Step 6 Choose the information you want to transfer – such as user accounts, applications, folders, system settings, etc. Select your Time Machine backup and click “Continue.” Step 5 At this point, it’s a straightforward process. Step 4 Close all your open applications, then click “Continue” on the initial Migration Assistant window. Step 3 Navigate to the Applications folder > Utilities > Migration Assistant app. Step 2 Open Finder by clicking its icon on your dock. Step 1 Plug in the external storage device where you stored your media. Once you’re back on the desktop, you can proceed with restoring your data using an app called Migration Assistant.
Once the reset is complete, you’ll go through a familiar setup process – essentially, how you setup your Mac when you first took it out of the box. You’ll be asked to sign out of your iCloud account to proceed. Step 5 Once you click continue, all your apps will close automatically. Step 4 On the Erase All Content & Settings window, note everything that will be erased and click the “Continue” button at the bottom right corner. Step 2 On the top left corner of your screen beside the Apple menu, click System Preferences > Erase All Content and Settings... Step 1 Open your Apple menu > System Preferences. It’s easy – just follow these steps so you don’t get lost along the way. Once you’ve backed up your data, you can safely proceed with the resetting process. Step 6 Sign out of all your active apps and unplug your external storage device to prepare for the next step. Step 5 On the popup that appears, select your external storage device, and click “Use Disk.”
Step 3 From the System Preferences window, select Time Machine. Step 2 Open Time Machine by clicking the Apple symbol on the top left corner of your screen and select System Preferences. If you backup your data to your MacBook, the factory reset will delete it. Step 1 Plug in a separate storage device. If you care about the data on your Mac, you need to perform a backup so you can restore it later. Follow these steps restore to factory settings without losing data: Step A Backup Your Mac With Time Machine or Other Backup Solutions.Ī factory reset completely erases your hard disk. However, it’s always better to be precise when important data is involved.
Resetting a MacBook Pro to factory settings is a straightforward process. It completely erases your hard disk, getting rid of any harmful and unoptimized software. If you have any viruses (unlikely, but possible), a factory reset will 99% of the time solve your problem. It also allows you to perform a clean update, so you won’t encounter any software-related problems until the next time you need to reset. A factory reset reinstalls the OS, ensuring that the file system is fully optimized to run programs correctly. With older machines, you might find that some apps aren’t running properly, and some don’t even run at all. There could be too much clutter in the filesystem causing conflicts, or you might even have installed unwanted apps and forgot about it. You might be experiencing slowdowns or freezing whenever you use your Mac – this isn’t normal, and you don’t have to tolerate it. Why You May Need to Reset MacBook to Factory SettingsĪpple made it easy to factory reset MacBooks for a reason – normal usage will eventually force you to perform a factory reset.