When your Mac runs increasingly slow, you may want to reset your Mac to give it a fresh restart but keep the files on it. To factory reset your MacBook or iMac without losing data, you can first back up your Mac, then reset your Mac, and last recover your files from the backup. Each procedure is detailed below. Follow to see how to factory reset your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, etc. on macOS Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or earlier operating systems with ease now.
An all-in-one computer is a self-contained, all-inclusive computer in a small, streamlined, high-tech package, with all the circuitry built into its monitor or base. All-in-ones generally have a keyboard and a mouse, often a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse, and some models provide you with a touch-screen experience. A general-purpose utility with more tools than a Swiss Army knife, Onyx packages maintenance scripts, cache cleaning, and permissions repairers to keep your Mac in tip-top shape.
- HP Utility is printer management software that installs with the full feature Mac print driver package. With it, you can check current printer status, view remaining ink levels, check network settings, and more. This document contains answers to the most frequently asked questions about HP Utility.
- Well, you won't find any command or utility to do that on Mac. The point is that the Mac File System is designed differently than Microsoft's, and it defragments files automatically. However, there are still some situations when you may need to defrag Macbook once in a few years.
- As Apple has tweaked and improved its Mac operating system, the need for third-party utilities just shifted—it never went away. A lot of the fiddly missing stuff we used to need an app for is.
Applies To: MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro; iMac, iMac Pro
Are you looking for a reliable and complete guide to factory reset Mac computer without losing any data? If yes, follow this page and you will go through a safe guide to manually reset Mac to factory settings with ease:
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
---|---|
Part 1. Back Up Mac | Use backup software or Time Machine to back up important data on Mac in advance.Full steps |
Part 2. Reset Mac | Prepare Mac ready by signing out of apps that are used or licensed > Reset Mac computer.Full steps |
Part 3. Restore from Backup | After resetting the Mac computer, restore Mac backup with Time Machine or backup software.Full steps |
How to Factory Reset Mac Without Losing Data
Is your old Mac getting slower after installing the latest macOS Mojave? Have you ever thought about resetting your Mac such as MacBook Pro or iMac to the factory settings? Do you want to reset your Mac but keep the files on it? If your answer is 'Yes'. You are here at the right place for you will be presented the whole process of factory resetting your Mac without losing data. Follow to get things done.
Resetting Mac without losing data can be easily achieved by backing up the files on your Mac in advance and restoring the files after the resetting. To illustrate the process clearly:
Follow the guide below to reset your Mac to factory resettings without losing any data now.
Part 1: Back Up Your Mac to an External Storage Device
To avoid data loss due to factory resetting your Mac, you can make a backup of your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, or other Macs to an external hard drive with Time Machine or EaseUS file backup software for Mac.
Time Machine is the built-in backup feature of your Mac. With this utility, you can make a backup of all your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and system files to an external storage device. While the versatile file backup software - EaseUS Todo Backup provides you with more flexible backup solutions. There are some advantages of the third-party backup tool over Time Machine:
- Back up the files on your Mac to internal or external drives - Time Machine only supports the backup to external drives
- Selectively back up the content on your Mac - With Time Machine, you have to make a backup of all the supported content
- Save more space on the target device - You can compress the backup to free up space on your disk.
Based on these features, I recommend you choose EaseUS Todo Backup for Mac as your backup option, which is easier and more flexible. If you prefer Time Machine, jump to the corresponding guide here.
Option 1: Back Up the Mac with EaseUS Todo Backup
Step 1: Connect an external drive with enough space (larger than the files you'd like to back up) to your Mac, launch EaseUS Todo Backup. Click the plus icon in the bottom-left corner to add a new project. Enter the name of the project and click 'OK'.
Step 2: Set up the backup destination and other backup settings. After that, click 'OK'.
Step 3: Click 'File+' to choose the files you'd like to backup. Click the Start button to begin backing up the selected files on your Mac to another drive or an external storage device.
With simple three steps, you can back up your important files on your Mac elsewhere and eliminate your worries of losing the data while resetting your MacBook or iMac. Graphic converter mac catalina.
Option 2: Back Up the Mac with Time Machine
Step 1: Connect a usable external storage device to your Mac.
