Apple today released macOS 12 Monterey, and whenever a new operating arrangement is released for the Mac, some users prefer to perform a clean installation. This article explains how to perform what is finer a make clean install of Monterey using a brand new option that's available on Apple silicon-powered Macs and Intel Macs with a T2 security chip.

Monterey Mac as External Monitor Feature
Clean installing macOS is often done to remove annoying quirks and foreign behaviors that a Mac may take inherited over time, and can also assist to reclaim disk space acquired past junk files left past tertiary-party apps. Nonetheless, even if neither of these issues have arisen for yous, sometimes it's just nice to start afresh for that "make new Mac" feeling and so migrate your apps, documents, and data, either manually, or by migrating from a Fourth dimension Machine backup.

Clean installing previous versions of macOS unremarkably involves creating a bootable copy of the macOS installer on a flash drive or USB stick and then reformatting your bulldoze before installing the bootable copy on your Mac, or using macOS Recovery to reinstall the Mac operating organisation over an internet connection. In Monterey, withal, a third pick has come into play on newer Macs that offers a very simple and straightforward way to erase your Mac without needing to reinstall the operating organisation.

Following in the footsteps of the iPhone and iPad, Apple silicon Macs and Intel Macs with a T2 security chip (2017-2020 models) at present take an "Erase All Content and Settings" option available in macOS Monterey. Considering storage is always encrypted on Mac systems with Apple silicon or the T2 scrap, the organisation is instantly and securely "erased" by destroying the encryption keys.

erase Mac
Non merely does this effectively erase all user data and user-installed apps from your Mac without reinstalling macOS, information technology besides signs out your Apple ID, removes your Affect ID fingerprints, purchases, and all Apple tree Wallet items, and turns off Find My and Activation Lock, making it far easier to restore your Mac to similar-new factory settings.

This ability means you can only download and install ‌macOS Monterey‌ over your electric current macOS version when prompted, and then select the new erase function in Monterey, which will erase your Mac and leave the core macOS system intact. After erasing the Mac, it will display the Setup Assistant and be ready to exist prepare upwards like new. You tin can then migrate your data manually or by using the Setup Banana's migration option. The following walkthrough breaks downwardly the steps involved.

  1. Before y'all do anything else, back up your data using Time Machine or your preferred backup method.
  2. In macOS, click the Apple () symbol in the menu bar and select System Preferences.
  3. Click Software Update in the preferences pane.
    macOS
  4. Allow Software Update to ping Apple tree's servers, then click Upgrade Now to download the Monterey installer when it appears. You can keep to use your Mac while the installer is being downloaded. Once the installer has downloaded, you'll receive a prompt. Click to install the new version of macOS and wait for the installation to complete.
    software update
  5. Once your Mac has restarted into Monterey, click the Apple tree () symbol in the menu bar and select System Preferences....
  6. When the preferences pane appears, select System Preferences -> Erase All Content and Settings from the menu bar.
    macOS
  7. Enter your admin password in the Erase Assistant dialog prompt and click OK.
  8. Annotation all the settings, data, media, and other items that will be removed. Click Continue if you lot're certain.
    erase Mac
  9. Click to sign out of your ‌Apple ID‌, and then click Erase All Content & Settings in the prompt to ostend.
    erase mac
  10. Allow the erase process to complete. Your Mac may restart more than than once during the process, later on which you lot may be prompted to actuate your Mac over Wi-Fi.
  11. Once finished, you lot'll see the "hello" message on your Mac's screen, indicating the Setup Banana is fix. Follow the onscreen instructions, and if desired, elect to drift your data from a Time Machine fill-in when the option appears.
    hello Mac

That's all there is to it. Even if you're not make clean installing Monterey today, the new option makes it far more convenient to restore your Mac to mill settings, whether yous simply want to kickoff afresh with your Mac in future or program to sell or gift it to another person.

Related Stories

AirDrop Not Working? Here'due south How to Fix It

Midweek December 22, 2022 three:06 pm PST by Tim Hardwick

AirDrop is a handy feature on Apple devices since it lets users discover nearby Macs and iOS devices and securely transfer files between them over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The only problem is that it doesn't ever work. If that sounds similar your current experience with AirDrop, this article offers some troubleshooting steps that may aid. AirDrop is designed to let you send and receive photos,...

How to Pause a Copying File and Resume It Later on Mac

Friday January 7, 2022 9:22 am PST past Tim Hardwick

In macOS, you can copy a file or binder to another location in Finder with ease. Simply right-click (or Ctrl-click) the item and select Copy from the shortcut bill of fare, then navigate to the location where you desire to re-create information technology, correct-click in the Finder window and select Paste Item from the shortcut menu. In macOS Monterey, a pie chart progress indicator side by side to the copying detail'southward proper name shows y'all...

How to Ready Universal Control Between Mac and iPad

Fri January 28, 2022 10:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick

As of iPadOS fifteen.iv and macOS Monterey 12.three, both currently in beta, Apple has introduced back up for Universal Control, the long-awaited feature that's designed to let multiple Macs and iPads to be controlled with a single mouse and keyboard. Thanks to Universal Command, you can use the same cursor and keyboard on any nearby Mac or ‌iPad‌ that'southward signed into your iCloud account. So, for ...

How to Use FaceTime's SharePlay Feature on Mac to Watch Movies and Tv set Shows Together

Monday November 8, 2022 11:08 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Note: The SharePlay feature in FaceTime requires macOS Monterey 12.one, which is only bachelor to beta testers at the time of writing. Expect Monterey 12.1 to be released to all users in late fall 2022. In macOS Monterey, FaceTime received some major enhancements on the Mac, including the ability for yous to share your screen with other people on a video call. Officially called SharePlay,...

