How to hard reset MacBook Pro or Air

While MacBook is one of the finest machines that usually don’t get hiccups, but if you ever had to hard reset your MacBook Pro or Air running OSX, it’s easy. Though, I would warn you that when you hard reset MacBook Pro or Air to factory settings (without disc), it will wipe clean everything.

It is recommended that you backup all your data using the inbuilt backup system, Time Machine, to an external drive. After the reset, you can always get back to the same state as you were before you reset MacBook to brand new. You might have to download OS and App updates.

How to hard reset MacBook Pro or Air

There are two ways of doing the reset. The first situation is when you are planning to sell your MacBook to someone else. The second situation is where you are doing a reset to start fresh i.e. you will keep using the Macbook. 

How to reset MacBook Pro or Air if you are selling

1. Turn off your MacBook
2. Then restart it by holding the Option+Command + R keys. Release the keys when you see the Apple logo, and until the macOS Utilities window appears.
3. The next is to use Disk Utility to completely erase your startup disk. If there is an internal hard disk, wipe them too.
4. Select your drive’s name from the left side list and click the Erase.
5. This will open a pop-up menu, choose Mac OS Extended(Journaled) or APFS,  enter a name, then click Erase.
6. You will be given a warning about data loss, and it will take time for the process to complete.
7. Once Erase is complete, quit Disk Utility.

Reinstalling MacOS post reset of MacBook Pro or Air

1. Choose to Reinstall MacOS from the recovery menu. The process is straightforward, just follow the instructions on the screen.
2. Using the Recovery Menu, select Reinstall macOS and follow the on-screen instructions
3. As you are going to sell this machine to someone else, do not start the setup assistant. This will make sure the MacBook stays in factory default.
4. The new owner can take over from here, and use his Apple ID or Apple account to complete the ownership.

Note: If you had APFS (High Sierra), and had trouble with the install, you can use the internet recovery.

How to reset MacBook Pro or Air if you are keeping your MacBook

The steps are exactly the same as mentioned in the first section, except that you do not reset any other disk on your machine except for Start-up disk if you are planning to keep it.

Second Section, differs a bit. If you had used Time Machine to backup your files, you can choose to recover it which saves a lot of time after the setup is complete. But if you choose to re-install, a lot of time will be spent for sure.

Use Time Machine post reset of MacBook Pro or Air

• Quit the disc utility, and choose to restore from TimeMachine Backup.
• You might have to choose from the time shots you have on your Backup.

Reinstalling MacOS post reset of MacBook Pro or Air

1. Choose to Reinstall MacOS from the recovery menu. The process is straightforward, just follow the instructions on the screen.
2. Using the Recovery Menu, select Reinstall macOS and follow the on-screen instructions
3. Follow, the setup assistant, and use the same Apple ID you had used on the MacBook Air earlier.
4. The next step is to update your MacOSX to the latest version, and apps.

Note: If you had APFS (High Sierra), and had trouble with the install, you can use the internet recovery.

So you can see its easy to hard reset MacBook Pro or Air. All you need to make sure to backup your data properly either manually, using cloud drive or Time Machine.