1 chip and Apple M2 chip. However, eventually, all these devices will get slower, and you might need a factory reset to make it faster!

The factory resetting M1 Mac to retrieve your MacBook to factory defaults implies deleting all data and reinstalling an empty macOS. Hence, this factory reset process might be distinguishable with the M1 Mac, including the M1 Mac mini, M1 MacBook Air, and others. Several situations exist when you should factory reset M1 Mac minis: you may want to sell it or troubleshoot the errors to optimize its performance.

But you should know that a factory reset includes eliminating all the contents, such as data, files, and the OS preserved on your MacBook. Basically, a factory resetting process is to erase M1/M2 Mac and reinstall macOS on M1/M2 Mac. However, this article will provide you with detailed steps of factory resetting. Before that, let us start with a video about factory resetting. You can check the key points first:

00:22 Click here on the Apple logo.

00:31 Select "System Preferences".

00:45 Erase all content and settings under "System Preferences".

What to Do Before Erasing All Content and Settings on M1 Mac

Are you willing to perform a factory reset M1 Mac? Before you factory reset macOS, you must have a proper data backup. If you're wondering what data retrieval tool to use to recover the omitted data from your M1/M2 Macs, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is your one-stop solution.

It's a professional data retrieval software for Macbooks, which can help you recover files after reinstalling macOS Ventura update and recuperate your lost data because of accidental deletion, open trash bins, and others.

This premium software helps solve several challenging data loss instances. You don't have to worry about how to recover deleted messages on Mac, you can recover deleted images, emails, documents, and more from all types of Mac-based devices. This functional recovery tool supports Mac hard drive recovery, Mac SD card recovery, Mac USB recovery, and so on. Some of its recovery features that can make the recovery more comfortable are the following:

• File filter
• Recover to Cloud
• File preview
• Create bootable media

These top-notch features will help you locate accidental deletion of data from scanning results and make your recovery easier. Let us start recovering files with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac:

Step 1. Search for lost files

Select the disk location to search for lost files (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) on macOS Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey and the latest Ventura. Click the "Search for lost files" button.

Step 2. Go through the scanning results

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results.

Step 3. Select the file(s) and recover

In the scan results, select the file(s) to preview and click the "Recover" button to have them back.

Factory Reset M1 Mac with Mac Erase Assistant

Prior to factory resetting the M1 Mac, you must log out of every account, for example, iMessage and iCloud, and back up your Macbook. In case you have a brand-new Mac running macOS Monterey, factory resetting will be more accessible due to the support of Mac Erase Assistant. These are the leading steps shown below:

Step 1. Open System Preferences. Hit the Apple logo from the top-left edge of the MacBook screen, and opt for System Preferences from its dropdown menu.

Step 2. Open Mac Erase Assistant. Besides the Apple logo, there is an option named "system preferences" in the menu bar. You must opt for "Erase All Content and Settings" from the dropdown menu.

Step 3. Go with the Erase Assistant prompts. The Mac Erase Assistant will help you walk through the factory reset M1 Mac process, requiring you to log out of iCloud before the process is completed.

So, once you have gone through all the steps, your Mac will quickly reboot and get back to the factory settings, even though it will continue to run the most recent version of macOS rather than the one that came preinstalled.

Factory Reset M1 Mac in Recovery Mode

Are you wondering how to factory reset the M1 Mac? Several techniques are there to retrieve M1 Mac, and we will discuss two distinct recovery modes: factory resetting with disk utility and reinstalling macOS. This method will be useful when you need to factory reset Mac without password.

Fix 1. Factory Reset M1 Mac with Disk Utility

Prior to eliminating your M1 Mac, you need to install the newest macOS updates and keep a backup of every important file. However, you can easily erase the M1/M2 Mac with disk utility. The steps are given below:

Step 1. Switch on your MacBook and keep pressing and holding the Apple Power button until you notice the startup options window. You need to opt for "Options" and hit continue afterward.

Step 2. If prompted, choose a user whose administrator password you are familiar with and input it.

Step 3. Type the Apple ID and password, which were associated with the Mac if asked.

Step 4. Choose Disk Utility from the utility window, and hit continue.

Step 5. Search for the volume termed Macintosh HD, which must be located in the internal section of this Disk Utility sidebar.

Step 6. Opt for every additional internal volume in the sidebar in case you previously utilized Disk Utility in order to incorporate volumes into your startup disk. After that, hit the delete volume button to eliminate the volume in the toolbar.

N.B: The volumes in the External and Disk Images sections of the sidebar, as well as any internal volumes with the titles Macintosh HD or Macintosh HD - Data, should be overlooked at this point.

Step 7. Macintosh HD should be chosen from the sidebar.

Step 8. Select a name and a format; after that, hit the Erase button in the toolbar.

Step 9. In case you notice an "Erase Volume Group" button, hit that button instead of clicking erase.

Step 10. Type your Apple ID if asked.

Step 11. Opt for the "erase Mac & restart" option whenever asked if you're sure about eliminating this M1 Mac.

Step 12. Follow the onscreen prompts to select your language after your Mac resumes.

Step 13. For Mac activation, Wi-Fi is required.

Step 14. Hit the "Exit" option to Recovery Utilities after Mac gets activated.

Fix 2. Factory Reset M1 Mac with Reinstall macOS

Once you've erased the drive, the final step is to reinstall macOS. The steps are shown below:

Step 1. Hit "Reinstall macOS."

Step 2. Choose the continue button.

Step 3. Opt for a boot drive, and hit "Install." In case you're allowed to select between Macintosh HD - Data or Macintosh HD, it's advisable to choose Macintosh HD.

Step 4. Restart your Mac once the installation is over.

Step 5. Reinstallation of the Mac can take a couple of minutes. So, you must be patient!

Summary

Once you have gone through the steps mentioned earlier, your Mac will reboot after a factory reset. However, if you're thinking of using that M1 Mac again, it would be better to reinstall macOS on M1/M2 Mac. If you encounter data loss when you are using your Mac, install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to get back the lost files in one click.

Factory Reset M1 Mac FAQs

For a better understanding of the topic, let's consider the below FAQs:

How do I wipe my Mac M1 for sale?

You may reset your M1 Macbook to erase all content by restarting the Mac. After that, press and hold the Command + R. Select the recovery app window, and choose the Disk Utility, and hit the continue button. However, in the Disk Utility section, choose the volume you would like to erase in the sidebar, and after that, hit Erase in the toolbar.

How do you reset a Macbook Air M1 Monterey?

The steps are given below:

1. 1. Log out from everywhere.
2. 2. Boot macOS retrieval.
3. 3. Eliminate the boot drive.
4. 4. Reinstall macOS.

How do I wipe and reinstall M1 Mac?

Shut down your M1 Mac and keep pressing and holding the power button until the "Loading startup options" pop up. After that, you must select options, hit continue, and follow the onscreen guidance. Choose Reinstall for your macOS release in the Recovery app window, click Continue, and then adhere to the prompts on the screen.

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