Step 2: A window will pop up asking you how to use the drive. Select 'Use as Backup Disk'. If the window doesn't appear, go to Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Time Machine. Click Select Backup Disk and choose your external drive. (If the external hard drive shows up as 'Read Only' on your Mac or isn't formatted as required by Time Machine, you will need to reformat the disk.)
Step 3: Then Time Machine will back up your Mac automatically. Generally speaking, the first backup will take a long time. if Time Machine is stuck on preparing backup, check the fixed from the linked page.
After choosing one of the methods above to back up your Mac, now you can start resetting your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, or other Macs.
Part 2: Reset the MacBook/iMac
Resetting a Mac is not a simple thing like resetting your iPhone. You need to make preparations and then perform the resetting.
Phase 1: Set Your Mac Ready for Factory Resetting
Before resetting and erasing your Mac, make sure to sign out of the apps that are used or licensed.
1. Deauthorize iTunes
Open iTunes on your Mac > Click 'Account' and choose 'Authorizations' > 'Deauthorize This Computer' > Enter your Apple ID and password, click 'Deauthorize'.
2. Turn off FileVault
Go to Apple menu, click 'System Preferences' > 'Security & Privacy', tick 'FileVault' > Click the lock icon and unlock it > Enter your Administrator account and password, Turn off FileVault.
3. Disable iCloud
Go to Apple menu, click 'System Preferences' > 'iCloud' > 'Sign Out' and confirm that you want to remove data from your Mac.
4. Sign out of iMessage
Open iMessage and click 'Messages' in the Menu bar > choose 'Preferences' from the drop-down menu > select your iMessage account and click 'Sign Out'.
5. Erase Touch Bar Data
Turn on or restart your Mac and hold 'Command + R' keys > 'Utilities' > 'Terminal' > Type: xartutil --erase-all and press 'Return' > Type: yes and press 'Return' again > 'Terminal' > 'Quit Terminal'.
Phase 2: Reset Your MacBook Pro/MacBook Air/iMac and More
Now, you can get to wiping and resetting your Mac.
Step 1: Reboot Mac in Recovery Mode
- Go to Apple menu in the top left corner of your Mac screen and click 'Restart'.
- As the system restart, hold 'Command and R' keys together to bring up the macOS Utilities window.
Step 2: Erase Mac hard drive
- Choose 'Disk Utility' and click 'Continue'.
- Select your startup disk which is usually named Macintosh HD and click 'Erase' from the buttons at the top of the Disk Utility window.
- Choose 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' from the menu and click 'Erase'.
Step 3: Reinstall macOS on your Mac computer
- Go to Disk Utility in the top left corner of your screen.
- Click 'Reinstall macOS'.
- Confirm that you want to reinstall macOS and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.
Now you've successfully reset your Mac to factory settings. You can restore files from the backup to your Mac and then continue using them again.
Part 3: Restore Files from the Backup
According to the backup scheme you choose in Part 1, carry out one of the methods below to get the files back to your Mac.
If you use EaseUS Todo Backup:
Step 1: Connect the external storage device that contains the backup to your Mac, then open EaseUS Todo Backup.
Step 2: Select the backup project you want to restore and click the 'Restore' button. (By default, the program selects the most recent backup in the menu. Make sure the correct backup is selected.)
Step 3: Select the files you want to restore from your external hard drive (use Cmd + Shift keys for bulk selection).
Step 4: Choose whether to restore to the original or to a custom folder.
Step 5: Click the 'Restore All' or 'Restore Selected' button to start the recovery process.
If you use Time Machine:
Step 1: Connect your Time Machine backup disk to your computer and turn on your Mac.
Step 2: Go to 'Finder' > 'Applications' > 'Utilities' > 'Migration Assistant' and click 'Continue'.
Step 3: In the Migration Assistant window, choose 'From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk' and click 'Continue'.
Step 4: Select your Time Machine backup and click 'Continue'.
Step 5: Choose the backup you made in Part 1 from the list of available backups.
Step 6: Select the category/categories to transfer and click 'Continue'. Then wait for the process to finish.
Here, you walk through a should-be-patented Troubleshooting Tree, as well as the macOS built-in troubleshooting application, Disk Utility. You also discover several keystrokes that can make your Mac jump through hoops.
The number-one rule: Reboot!
