This is how you prepare your Mac for sale when switching to another Mac

Selling a Mac: switching to a new Mac and preparing it for sale

If you’re planning to buy a new Mac or MacBook, you might be wondering how to best transfer all your data and what to do with your old Mac. So in this article we explain how you can switch to your new Mac and safely erase the data on your previous Mac. If you then want to sell your old Mac, all you have to do is erase all data and reset your Mac to factory settings. Read all about preparing your Mac for sale here.

• AppleCare checking
• Intel or Apple Silicon
• Erase all content and settings
• Make a backup
• Transfer data
• Log out
• Reset NVRAM
• Disconnect Bluetooth
• To clear
• To clean

Step 1. Check your AppleCare coverage

If the Mac you want to sell is not very old, you may still have AppleCare coverage. This extends the warranty of an Apple product, including a Mac. That extra warranty is linked to the product and the buyer. To check the coverage, go to System Settings > General > About. Under the Coverage heading you can see the current status.

If you want to sell your Mac that still has coverage, you must transfer the AppleCare coverage to the new owner.

Step 2. Intel or Apple Silicon? This determines your next steps

The steps you need to follow to prepare your Mac for sale differ per model. Models with an Intel chip (from mid-2020 or older) require more steps than a Mac with an Apple Silicon chip. If you are not sure which type of model you have, you can read how to find it here:

• Intel: Go to  > About This Mac. Below the name you will see a year. If it is from mid-2020 or older, you have an Intel Mac. Also check the word Intel under the heading Processor.
• Apple Silicon: Go to  > About This Mac. If the model is from late 2020 or newer, you have a Mac with an Apple Silicon chip. You can double check this under the name, which states which M chip is in the Mac.

If you have a Mac with an Intel chip, go to step 4 in this tip and follow the further steps until the last step.

If you have a Mac with an Apple Silicon chip that you want to prepare for sale, go to step 3 in this tip and follow the instructions.

Step 3. Clear all contents and settings on Apple Silicon Mac

On a Mac with Apple Silicon chip, you will now erase all content and settings. This is done via the Erase Assistant, which erases all content, data, paired devices and other settings and resets your Mac to factory settings. To do this, go to System Settings > General > Transfer or Reset > Erase All Content and Settings and follow the further steps in our tip on how to completely erase the Mac. The deletion assistant ensures that a backup is made.

Once you have completed this step and your Mac has been completely erased, you may want to go to step 10 in this tip to also clean the outside of the Mac. You can skip steps 4 to 9 on a Mac with Apple Silicon.

Step 4. Back up your data (Intel)

Before you empty your old Mac, it is wise to secure all your data in a backup. For example, you can make a Time Machine backup, but you can also simply connect an external hard drive to your Mac and manually transfer the most important folders and files. Most data, such as contacts, calendar and photos, are stored in the cloud and are easy to retrieve on a new Mac. If you have documents saved locally, make sure you save them to an external drive or upload them to iCloud, Dropbox or another service.

If you don’t want to worry about it, Time Machine is the best choice. Time Machine automatically creates a new backup as soon as your wireless drive is nearby or you connect the chosen drive to your Mac with a cable. You can read how to make a backup in our tip on making a Time Machine backup.

Step 5. Transfer data using Migration Assistant (Intel)

If you bought a new Mac, you can easily transfer the data from your previous Mac to the new one. Apple created the Migration Assistant for this purpose. This tool lets you transfer all your data from a Mac, Time Machine backup, startup disk, or Windows PC to the new Mac.

To use Migration Assistant, first check the following:

• Make sure that both computers have the most recent software version.
• Check whether your old Mac has its own recognizable name. You can check this via System Preferences > Sharing > Computer name.
• Power both computers with the included power cables.

You now need to connect your new Mac to your old Mac, to the Time Machine backup, or to the startup disk. To connect two Macs, both computers must be connected to the same network.

Then follow the steps in our in-depth tip on transferring your Mac data. For each method, we explain what you need to do to transfer all your Mac data safely.

