When people are planning to sell the old MacBook Pro, or trying to fix issues on a MacBook Pro by doing a clean install of software, they first need to restore the computer to factory settings. It is the best way to wipe a Mac and able to erase all the data and content from a Mac. It is easy said than done. A MacBook Pro usually connects to iCloud, iTunes and other Apple services. To factory reset MacBook Pro, you have to do more than resetting a smartphone. Don't worry! This tutorial enables you to perform an unblemished factory reset MacBook Pro.

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Part 1: What is factory reset a MacBook Pro?

Shut down your MacBook Pro. Disconnect the power adapter, Ethernet cable, USB cables, security lock, and any other cables connected to the MacBook Pro to prevent damaging the computer. Turn over your MacBook Pro and remove the ten (10) screws that secure the bottom case. Turn on the MacBook Pro and immediately hold down the Option key. Select the hard disk, and boot off of it. It’ll be a bit slower than it was before because you’re using USB instead of SATA, but you can try running Disk Utility from there to see if there’s something wrong with the SSD, or if the data transfer didn’t complete.

Before you factory reset MacBook Pro, you may be still confused about what is factory reset and why do it. Briefly, factory reset is to erase all personal data and content from a device permanently and return it to factory conditions in the box.

People prefer to store photos, documents, iTunes account and other information on Mac computers. Factory reset is the best way to protect your privacy and information when you want to sell your MacBook Pro or put it to another hand.

On the other hand, factory resetting MacBook Pro is an ultimate solution to resolve various problems. Problems and complaints emerge continuously since MacBook Pro has been launched, such as blue screen, responding incorrectly and more. Factory reset is the latest means to fix a MacBook Pro before giving it up completely.

Part 2: Preparation before factory reset MacBook Pro

As said before, factory reset MacBook Pro is a little complicated than other devices, partly because there are more work about preparation, including backup, sign out iTunes, iCloud and other accounts.

Step 1. Create a backup for your MacBook Pro

To avoid data loss, backup everything on your Mac is necessary before factory resetting MacBook Pro. There are two methods to create a backup for MacBook Pro.

To back up your device, plug a large enough USB flash or external drive, go to System Preferences-> Time Machine, select Backup Disk, then follow the onscreen instructions to format the drive and transfer all files you want to back up.

Another way is to clone entire hard drive. The programs, like Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper, could copy all data and information on your hard drive to an external hard drive.

The difference between backup with Time Machine and cloning is that former supports selectively copying. Cloning a hard drive means copy all information, including errors, malfunctions, configuration issues and even viruses.

Step 2. Sign out all accounts and services on your Mac

This step includes disabling iTunes, iCloud, FileVault and other apps link to your hardware. iTunes supports to set up to five Mac devices with one account. Disabling iCloud could remove some of personal content from Mac. And the FineVault is designed to encrypt your files on hard drive. So it is better to turn off these services before factory reset MacBook Pro.

• 1. De-authorize iTunes. Start iTunes, click Store and then Deauthorize This Computer, input your Apple ID and password and hit De-authorise to confirm it. If you use an old version of iTunes, the Deauthorize This Computer is in Account > Authorisations.
• 2. Turn off iCloud. Open iCloud in System Preferences, click Sign Out Now and then hit Delete from Mac on each popup dialog.
• 3. Sign out FileVault. Go to System Preferences-> Security & Privacy-> FileVault and turn off File Vault. You will be prompted to enter your password to confirm it.

Besides three services above, you may need to sign out other apps, such as Adobe Photoshop, Netflix and more. And if your MacBook Pro has Touch Bar, you also need to remove any Apple Pay card information.

Part 3: Start factory resetting MacBook Pro

After backup and sign out various services, you can feel free to start factory resetting MacBook Pro

Step 1. Boot your MacBook Pro in Recovery Mode

Click the Apple logo at the upper left corner of the screen and select Restart, then press and hold down the Command and R keys until Apple logo appears on the screen.

There are three key combinations of Mac OS Recovery, Command + R, Option + Command + R, and Shift + Option + Command + R. The first will install the latest Mac OS version without upgrading. The second will upgrade to the latest Mac OS. And the latter will install the Mac OS that came with your MacBook Pro.

Step 2. Erase your MacBook Pro's hard drive

When the Recovery Mode Utilities window shows up, pick Disk Utility and click Continue. Select your main hard drive usually called Macintosh HD.