The simple fact is that rebooting your iMac can often solve many problems. If you're encountering these types of strange behavior with your iMac, a reboot might be all you need:
- Intermittent problems communicating over a network
- A garbled screen, strange colors, or screwed-up fonts
- The swirling Beach Ball of Doom that won't go away after several minutes
- An application that locks up
- An external device that seems to disappear or can't be opened
Always try a reboot before beginning to worry. Always.
If you're in the middle of a program, try to save all your open documents before you reboot. That might be impossible, but try to save what you can.
As your first (and best) option for shutting down, click the Apple menu and choose Shut Down. If you need to force a locked application (one that's not responding) to quit so that you can reboot, follow these steps to quash that locked application:
- Click the Apple menu, and choose Force Quit.
The dialog shown here appears. - Click the offending application and then click the Force Quit button.
When you get everything to quit, you should be able to click the Apple menu and choose Shut Down (not Restart) without a problem.
If your iMac simply won't shut down (or you can't get the offending application to quit), do what must be done: Mail pilot 3 0 (7213)b.
- Press and hold your iMac's Power button until it shuts itself off.
You have to wait about five seconds for your Mac to turn itself off.
If holding the Power button down on your iMac doesn't do the trick, press the Power button and the Left Option+Left Shift+Left Control keyboard shortcut at the same time; then release them all at the same time. (This method also resets some of your iMac's internal hardware settings, which is often A Good Thing.) - Wait about ten seconds.
- Press the Power button again to restart the computer.
After everything is back up, check whether the problem is still apparent. If you use your iMac for an hour or two and the problem doesn't reoccur, you likely fixed it!
Special keys that can come in handy
Several keys have special powers over your iMac. I'm not kidding! These keys affect how your computer starts up, and they can really come in handy while troubleshooting.
Using Safe mode
You can use Safe mode to force macOS to run a directory check of your boot drive and disable any login items that might be interfering with your system. Follow these steps:
- Choose the Shut Down menu item from the Apple menu to turn off your iMac.
- Press the Power button to restart the computer.
- Immediately after you hear the start-up tone, press and hold down the Shift key (and keep holding it down until you see the boot progress indicator).
- After macOS boots, you're in Safe mode, and you can check the operation of your iMac by using Disk Utility (or a commercial utility application).
- When you're ready to return to normal operation, restart your iMac again (this time, without pressing the Shift key).
Start-up keys
The table provides the lowdown on start-up keys. Hold down the indicated key either when you push the Power button or immediately after the screen goes blank during a restart. (The Shift key shortcut to Safe mode is the exception; you should press it and hold it down after you hear the start-up tone.)
Start-Up Keys and Their Tricks
Key | Effect on Your iMac |
C | Boots from the CD or DVD that's loaded in your optical drive (if you have one) |
Media Eject | Ejects the CD or DVD in your optical drive (if you have one) |
Option | Displays a system boot menu, allowing you to choose any bootable operating system on your iMac |
Shift | Boots in Safe mode |
T | Starts your iMac in Target Disk mode (using your Thunderbolt port) |
Command +V | Shows macOS Console messages |
Command +R | Boots from the macOS Recovery HD volume |
Command +S | Starts your iMac in Single User mode |
Command +Option+P+R | Resets Parameter RAM (PRAM) |
Some of the keys and combinations in the table might never be necessary for your machine, but an Apple technician might instruct you to use them.
All hail Disk Utility, the troubleshooter's friend
Mac All-in-one System Utility
The macOS Disk Utility is a handy tool for troubleshooting and repairing your iMac's drive — you can use it to check the format and health of both drives and volumes (and automatically correct any problems). You can find Disk Utility in the Utilities folder in Launchpad.
Fire up Disk Utility to open the rather powerful-looking window shown here.
Click the View drop-down list at the left corner of the window, and choose Show All Devices. In the left column of the Disk Utility window, you can now see:
Utilities On Mac
- The physical drives in your system (the actual hardware).
- The volumes (the data stored on the drives).
You can always tell a volume, because it's indented below the physical drive entry.
- Any CD or DVD loaded on your iMac.
- USB or Thunderbolt external drives.
The preceding figure shows that I have one internal drive (the ST3100 entry) and one USB 3.0 external drive (the TOSHIBA USB entry). The hard drive has three volumes (Wolfgang, Ludwig and Johann), and the external drive has one volume (Time Machine).
