5 Things you Must Do Before Selling Your MacBook

Selling your MacBook to get the latest one is the usual thing for people nowadays. Each newly released MacBook model is usually quite powerful and with good design for its time. But over time, your aging MacBook will struggle to run the latest apps and games. It no longer receives operating system updates and security patches from Apple, which may be risky when you regularly access your banking account with it. The degraded battery is also a major problem because it barely holds a charge for an extended workload when there’s no wall socket nearby. When you finally decide to ditch your trusty old MacBook for a new one, you need to wipe all the vital private information on it.

You should be concerned about how well the data removal technique is used because there are ways to recover deleted files. A little preparation will go a long way and you need to be sure that all your private data are well-secured. Here are things to do before selling your MacBook:

5 Things to do before Selling your MacBook

Backup files

If you want to prevent data loss when selling your old MacBook, you should create multiple backups of important files. When creating a backup, it is risky to use only a single media. It’s recommended to use at least two storage types, such as external HDD/SSD and Apple’s Time Machine feature. Time Machine does a marvelous job of backing up and restoring your data. But if something goes wrong, there’s always a local backup in your external HDD/SSD. 

Sign out of iTunes

Because iTunes syncs with multiple devices that use the same account, it is crucial to sign out of iTunes from your old MacBook. This means the new owner of your MacBook won’t be able to do purchases and access your iTunes content. In iTunes, go to Accounts > Authorizations > Deauthorize This Computer. Type in your Apple ID and password. 

Sign out of iCloud

iCloud is also a shared platform that syncs your contacts, documents, photos, and other personal files. If your MacBook is still logged in, anyone can access your important files. Open the Apple menu > System Preferences > Apple ID/iCloud > Sign Out. Your iCloud data will remain in Apple’s data center and they are still accessible through your other devices. You can log into iCloud with your brand-new MacBook.

Sign out of iMessage

It’s another service shared by Apple’s other devices that you own. After you sign out, the new owner of the MacBook can’t access your private conversations and any attached data. Go to Messages > Preferences and click Sign Out.

Wipe the hard drive/SSD and reinstall macOS

By signing out of iTunes, iCloud, and iMessage, you tell Apple’s system that these services are no longer associated with your old MacBook. The next step is to wipe any app and data from the hard drive or SSD in your MacBook. Restart your MacBook then quickly hold down Command + R for a few seconds when you hear the reboot tune. You will be brought to the macOS utility page and choose Disk Utility. Choose your primary storage drive and click Erase. Choose APFS in the Format field and click Erase again and wait while your HDD/SSD is being wiped. When completed, quit Disk Utilities to go back to the macOS utility page. Choose Reinstall macOS and when it’s completed, press Command + Q to shut down your MacBook. Start your MacBook to confirm the fresh installation.