How To Get A Mac Back To Factory Settings

How to Factory Reset M1 Mac

Do you have an M1 Mac that you'd like to mill reset as if it were brand new? The process of mill resetting the M1 Mac line to restore the Mac to factory defaults – basically erasing all information and reinstalling a bare macOS – is different with the M1 Mac line, including M1 MacBook Pro, M1 Mac mini, M1 iMac, and M1 MacBook Air, and so let'due south review how the process works.

Showtime, a quick summary for the unfamiliar; A manufacturing plant reset or a reset to factory settings involves erasing all the contents stored on your Mac – all files, data, and the Os itself – and restoring information technology to factory settings. If you're switching from Windows, it's similar to how you would perform a make clean installation of Windows on a calculator. Likewise, in this case, we're basically simply wiping the Mac and reinstalling macOS from scratch. This is essentially reformatting the Mac and then reinstalling MacOS, a process which is often necessary for users transferring ownership of a Mac, sending the reckoner in for repair, or for troubleshooting purposes.

It doesn't actually matter whether you lot ain the new xiii-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, or Mac Mini, as the resetting to manufacturing plant settings process remains identical on all M1 Macs.

How to Factory Reset M1 Mac to Wipe & Reinstall macOS

Before you go alee with the steps mentioned below, brand sure yous back up the Mac and all the of import files and data yous want to keep as they will be permanently erased during the factory restoration. Without a backup, you will not be able to get those files back. Once everything's complete, yous'll have nothing but the stock version of the operating organization that shipped with your Mac, as if the Mac were brand new.

Entering recovery mode is different on Apple silicon Macs. You demand to close downward your Mac and then concord downwards the Touch ID/power push button until you come across "Loading startup options". Now, choosing "Options" will take you to macOS Utilities. Here, select "Disk Utility" and click on "Continue" to get started.
Next, select the hard drive where macOS is currently installed from the left pane, typically "Macintosh HD", and click on the "Erase" option located at the top of the window.
Adjacent, select the bulldoze format as "APFS" and click on "Erase Volume Group" (or "Erase" if that is not available).
This volition initiate the bulldoze wipe. It may have a few seconds to complete. Click "Done" to keep.
Now, become back to the macOS Utilities screen, select "Install macOS" and click on "Go on". You'll be prompted to select the drive where you want to install macOS. Brand the selection and click on "Install" to begin installing the factory version of macOS.

That'due south all you need to do to perform a manufacturing plant reset. At this point, you just need to patiently wait for the installation procedure to complete which could accept a while. Afterward the manufacturing plant reset, you lot'll need to become through the initial set-upward screen similar it'south a brand new Mac.

Resolving the "No users available for authorization" Mistake Message when Installing MacOS

Some users may encounter a "no users available for dominance" error message when trying to reinstall macOS on an Apple Silicon ARM Mac. This normally happens when only part of the difficult disk was erased, and not the Information component. This is why you should cull to "Erase Volume Group" in the above instructions, if that is available.

One mode to resolve this is to go back to Recovery Mode > Disk Utility, then select "Macintosh Hard disk – Data" (or name of drive – Data), and click to Erase the Information portion. Quit Disk Utility and you will probably come across a screen about activating the Mac, and then get through that.

When complete, you tin can choose "Reinstall macOS" from the Utilities window inside Recovery Mode.

What version of macOS gets reinstalled in a factory reset?

You will be installing the macOS version that shipped with your M1 Mac from the factory by following this method.

If you want to install a newer version of macOS after erasing the Mac, you can exercise so by updating macOS when the installation has completed.

Alternatively, you tin also create a bootable macOS installer USB drive with the version yous wish to utilise. One time the drive is connected, yous'll need to reboot the Mac and hold downwards the OPTION central to enter the kicking card.

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For those wondering, the initial drive wipe earlier installing macOS is what makes this a factory reset. All the same, if your intention is not to lose whatsoever information in the process, you can simply reinstall macOS on your organization from the macOS Recovery carte du jour without formatting the bulldoze. In addition to this, macOS Utilities menu tin also be used to restore your M1 Mac from a Fourth dimension Motorcar backup, which could come in handy if you want to downgrade to an older macOS version.

Did y'all successfully factory reset your M1 Mac to default settings? Did you run into whatsoever bug or issues? Let us know your experiences, suggestions, tips, and thoughts in the comments.