Step 6. Sign out of iTunes, iCloud and iMessage (Intel)

Now that you can start using your new Mac, it is important to prepare your old Mac for sale. Simply erasing the disk is not enough. It is also wise to log out of the various services. For example, iTunes in macOS Mojave or earlier has limited permissions for devices on which you can play your content.

Here’s how to log out of iTunes in macOS Mojave and earlier:

1. Open iTunes and click Account > Permissions in the menu bar.
2. Now select Revoke authorization for this computer.

On all macOS versions, log out of iCloud. This prevents your old Mac from remaining visible in your account. To log out:

1. Go to System Settings > your name.
2. Scroll down and click on Log out.

Also important: log out of Apple’s other services such as iMessage and FaceTime. The same steps apply to both apps:

1. Open the Messages app and FaceTime app.
2. Now go to Messages/FaceTime > Settings in the menu bar.
3. In the Messages app, click Accounts/iMessage > Sign Out. With FaceTime, choose Settings > Log out.

Step 7. Reset NVRAM (Intel)

NVRAM stands for non-volatile random-access memory. That sounds complicated, but it is actually very simple. Some user settings are stored in the NVRAM, such as screen resolution, boot disk and speaker volume. Are you planning to sell your Apple Silicon Mac? Then it is not possible to reset the NVRAM. Your Mac will automatically run some tests at startup and will perform a reset if necessary.

If you are going to sell a Mac with an Intel chip, you can follow these steps:

Resetting your NVRAM (or PRAM on older models) is very easy:

1. Shut down your old Mac.
2. Turn it back on and immediately hold down these four keys at the same time: Option, Command, P and R.
3. Release the keys after 20 seconds.

Resetting NVRAM and PRAM can also help troubleshoot problems. You can read more about it in our tip.

Step 8. Disconnect Bluetooth Accessories (Intel)

It may sound crazy, but don’t forget to disconnect Bluetooth accessories like mice and keyboards. If you give your Mac to a family member, but you keep your own mouse and keyboard, it may happen that keys are accidentally pressed via your keyboard on the old Mac that you gave away. This step is optional, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Disconnecting Bluetooth accessories works as follows:

1. Go to System Settings > Bluetooth.
2. You will now see a list of linked accessories. With your cursor, right-click on an accessory and click Forget.

If you do this on an iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Pro or Mac mini, make sure you have a wired mouse and keyboard available to further operate your Mac.

Step 9. Erase Hard Drive and Reinstall macOS (Intel)

The last step is to wipe the hard drive and reinstall macOS. You do this as follows:

1. Enter recovery mode by restarting your Mac and then hold the key combination Command + R pressed.
2. Now choose the Disk Utility.
3. Select the drive and click Erase.
4. Now fill in the correct fields. For example, under Name you choose Macintosh HD, under Structure you choose macOS Extended (journaled) or APFS and under Layout you select GUID partition layout.
5. Now click on Erase.

Then close Disk Utility.

If you want to sell and erase your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with Touch ID, you can follow this optional step to remove the data from the Secure Enclave:

1. Start recovery mode. You do this by restarting your Mac and then pressing the key combination Command + R press and hold.
2. The macOS Utilities window appears. In the menu bar, click Utilities > Terminal.
3. Now enter this command: xartutil --erase-all. Tap enter, then type yes when prompted and press enter again. Then choose Terminal > Stop Terminal.

You will now be back in recovery mode, where you can reinstall macOS. In our tip about resetting your Mac to factory settings you will find a detailed guide on how to do this.

Step 10. Clean your Mac

The inside of your Mac is now ready for sale, but don’t forget the outside either. Gently clean the outside of your Mac with a damp, soft, lint-free cloth. Also remove any stickers and stuck-on items, such as protective film. You can also use a soft, lint-free cloth for the screen. You can moisten this slightly with a little water.

Don’t have a new Mac yet? In our articles Buy MacBook and Buy Mac you will find an overview of prices for the different MacBook models and Mac models.