What’s the safest way to sell a mac?

Hello reader, I am preparing to sell my old MacBook Air (unsure of what apple computer I'm going to buy) and I can still sell it for around $500 USD. I'm very anxious that if I sell it, my personal info will still be on it somehow, the iMac my dad handed down to me still has his credit card info pop up every once and a while although he wiped it clean. So what is the best way to know that it is 100% clean? Also I don’t know where to sell it besides amazon and I don’t want to do a trade-in. Can someone give me advice?

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.12

Posted on Apr 20, 2020 11:00 AM

Reply

Top-ranking reply

Level 10

111,240 points

Posted on Apr 20, 2020 11:07 AM

Follow the steps here to completely wipe the hard drive and disassociate from any iCloud accounts.

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support

Be sure to have a good backup, Time Machine or clone, so when you get the new Mac you can migrate the data to the new one.

I wouldn't worry about selling it on Amazon or really anywhere else.

View in context

Similar questions

3 replies

Top-ranking reply

Level 10

111,240 points

Apr 20, 2020 11:07 AM in response to AppleUser18019

Follow the steps here to completely wipe the hard drive and disassociate from any iCloud accounts.

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support

Be sure to have a good backup, Time Machine or clone, so when you get the new Mac you can migrate the data to the new one.

I wouldn't worry about selling it on Amazon or really anywhere else.

Reply

Level 10

104,853 points

Apr 20, 2020 11:06 AM in response to AppleUser18019

If you follow the steps listed in: What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support, all personal information will be removed from the computer.

I have been satisfied using Amazon for selling an older device.

Reply

Level 10

111,240 points

Apr 20, 2020 11:09 AM in response to AppleUser18019

AppleUser18019 wrote:

the iMac my dad handed down to me still has his credit card info pop up every once and a while although he wiped it clean.

He didn't wipe it clean if it "keeps popping up".

Reply

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

What’s the safest way to sell a mac?

Welcome to Apple Support Community

A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.

Learn more Sign up