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Leaving a Mac clean, like it's fresh out of the box, is one of the features we get asked about the most. It has always involved formatting the drive, something we've done tutorials on over the years covering the small changes the process has taken.

Starting with macOS Monterey, this changes. The system has inherited a very simple function from iOS devices, with which we can erase all the contents and settings of a Mac to leave a completely clean macOS without anyone's preferences or files. You don't even need to format the drive, so less experienced users can save hassle. Let's see how to do it.

How to Erase All Content and Settings on a Mac

First of all, you must meet two requirements to be able to use this feature:

If you don't have a recent Mac with a T2 chip or Apple Silicon chip, it doesn't matter if you upgraded to macOS Monterey: the option won't appear in your menu. The reason for this is because Apple uses its own encryption to securely delete all data, including Touch ID fingerprints and Find app information.

If you meet the requirements, go into System Preferences. Ignore the main window of those settings and click on the 'System Preferences' menu to find the 'Erase all content and settings' option:

Sounds familiar to you, right? Yes, it's just like Apple offers us to erase all data on iPhones and iPads. macOS will ask you to enter the password, and a dialog will appear notifying you of everything that will be deleted (the list will be larger or smaller depending on the Mac you have). Logically, if you want to keep that data you must have a previous backup ready:

From here, you'll be prompted to enter your Apple ID password (yes, it's required and you can't delete anything without it for security reasons) and you'll be alerted that you're about to delete all data and settings of the computer. Click on 'Delete contents and settings' to verify it, bearing in mind that if you do, there is no going back.

Your Mac will go to a black screen and may reboot multiple times, displaying a progress bar on each reboot. There will come a time when the word 'Hello' in various languages ​​will be displayed and then you will be able to reconfigure the Mac as if it were new, with a clean system.

Goodbye to booting from pendrives, goodbye to Disk Utility, goodbye to the risk of not correctly formatting the disk and suffering from errors. This method makes transferring a Mac a much easier process from now on. Well done Apple.

Image | AB

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