How to Transfer Data From Your Old Mac to a New Mac

Friday Dec iii, 2022 4:41 pm PST by Tim Hardwick

When you desire to motion data from an old Mac to a new ane, the most reliable method is to use Apple tree's Migration Assistant. Found in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder, Migration Banana copies all of your files from your old Mac to your new Mac, so you don't take to transfer them manually. The first set of steps in this article assume that yous have both the onetime Mac and the new...

How to Blur Your Groundwork on a FaceTime Call on Mac

Thursday December sixteen, 2022 1:50 pm PST by Tim Hardwick

In macOS Monterey, Apple brought several enhancements to FaceTime on Mac, including new visual and sound furnishings to amend the video call experience. One of the new visual features is Portrait fashion in calls. With this mode enabled, you tin can blur your background so that the focus is on you rather than what'southward behind yous. The feature is commonly used by other video conferencing apps like...

How to Turn Your Quondam Mac into a Chromebook

Th February 17, 2022 3:17 pm PST by Tim Hardwick

If you have an aging Mac lying around that struggles to run the latest macOS and has stopped receiving security updates from Apple tree, it's possible to give it a secure second life by installing software that essentially turns it into a Chromebook. That's because Google has released an early on access version of Chrome Os Flex, which offers a fashion to replace the operating system on older PCs and...

How to Reduce Groundwork Dissonance in FaceTime on Mac

Thursday February 17, 2022 3:xviii pm PST by Tim Hardwick

In macOS Monterey, Apple tree has made its FaceTime video calling platform more appealing with several new features that aim to make information technology a feasible culling to rival video conferencing apps. One of the new sound features is Vocalism Isolation fashion for your microphone, which separates your voice from whatsoever distracting groundwork noise that might be on the call. The characteristic uses machine learning to...

Popular Stories

Apple tree Event Announced for March 8: 'Peek Performance'

Midweek March ii, 2022 9:03 am PST by Juli Clover

Apple today announced that it will exist holding its first event of 2022 on Tuesday, March 8 at 10:00 a.thou. Pacific Time at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Every bit with the 2022 events, Apple's first event of 2022 will go along to be a digital-merely gathering with no members of the media invited to...

Spring Apple Event Invites Could Be Sent Out Tomorrow

Update: Invites to Apple tree'south rumored bound effect were not sent out on March ane. Despite this, the launch of new devices is yet expected to occur very soon. With No Sign of Invites, When Could the Bound Apple Event Be? Invites for Apple'southward widely expected spring event could be sent out tomorrow if recent reports prove to be correct. In early on February, Bloomberg'south Marker Gurman...

Apple's Lightning Port is Nearing Its Expiration Date, So What's Next for the iPhone?

Monday February 28, 2022 7:12 am PST by Sami Fathi

When Phil Schiller introduced the Lightning connector at the unveiling of the iPhone 5 in September 2022, he called it "a mod connector for the next decade," and with that 10-yr marking coming up later this year, questions remain over what the future of the iPhone looks like and whether or non that future will include a Lightning port, or perhaps no port at all. Every iPhone since the...

Will Apple tree Proceed the Old iPhone SE Effectually at a Lower Cost?

Monday February 28, 2022 ane:thirty pm PST by Juli Clover

Apple is rumored to be introducing an upgraded version of the iPhone SE equally presently as March 8, the prospective date of the company's start event of 2022. The new iPhone SE is expected to exist priced at $399 and it will be replacing the current iPhone SE, just volition Apple tree keep the older model around and drib the price as it sometimes does when new iPhones come out? In his most contempo "Ability On"...

YouTuber Modifies M1 Mac Mini to Be 78% Smaller

A YouTuber has successfully fabricated the M1 Mac mini 78% smaller and added MagSafe in a unique DIY project, highlighting Apple'due south iterative approach to the current entry-level Mac mini alee of the expected launch of a redesigned loftier-end model. When Apple tree introduced the M1 Mac mini in Nov 2022, information technology retained the exact aforementioned unibody design that the company has used since 2022. Subsequent teardow...

Gurman: Apple Watch Series viii to Bring 'Major Updates to Activity Tracking'

Monday February 28, 2022 3:45 am PST by Tim Hardwick

This year's Apple Watch Series 8 will include major updates in the expanse of activeness tracking and a faster chip that volition power all of Apple's smartwatch models in a new-look lineup, according to well-connected Bloomberg journalist Marking Gurman. Apple is believed to exist bringing three new Apple tree Watch models to customers in 2022, including the Apple tree Lookout man Serial eight, an updated Apple Watch SE, and ...

Apple tree Halts All Sales From Online Shop in Russia [Updated]

Tuesday March 1, 2022 12:28 pm PST by Juli Clover

Apple today confirmed that it has stopped all product sales from its online website in Russia, which means customers in Russia can no longer purchase Macs, iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices. Attempting to make a purchase from the Russia shop results in a "delivery unavailable" result when trying to add a product to the online cart. Sales accept been halted post-obit a plea last week...

Samsung Milky way S22 Devices Prove More Breakable Than iPhone 13 in Drop Examination

Monday Feb 28, 2022 ten:32 am PST by Juli Clover

Samsung's Galaxy S22 devices announced to be more prone to damage when dropped than Apple tree's iPhone 13 models, according to drop tests conducted past Allstate Protection Plans. With major new smartphone releases, Allstate does the same set of drib tests to determine the degree of front, dorsum, and side damage when a device hits the footing, and the testing indicates the iPhone's blueprint is more durable. ...