Click the Erase button on top ribbon of Disk Utility to start erasing your hard drive for factory reset MacBook Pro. When it is done, close the application by clicking Disk Utility and then Quit Disk Utility.

When choose hard drive, you should look for the disk name, but not the volume name.

Step 3. Reinstall Mac on your MacBook Pro

Once the Disk Utility is closed, the Mac OS reinstallation window will present. Pick Reinstall MacOS or Reinstall OS X, you MacBook Pro will start connecting to Apple servers and downloading the Mac OS automatically through Wi-Fi network or Ethernet. The Mac OS version reinstalled depends on the key combination that you used in step 1. After reinstallation is complete, your MacBook Pro will restart. If you want to continuously use your computer, log in with your Apple ID and password. Otherwise, hold down Command + Q to skip the setup process.

The guides above are universal process of factory reset MacBook Pro. The detail menus may differ slightly depending on the version of iTunes, Mac OS and MacBook Pro you are using. Even though it may not match exactly, that's OK since the meaning is the same.

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Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have told you how to factory reset MacBook Pro. There are a number of reasons that you need to reset your MacBook Pro to its factory settings. Perhaps, you will sell it and wipe your data off of it. Maybe it is not working properly or infected with virus. Anyway, you will find that factory reset MacBook Pro is not as difficult as you thought if you follow our guides above. To return your MacBook Pro to factory status, you'd better back it up first. And the final step, re-install the Mac OS, needs the internet connection. If you have any questions about factory reset your MacBook Pro, please leave a message below this post.

Upgrading your Macbook is a very easy task if you are already running a previous version of Mac OS X. You just need to download the new OS Installer from the App Store and after that, it’s just like a normal installer setup. But the problem comes, when your Mac OS got corrupted and you need to install a clean setup without having to access the App Store.

Arguably, Mac OS is a more stable and reliable OS as compared to Windows. It crashes less and gets fewer malware attacks as compared to windows. Therefore there are very few documentations regarding clean installation for Mac OS relative to Windows Reinstallation.

In this tutorial, I would try to cover up as much detail I could to help you Reinstall a Clean Mac OS on to your Macbook or iMac. I recommend you to use 16GB or higher USB drive. Also, make sure to backup all your files and data before you initiate the setup.

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Step One: Download macOS Installer files

Macbook Reinstall Os From Usb Flash Drive

You can download the Mac OS Installer file from App Store. Or, if you don’t find the required OS on the App Store, then you can download the Mac OS Installer files from ISORIVER.

Step Two: Formatting Your USB Flash Drive

You can create a boot installer for macOS on Mac. If you are using a flash drive that already has data, be sure to back up all important files as you are about to erase everything in an instant.

Open search engine. Go to Applications > Utilities and open Disk Utility. You should see your flash drive in the External section of the left panel. After selecting it, click on the “Erase” button at the top.

Choose a descriptive name (which you will use later) and be sure to select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for this format. Finally, click on Erase and you will be done with this step.

Step Three: Creating a Bootable USB Using DiskMaker X

DiskMaker X is a user-friendly and reliable software for creating a bootable macOS USB disk. You can download DiskMaker X for free.

After Installing DiskMaker X, you need to change security permissions for the app to work without breaking.

Navigate to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility. To make changes, click the lock icon at the bottom and enter your credentials.

Then click on the Plus button, navigate to the Applications folder, select DiskMaker X, and click open. DiskMaker X should now appear on the list.

As soon as you start DiskMaker X, you will be asked to confirm the download of the macOS installer.

The following message shows one of the advantages of DiskMaker X, as it is possible to create multiple installation disks. This means that you can create multiple partitions on the USB drive and have different macOS installers for each partition.

If you prefer to create an installation disk, select “Erase all disk“. Finally, confirm that you want to delete the entire contents of the USB drive.

DiskMaker will continue to create the disk in the background and update it while it works. After a few minutes, DiskMaker X will inform you that your startup disk is ready and will give you some instructions on how to use it.

Step Four: Booting Your Mac From a USB Drive

Simply connect the USB drive you created to an open USB port on your Mac. Turn on the system or restart it if it is already on. Immediately press and hold the Option (Alt) key on the keyboard when it starts.

You should now see an option to select the USB drive as a boot disk. Once selected, the system will start from the USB drive and will be directed to the macOS utility screen.

Macbook Reinstall Os X From Usb

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That’s it for the tutorial If you face any issues or had any query then please let us know in the comment section below. You can also send us an email via the contact us page for personalized support.