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Performing a factory reset on any of your tech devices is often recommended as a solution to many issues 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’ve opted to sell your MacBook Air to someone else, a factory reset will ensure that all of your private and personal information is deleted. Ensuring that another user can log in and begin using your former MacBook Air is also important to seller ratings, and it relieves the hassle of having to remove your information after the transaction is completed. 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 unboxed it for the first time. With macOS Mojave available, it’s the perfect time to get your computer back up to date. Mojave is chock full of new enhancements 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 Airs manufactured after mid-2012. If you’re unfamiliar with the process of performing a factory reset on your MacBook Air, follow the steps below to ensure that all of your information is backed up and the reset is done properly. Backing Up Your Data with Time MachineApple makes it really easy to backup your data on your MacBook Air. Time Machine and an external hard drive will allow you to backup all of your documents, applications, and other important information. If you don’t have a dedicated external hard drive, it’s a great time to pick one up. Apple offers the AirPort Time Capsule, built specifically for Time Machine backups. Alternatively, there are plenty of 1 and 2 terabyte drives on Amazon under $100, and if you’re looking for a recommendation, check out the Western Digital MyPassport drive or the Seagate Backup Plus drive, which are designed to work with macOS directly out of the box.
Once you’ve finished your backup, make sure to safely eject your drive from your MacBook Air before unplugging the drive. To properly eject your external hard drive: Open Finder and tap on the name of the device. Click on the Eject icon (an arrow with a line underneath). If your MacBook won’t allow you to perform this task, it’s likely the backup isn’t complete, or another application is still using your external hard drive. Factory Resetting Your MacBook AirOnce you’ve backed up your user data to either Time Machine or the backup application of your choice, it’s time to factory reset your MacBook Air. This process can help you solve most sorts of bugs and problems with your MacBook, including issues with slowdowns, and frozen applications. A reset will generally increase the speed of your machine back to what it was when you first got your machine in its original state. A factory reset’s also a necessary process if you’re looking to sell your MacBook Air in order to remove any and 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 redownload from inside the boot display on your Mac. Alternatively, you can also choose to download macOS Mojave from the Mac App Store on your device, creating a bootable USB drive from the download file. You can find instructions for that here. But for now, we’ll be looking at how to reset your MacBook Air from the boot screen on your device. Please note that this does require an active internet connection.
You’ll now see a display begin to erase your MacBook Air’s drive and data. When this process is complete, your disk is successfully wiped—but you aren’t done yet. Your computer no longer has an installed operating system on it, meaning no matter whether you’re selling your laptop or simply reformatting the drive to improve the speed or performance of your computer, you’ll still have to reinstall your operating system. Reinstalling macOS On Your MacBook Air
If you’re planning on selling 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 be shipped off ready for another user. This also prevents the purchaser from accessing any of your personal or private information. Restoring a Time Machine BackupWhen you’ve finished setting up your reformatted Mac, you’ll need to restore the files you saved onto your external hard drive using a Time Machine backup. Time Machine makes it easy to restore from any of the saved backups on your device, and this includes performing this action on newly-formatted computers. Here’s how to do it.
As you select the file or files, you can hit the restore button to restore them back to your device. To preview a file, select a specific file and tap on the spacebar key on your keyboard. Alternatively, if you want to restore everything from your Time Machine backup, you can use the same macOS recovery display we used earlier in this guide to format and reinstall macOS.
Errors When RestoringWhile this isn’t something you’ll want to do regularly, it is rather surprising how a simple reinstall can make your aging Mac feel brand new again. To keep your MacBook Air running smoothly, perform this reset every couple of years. If you run into any issues with restoral, contact Apple Support. Some users have reported a No Bag Entry error when trying to restore older software. If this happens, your MacBook Air is having trouble connecting to the App Store and therefore is unable to reinstall macOS. You’ll want to make sure that your MacBook Air is connected to a strong wifi source. Users have reported that public wifi will not allow your MacBook to perform the restoral. Factory ResetsWhether you’re looking to restore your device’s former functionality, trading in MacBook for a new one, or are selling an old laptop. You now know how to factory reset your MacBook Air. Share your thoughts and experiences on factory resetting MacBooks below.
Disclaimer: Some pages on this site may include an affiliate link. This does not effect our editorial in any way. Send To SomeoneMissing DeviceHow do I factory reset my MacBook Air 2022?Restart your Mac. Choose Apple menu > Shut Down, press and hold the power button until “Loading startup options” appears, select Options, click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions. In the Recovery app window, select Reinstall for your macOS release, click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions.
How do I completely reset my MacBook air?From the Apple menu in the corner of your screen, choose System Settings. Click General in the sidebar. Click Transfer or Reset on the right. Click Erase All Content and Settings.
How do I hard reset my MacBook Pro 2022?How to Force Restart Your Mac. Press and hold down the Command (⌘) and Control (Ctrl) keys along with the power button (or the Touch ID / Eject button, depending on the Mac model) until the screen goes blank and the machine restarts.
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