It is often recommended to perform a factory reset on any of your technological devices as a solution to many problems that may occur. In the case of a MacBook Air, this task can be performed to increase performance and restore your laptop to its former glory.
If you have chosen to sell your MacBook Air to someone else, a factory reset will ensure that all of your private and personal information is removed. Ensuring that another user can log in and start using your old MacBook Air is also important for seller ratings and alleviates the hassle of having to delete your information after the transaction is complete.
By backing up your MacBook Air with Time Machine and performing a factory reset of your MacBook Air, your machine will feel like you just unpacked it for the first time.
With macOS Mojave available, it’s the perfect time to upgrade your computer again. Mojave is packed with new improvements and system changes that will keep your Air running well for years to come. However, keep in mind that macOS Mojave is only compatible with MacBook Air manufactured after mid-2012.
If you are unfamiliar with the process of performing a factory reset on your MacBook Air, follow the steps below to ensure that all your information is backed up and that the reset is successful.
Back up your data with Time Machine
Apple makes it really easy to back up your data to your MacBook Air. Time Machine and an external hard drive will allow you to back up all your documents, applications, and other important information.
If you don’t have a dedicated external hard drive, now is a good time to purchase one. Apple offers the airport time capsule, created specifically for Time Machine backups.
Alternatively, there are plenty of 1 and 2 terabyte drives on Amazon for under $100, and if you’re looking for a recommendation, check out theWestern Digital MyPassport Drive or theSeagate Backup Plus unit, which are designed to work with macOS right out of the box.
- Connect your external drive to your computer and open the Time Machine app on your Mac (can be accessed via Launch pad or in System preferences).
- Click on Select backup disk and choose your external hard drive.
- Select Use Disk; this will save your hard drive as a Time Machine backup drive.
- Choose Copy now from the Time Machine menu.
- If you want to control what gets backed up and what doesn’t, press the Options button within System Preferences in the Time Machine menu (if this is your first time backing up Time Machine, it may take a while).
Once you have finished your backup, be sure to perform it safely expel your drive from your MacBook Air before unplugging the drive.
To properly eject your external hard drive: Open Discoverer and tap the device name. Click on the Expel icon (an arrow with a line below it). If your MacBook does not allow you to perform this task, it is likely that the backup is not complete or another application is still using your external hard drive.
Factory Reset Your MacBook Air
Once you’ve backed up your user data to Time Machine or the backup app of your choice, it’s time to factory reset your MacBook Air. This process can help you resolve most types of errors and problems with your MacBook, including slowdown issues and frozen apps.
A reset will generally increase the speed of your machine to what it was when you first put it in its original state. A factory reset is also a necessary process if you want to sell your MacBook Air to remove all user data left on the computer.
MacOS has a built-in recovery disk utility to help you erase and reinstall the operating system, which you can download again from your Mac’s home screen.
Alternatively, you can also choose to download macOS Mojave from the Mac App Store on your device. create a bootable USB drive from the download file.But for now, we’ll look at how to reset your MacBook Air from your device’s home screen. Please note that this requires an active Internet connection.
- Hit the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your MacBook screen.
- Choose Resume in the drop-down menu and get ready to press a few keys on your keyboard.
- When the Apple logo appears on your MacBook Air screen again, press and hold Domain + R on your keyboard. Don’t let go until you see macOS Utilities A window will appear on your screen.
- If you want to reinstall macOS on your current file system, click Reinstall macOS.
- However, to factory reset your device, click Disk Utility at the end of the list.
- Once Disk Utility has opened, locate and select the file on your MacBook Air. startup disk On the left side. For most users, this is the only and main disk listed.
- Click on the Delete button within Disk Utility.
- Select the Format popup window and choose Mac OS Extended.
- Name your reformatted disk and click Delete to confirm its deletion.
You will now see a screen begin to erase the disk and data from your MacBook Air. When this process is complete, your drive is successfully erased, but it’s not done yet.
Your computer no longer has an operating system installed, which means that no matter if you are selling your laptop or simply reformatting the drive to improve your computer’s speed or performance, you will still have to reinstall your operating system.
Reinstall macOS on your MacBook Air
- With your MacBook Air just restarted, start by exiting Disk Utility by selecting Disk Utility, so Abandon.
- Select Reinstall macOS from the macOS Utilities list and follow the instructions to reinstall the latest version of macOS
- When prompted to choose the drive you want to install, select (since most MacBook Airs have only one storage drive built into their systems unless you’ve added another one yourself) the default drive.
- when you click Install, you may be asked to allow some permissions, after which your computer will start downloading macOS. This download will take some time, especially if you have a slower Internet connection. Please be patient while the reinstallation completes. This may take a few hours, so make sure you have time to reboot the system and get back to work.
- When macOS has finished downloading, you may need to manually start the installation by accepting the installation on your computer. Once the laptop has finished installing its operating system, it should automatically reboot and boot to the macOS welcome screen, prompting you to log in to a new account on the system and configure your system.
If you plan to sell your laptop, you can more or less power off the device here; Your MacBook Air has been returned to its factory state and is safe to send to another user. This also prevents the buyer from accessing your personal or private information.
Restore a Time Machine backup
When you’re done setting up your reformatted Mac, you’ll need to restore the files you saved to your external hard drive using a Time Machine backup. Time Machine makes it easy to restore from any of the backups saved on your device, and this includes performing this action on newly formatted computers. Here’s how to do it.
- Start by opening up Time Machine, either from your dock or, if you have removed the shortcut from your dock, by clicking the Apple in the menu bar at the top of the screen, selecting System Preferences and selecting Time Machine.
- With your external hard drive connected to your MacBook Air, you can use Time Machine to browse your files and find what you want to restore. The timeline on the right side of your MacBook screen will show the date and time of each backup, allowing you to scroll through the list and find the correct or most recent backup to restore.
By selecting the file or files, you can press the restore button to restore them to your device. To preview a file, select a specific file and tap the space bar key on your keyboard.
Alternatively, if you want to restore everything from your Time Machine backup, you can use the same macOS recovery screen we used earlier in this guide to format and reinstall macOS.
- Just hit Resume on your device in the Apple logo, wait for your machine to turn back on and press and hold Domain + R on your keyboard when the Apple icon appears on your screen.
- When you go back to macOS Utilities show, select Restore from Disk Utilityand follow the on-screen instructions to restore your backed up apps and files to your computer.
Errors when restoring
While this isn’t something you want to do regularly, it’s pretty amazing how a simple reinstall can make your old Mac feel new again. To keep your MacBook Air running smoothly, perform this reset every two years.
If you have any problems with the restoration, please contact Apple Support. Some users have reported a No baggage entry Error when trying to restore old software. If this happens, your MacBook Air has problems connecting to the App Store and therefore cannot reinstall macOS.
You’ll want to make sure your MacBook Air is connected to a strong Wi-Fi source. Users have reported that public wifi will not allow their MacBook to restore.
Factory resets
Whether you’re looking to restore your device’s previous functionality, trade in a MacBook for a new one, or sell an old laptop, you now know how to factory reset your MacBook Air.
Share your thoughts and experiences about factory resetting MacBooks below.