The information in the bottom section of the Disk Utility window is the specifications for the selected drive or volume. This info includes information like the capacity and available space.
Using Disk Utility to repair your hard drive carries a couple of caveats:
- You may not be able to immediately repair problems on your boot drive or boot volume. This limitation actually makes sense, because you're actually using that drive and volume right now.
Best Utility Software For Mac
If First Aid finds a problem on your boot drive but reports it can't fix that error, boot your iMac from the macOS Recovery HD volume. Reboot and then hold down the Command +R keyboard shortcut immediately after you hear the start-up chord. Then run Disk Utility from the window that appears. Because you've booted your iMac from the Recovery HD volume, you can repair those problems with your start-up drive. (You should be able to select your boot hard drive or volume and click the First Aid button.)
- You can't repair CDs and DVDs. CDs and DVDs are read-only media and thus can't be repaired (at least by Disk Utility).
Memorias de leticia valle 1979 mirar online. If your iMac is having trouble reading a CD or DVD, wipe the disc with a soft cloth to remove dust, oil, and fingerprints. Photoscissors 6 key. Should that fail, invest in a disc-cleaning contrivance of some sort.
To check and repair problems using First Aid, follow these steps:
- Click the Go menu and choose Utilities; then double-click the Disk Utility icon.
- In the list at the left side of the Disk Utility window, click the drive or volume you want to check.
- Click the First Aid button, and click the Run button that appears.
- Click Done to exit First Aid.
If changes were made (or if you had to boot from the macOS Recovery HD volume), Disk Utility may prompt you to reboot after repairs have been made.
The following figure illustrates the details you see if you click Show Details to expand the display. Although some of the messages might include cryptic Linux details, you can still tell from the figure that the operation is successful (and you get that snazzy green check mark). All is well!
iMac Troubleshooting Tree
As hip-hop artists say, 'All right, kick it.' And that's just what my iMac Troubleshooting Tree is here for. If rebooting your aluminum supercomputer didn't solve the problem, follow these steps in order until you either find the solution or run out of steps.
If you're not sure quite what's producing the error, this process is designed to be linear — followed in order — but if you already know that you're having a problem with one specific peripheral or one specific application, feel free to jump to the steps that concern only hardware or software.
Step 1: Investigate recent changes
The first step is a simple one that many novice iMac owners forget. Simply retrace your steps and consider what changes you made to your system recently. Here are the most common culprits:
- Did you just finish installing a new application? Try uninstalling it by removing the application directory and any support files it might have added to your system. (And keep your applications current with the most recent patches and updates from the developers' websites.)
- Did you just apply an update or patch to an application? Uninstall the application, and reinstall it without applying the patch. If your iMac suddenly works again, check the developer's website, or contact the application's technical support department to report the problem.
- Did you just update macOS? Updating Mojave can introduce problems in your applications that depend on specific routines and system files. Contact the developer of the application, and look for updated patches that bring your software in line with the latest Mojave updates.
- Did you just make a change in System Preferences? Return the options you changed to their original settings. (Consider searching the macOS Help system or the Apple support website for more clues.)
- Did you just connect (or reconnect) an external device? Try unplugging the device and then rebooting to see if the problem disappears. Remember that many peripherals need software drivers to run; without those drivers installed, they don't work correctly. Check the device's manual or visit the company's website to search for software you might need.
If you didn't make any significant changes to your system before you encountered the problem, proceed to the next step.
Step 2: Run Disk Utility
The next step is to run Disk Utility and use First Aid. The earlier section 'Repairing permissions and disks' shows how to complete this task on your macOS boot drive.
Step 3: Check your cables
Cables can work themselves loose, and sometimes they fail. Check all the cables to your external devices — make sure that they're snug — and verify that everything's plugged in and turned on. (Oh, and don't forget to check for crimps in your cables or even Fluffy's teeth marks.)
If a Thunderbolt or USB device acts up, swap cables around to find whether you have a bad one. A faulty cable can have you pulling your hair out in no time.
All In One Mac Computers
Step 4: Check your Trash
Check the contents of the Trash to see whether you recently deleted files or folders by accident. Click the Trash icon on the Dock to display the contents. If you deleted something by mistake, right-click the item in the Trash and choose Put Back from the contextual menu.
