Restore macOS, Your Files, Folders, and Settings Also, signing out of iCloud is a good idea, too, and you can cause issues between your devices if you don’t deauthorize iMessage.įor third-party apps, checking your purchase history may help you deauthorize some apps, although much like your serial numbers, you may have to dig into your emails or accounts to find out more. While Apple Music may not need your input, if you use iTunes, you will have to do this. In fact, any app that uses a restricted number of licenses should be on your list here. In a nutshell, you want to sign out and deauthorize your computer from apps such as Apple Music, iMessage, iCloud, etc.

Deauthorize Any Apps that Use Your Apple IDĪpple gives you much advice to “factory reset” your machine that also applies to reformatting your Mac. Once you have these in place, stored within your password manager, you can continue to work on the deauthorization process. The most integrated approach is to use Time Machine. The first task is to back up your system. On the whole, a clean install of your Mac includes backing up your current system, removing instances of your Apple ID from the system, wiping the hard drive using macOS Recovery, and reinstalling it through Time Machine.Īs such, there are a few things you can do before and after. 5 Things to Do Before and After Reformatting Your Mac Still, we encourage you to check out Apple’s official documentation, as it’s laid out well and informative. While there’s much to cover using macOS Recovery, lots of it is beyond the scope of this article. It has a nice interface and is a breeze to use compared to previous versions. In a nutshell, this Disk Utility is wrapped up with a few other tools.

What’s more, you would need to be in the right boot mode to carry out the process. In years gone by, there would be a standoff between your backup hard drive, the Mac auto installer, and even physical recovery disks. A Primer on the macOS Recovery ToolĪpple now makes the process of reformatting your Mac a snap. Before that, let’s give you a rundown of the macOS Recovery tool. In this post, we give you a checklist of things to do before reformatting your Mac.

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