How do I wipe my Mac OS X El Capitan?
Click on System Preferences in the menu bar at the top of your screen. Click on Erase All Content and Settings. Enter your password. You’ll be reminded to do a backup with Time Machine before you begin deletion – but you can skip that step.
How do I securely wipe my hard drive Mac?
How to Wipe a Mac With an M1 Chip
- Turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button until the startup options window comes up.
- When the Utilities window appears, select Disk Utility.
- In the sidebar, choose Macintosh HD.
- Click the “Erase” button, then select a file system format and enter a name for it.
How do I secure erase in Disk Utility?
Securely erase specific files with Eraser Just boot up the program, click the arrow next to the ‘Erase Schedule’ option at the top of the screen, and select New task. From there, a window pops up with the task and time-scheduling options. Click Add Data to select the files to wipe and choose an erasure method.
Is Mac Disk Utility erase secure?
Whether it’s a hard drive in an older Mac or an external hard drive, if it is accessible, you can use Disk Utility to securely erase it. Launch Disk Utility; it’s in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder. You’ll see your Mac’s startup drive, and any other drives connected to it.
How do I wipe my hard drive before recycling Mac?
Here’s how to do it.
- Shut down your Mac.
- Turn on your Mac and immediately press and Command and R.
- You may be prompted to select a user and log in with the password for that account.
- From here, you’ll be presented with a utilities window.
- Select Macintosh HD from the sidebar.
- Click Erase and input a new name and format.
How do I secure erase an external SSD Mac?
Erasing an External SSD
- Back up any data you want to preserve that’s on on the external Flash drive or SSD.
- Select it in the Finder, right-click, and select Encrypt…
- Write down the password.
- Launch Disk Utility, select the drive, then select the Erase option.
What happens if I erase Macintosh HD data?
If you removed the volume, then you have to install macOS from scratch. If the volume is still there, but erased, then you can restore it from a backup if you have one. Otherwise, you will have to install macOS from scratch.
What does Secure Erase do?
Secure drive erasure is the process of erasing all or part of a storage device so that the data it contained is difficult or impossible to recover. Standard methods of secure drive erasure do not work with solid-state drives (SSDs).
Will reinstall macOS erase data?
No. Reinstalling macOS does not have to wipe all other data that you have stored. It is often recommended to reinstall macOS on top of the current installation. It is done from the Recovery partition using the same Command-R reboot.
How to securely erase files on a Mac?
Use the secure erase options in Disk Utility for hard drives. Use the normal erase option for SSDs (with or without pre-seasoning with FileVault). For those who want to go the extra mile, a sledgehammer may be a handy tool. Tom has been an enthusiastic Mac user since the Mac Plus.
How to secure erase on Mac OS X Snow Leopard?
Note: OS X Snow Leopard and earlier also offered a 35-pass secure erase option that is quite excessive, and takes a very, very long time to perform. Make your selection, and click OK. Click the Erase button to start the secure erase. (Selecting a drive will erase all volumes and partitions that were created on the drive.)
How to Erase Disk in Disk Utility on a Mac?
When the Utility Menu appears: Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on Continue button. When Disk Utility loads select the volume (indented entry, usually Macintosh HD) from the Device list. Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility’s main window.
What happened to secure erase free space in Disk Utility?
Many Mac users running a modern version of OS X El Capitan have noticed the Secure Erase Free Space feature has gone missing from Disk Utility.