how to reformat external drive howtogeek

The price of USB drives is really cheap for the storage they have, but just like any storage, you can often find that a nearby USB drive is already full when you need that little bit of extra space. Then, select System Preferences > Erase All Content and Settings.USB drives are a really handy way to store and share documents, whether that’s your precious family photos, spreadsheets for your business or music that you want to shift from one computer to another. To get to it, open the System Preferences app. This is purely optional you can still format your Mac and reinstall macOS regardless.

If your MacBook runs on macOS Monterey or later, you have a built-in option that lets you wipe all data and settings before selling it. Sign out of iCloud: Go to System Preferences > Apple ID > Overview and select Sign Out. Then, switch to the iMessage tab, and select Sign Out.ĭisable Find My Mac: Go to System Preferences > Apple ID and uncheck the box next to Find My Mac. Sign out of iMessage: Open the Messages app and select Messages > Preferences on the menu bar. If you managed to reset the password to your Mac, perform the following actions before formatting your Mac.īack up data using Time Machine: Connect an external drive and head over to System Preferences > Time Machine to create a complete backup of Mac’s data. If you don’t want to do that and just want to format your Mac quickly, jump ahead to the next section. That allows you to back up any data on your Mac, as well as sign out from your Apple ID to minimize iCloud-related complications later. Try Lifting the Password Before You Startīefore you start, it’s always a good idea to try and reset the password to your Mac’s user account. It’s impossible to reformat the Mac otherwise. If you bought or received the Mac from someone else, you must ask the person to lift the Activation Lock remotely via. However, if you own the Mac, you can simply use your Apple ID’s passcode to reset the passcode or bypass Activation Lock. macOS devices that run on Apple Silicon or contain the Apple T2 Security Chip deploy a feature called Activation Lock that prevents unauthorized access to macOS Recovery. If you use your MacBook with just an offline user account, you can quickly reformat it in macOS Recovery and set up macOS from scratch even if you’ve forgotten its password.īut if you’ve signed into your Mac with an Apple ID and have Find My Mac turned on, that might complicate things. Your Mac May Be Secured With Activation Lock

How to reformat external drive howtogeek