I know this one from personal experience. A slight miscalculation while selecting files to delete made an application freeze every time I launched it.
Step 5: Check your Internet and network connections
Now that always-on DSL and cable modem connections to the Internet are the norm, don't forget an obvious problem: Your iMac can't reach the Internet if your ISP is down or your network is no longer working!
When you're at home, a quick visual check of your DSL or cable modem usually indicates whether a connection problem exists between your modem and your ISP. My modem has a set of informative activity lights that I always glance at first. If your iMac is connected to the Internet through a larger home or office network, however, and you can't check the modem visually, you can check your Internet connection by pinging Apple.com, as follows:
- Click the Spotlight icon at the right side of the Finder menu bar, and type Network Utility in the search box.
- Click the Network Utility entry.
- Click the Ping button.
- Enterwww.apple.comin the Address box.
- Click Ping.
You should see successful ping messages. If you don't get a successful ping and you can still reach other computers on your network, your cable modem, DSL modem, or ISP is likely experiencing problems. If you can't reach your network at all, the problem lies in your network hardware or configuration. (In an office environment, your network system administrator will be happy to help you at this point, especially if you're blood relatives.)
Step 6: Think virus
If you've made it to this point, it's time to run a full virus scan. Make sure that your antivirus application has the latest updated data files. My antivirus application of choice is Avast Security for Mac from Avast Software. It's both excellent and free! Bluebeam revu for mac crack.
If a virus is detected, and your antivirus application can't remove it, try quarantining it instead. This basically disables the virus-ridden application and prevents it from infecting other files.
Step 7: Check your login items
macOS might encounter problems with applications you've marked as login items in System Preferences. Your account's login items are applications that run automatically every time you log in to your iMac. If one of these login items is to blame for your problems, your iMac will encounter some type of trouble every time you log in. (This is usually the case when you receive an application error message each time you start the computer.)
To check the boot process, it's time to use that fancy Safe Boot mode. Restart your iMac, and press and hold down the Shift key after you hear the start-up tone. Login items are disabled when you're running in Safe mode, so if your computer starts up without any errors, you know that one or more login items are probably to blame.
If your computer starts without problems in Safe mode, the next step is to check your login items. Restart your iMac and then follow this procedure for each item in the login list:
- Open System Preferences, click Users & Groups, and then click the Login Items button.
- Select the first item from the list, and remove it.
You can delete the selected item by clicking the Delete button, which bears a minus sign. (If a recurring error message mentions a specific application that appears in the Login Items list, that's your likely culprit, so start by deleting that item.) - Restart your iMac.
- If your iMac is still misbehaving, repeat Steps 2 and 3, and disable a new login item.
When your Mac starts up normally, you have discovered the perpetrator. - Delete that application, and reinstall it.
Don't forget to add back each of the working login items to the Login Items list using the Add button (which carries a plus sign)!
Step 8: Turn off your screen saver
The next step is to turn off your screen saver. This remedy is a long shot, but it isn't unheard of to discover that a faulty, bug-ridden screen saver has locked up your iMac. If you are running a screen saver other than one from Apple, and your computer never wakes up from Sleep mode or hangs while displaying the screen saver, you've found your prime suspect.
Reboot your iMac (if necessary), open System Preferences, click Desktop & Screen Saver, and click the Screen Saver button. Then do one of the following:
- Switch to an Apple screen saver.
- Click the Start After pop-up menu and choose Never.
Step 9: Run System Information
Ouch. You've reached the final step, and you still haven't uncovered the culprit. At this point, you've narrowed the possibilities to a serious problem, such as bad hardware or corrupted files in your macOS System folder. Fortunately, macOS includes the System Information utility, which displays real-time information on the hardware in your system. To start System Information, follow these steps:
- Choose About This Mac from the Apple menu.
- Click the System Report button.
- Click each of the Hardware categories in turn, double-checking to make sure everything looks okay.
You don't have to understand all the technical hieroglyphics. If a Hardware category doesn't return what you expect or displays an error message, though, that's suspicious. (If your iMac doesn't have a specific type of hardware onboard — such as an optical drive — you won't see information in that category.)
The Diagnostics category shows whether your iMac passed the Power On self-test.