Safely dispose of Mac

All kinds of personal data and files can be found on a computer. If you dispose of a computer without additional measures, that data will be easily accessible to the new user. It is not wise to reveal everything about yourself in that way. When you dispose of the computer, you must therefore ensure that personal data and files are no longer on the computer. This article describes what you can do about it. For example, make sure that accounts are no longer linked to the various programs.

We will completely empty the Mac so that there are no more documents on the computer. But of course you want to keep these files yourself. We therefore assume that you have backed up mail, photos and other information that you want to keep and transfer to a new computer. Haven’t you done that yet? Read more about this in the article ‘Backing up: the possibilities’.

A Mac with the operating system macOS 10.14 Mojave or earlier had iTunes. When you authorize a computer in the iTunes program, the device gains access to your music, books, and apps, among other things. It is therefore important to revoke authorization before disposing of the Mac. The steps in this article are written for a Mac with macOS 10.14 Mojave or later.

• In the Dock, click iTunes. If the program is not listed here, open it via finder > Programs > iTunes.
• Click on the menu at the top Account.
• Move the mouse pointer to Permissions > Deauthorize this computer.
• Enter your Apple ID password.
• click on Withdraw authorization.
• A confirmation of the withdrawal will appear. click on OK.

An iCloud account can be linked to a Mac to access data from various Apple services, such as iCloud Drive, Photos and Notes. Log out as follows:

• Click the Apple logo in the top left > System Preferences.
• click on Apple ID (macOS 10.15 Catalina) or iCloud (macOS 10.14 Mojave).
• If necessary, click in the left column on Overview.
• Click at the bottom of the window Log out. Don’t see this? Then you are probably not logged in and you don’t have to do anything.
• You will be asked if you want to keep a copy of the iCloud data. Of course you want that. click on Keep a copy.
• Now, depending on your settings, there are two more possible questions.
  • You may be asked if you want to save the Safari passwords. click on Remove from Mac.
  • If Find My Mac is turned on, you’ll need to enter the password for the Mac’s account. Then click Continue or Turn off.

The copy is made. That may take some time. You are then logged out and the option to log in appears on the screen.

The Messages program receives text messages that are sent via iMessage. Log out as follows:

• In the Dock, click finder > apps (macOS 10.15 Catalina) or Programs (macOS 10.14 Mojave).
• Double click on Messages.
• Click on the menu at the top Messages.
• click on Preferences.
• Click on the tab iMessage.
• Click behind the Apple ID on Log out.
• Click again to confirm Log out.

To make sure that you are not logged in to any service, perform an extra check.

• Go to appleid.apple.com
• Type your Apple ID and press the Enter key.
• Type the corresponding password and press the Enter key.
• Do you use two-step verification? Then click/tap on the paired Apple device Allow and copy the number code on the website.
• See if the Mac is listed behind ‘Devices’.
  
• Is that the case? Click the computer icon and click Remove from account.
• click on Delete this xxx. Where xxx stands for the type of device you want to remove, for example ‘iMac’.

Now you know for sure that your account is no longer linked.

After logging out of the above services, it’s time to wipe the Mac and reinstall the macOS operating system.

• Click the Apple logo in the top left menu.
• click on Restart > Restart.
• While the computer is shutting down, hold down the Cmd key and the letter R at the same time until the Apple logo appears.
• If necessary, first click the user and then Next one.
• Enter the corresponding password and click Continue.
• click on Disk Utility > Continue.
• In the left pane of the Disk Utility, click the disk name. This name probably starts with ‘Macintosh HD’.
• Click on at the top Erase.
  • If necessary, click in the field behind ‘Name’ and type a name for the disk, for example ‘Macintosh HD’.
  • Click on the drop-down menu behind ‘Structure’ and click on Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
  • If visible, click on the drop-down menu behind ‘Layout’ and click GUID Partition Layout.
• Click at the bottom of the window Erase.
• click on Ready and click on the cross.
• Once the drive has been erased, you will be returned to the utilities window. This is where you reinstall macOS. click on Reinstall macOS > Continue.
• Follow the instructions. click on Continue.
• click on Agree > Agree.
• Click the startup disk (Macintosh HD) and Continue.
• click on Install.
• Once the macOS installation is complete, restart your computer and open Setup Assistant to reset your computer. However, we will leave this to the next owner. Press the Cmd key and the letter Q.
• click on Turn off.

The computer turns off and the new user of the computer can then completely reset it themselves.