There comes a time in everyone’s life when they outgrow an old MacBook or similar device. Maybe you need more disk space, maybe you just have some funds spare and you need an upgrade, or maybe you’ve been gifted with a better, newer model. Whatever your reasons for parting with your older MacBook, there are some things you should do to get it ready for its new owner and also to protect your own information and privacy.
It’s not as difficult as you might think, although if you’re nervous about doing it right, you can always take it along for a service. There are many places that do MacBook repair in Miami and other big cities so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding one. Most of the processes are easy enough, however.
If you’re migrating to a new Mac, you need to move your files
You should migrate your files over before you erase all your data on your old Mac. Make this the first thing you do so that you don’t lose anything.
Make a back-up
Make sure you have an up-to-date back-up of all your important data and files – clone your hard drive if necessary, as most of us accumulate a lot of folders and files over the years.
Sign out of iTunes
You need to do this so you can sign into it again on your new machine and so the person getting your older one doesn’t use your account.
Open iTunes and look at the menu bar at the top of the window. Select Account, then Authorizations, then Deauthorize This Computer. You’ll be asked for your Apple ID and password, so enter them and hit Deauthorize.
Sign out of iCloud
If you’ve been using the iCloud functions on your MacBook, then you need to archive or make new copies of all your iCloud files and data.
Once you’ve done that, you should go into Apple Menu, then System Preferences; hit iCloud then deselect the Find My Mac tickbox.
Then, sign out of iCloud by finding iCloud in System preferences and checking the Sign Out tickbox.
When you are signing out of iCloud, it’ll ask you if you want to remove all your iCloud data from the Mac. This data will stay on any other devices that you use that have the same Apple ID.
Sign out of iMessage
You’ll need to sign out of iMessage if you’re using Mountain Lion or a later version.
Go into the Messages app, go into Preferences, then Accounts, choose your iMessage account and hit Sign Out.
Erase and re-install your macOS
If you want to reformat the hard drive and re-install macOS, it’s quite easy.
After you’ve reformatted the hard drive and re-installed macOS, your machine will restart with a Welcome screen and it’ll ask you to select your country or region. If you want to hand your Mac over in a just-out-of-box state, then don’t follow the set-up procedure, just hit Command-Q to shut it down. This means that when the new owner comes to turn on the MacBook, the Setup Assistant will help them to do it according to their wishes.
