Recently, I had to reset my old 2015 MacBook Pro. It was showing its age and was really slow when doing anything. So, I thought of giving it a fresh start by purging all the old data and doing a fresh install of macOS Big Sur. While doing that, I thought of cataloging my experience to share it with our readers. So, in this article, I am going to show you how you can factory reset Mac to erase all data and do a fresh install of macOS. I will also share my experience and tell you how hard or easy the process was. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
The article has three sections. In the first section, I will share the steps of resetting a Mac. In the second section, I will show how you can install the macOS operating system using a bootable device. And finally, I will share my thoughts. You can click on the links below to move to the section you are most interested in.
How to Erase and Factory Reset Your Mac
If your Mac is showing its age or having problems, and you have tried all the troubleshooting methods, the final step is to reset it to its original state. This is also handy when you are selling your Mac to someone as it ensures that no personal data is left on the device.
- Select the second volume (Macintosh HD – Data) and click on the (-) button and select “Delete”.
Using a USB Bootable Drive to reinstall macOS is very handy as you don’t have to download the entire macOS operating system again. I needed to use this method as the WiFi card on my Mac is not working, so I use an external WiFi dongle (Tp-link T2U Nano). And since this cannot work without its drivers, my WiFi was not working during the installation process.
The first step is to download the macOS operating system that we are going to use to create a bootable drive. To do that, either go to Apple Beta website to download the public beta of the operating system or search for the stable version of macOS on the App Store (here’s the link to macOS Catalina).
In Terminal, type the following command for macOS Catalina. For other versions of the operating system, get the commands here.
Using the drive to reinstall macOS is simple. Just shut down your Mac and plug in the drive. Now boot your Mac while holding the option key, and it will show you the option for reinstalling the operating system. Select the install file and hit enter.
Apple has made the process seamless. It might seem a bit hard at first, but if you follow the steps correctly, you won’t encounter any problem. The major issue with my computer was that I was using an external WiFi adapter. So, I had to first create a bootable drive and then erase the Mac. You can just go through the first tutorial and do both factory reset and fresh installation of the macOS operating system.
Overall, I had a very positive experience. If you use the first method, you only need to work for the first two minutes. All the time it takes is to download and install the operating system. So, you can set it up and leave. And when you come back, it will be up and running.
