How To Restore A Laptop To Its Factory Settings

Ane side effect of spending more time at home during the pandemic is the realization that I accept a lot of onetime tech lying around. A lot. Then, when I made a KonMari attempt at decluttering said tech, I unearthed several things I forgot I had -- including an old laptop I stopped using years ago because information technology was too slow for my high-cease calculating needs.

While this laptop no longer sparked joy for me, it turned out to exist a perfect fit for my mom. It just needed to be cleaned upward first, and I'm not just talking well-nigh removing dust and mystery goo with a few swipes of a disinfectant wipe, though you'll want to exercise that, too. The type of cleaning I'm talking about is restoring the laptop to like-new condition inside and out. Cleaning the outside is the easy part. Wiping the estimator of all your apps, files, folders and other personal information isn't necessarily equally straightforward. Of course, how much data scrubbing you demand to do will likely depend on the recipient.

The big picture steps you take to refresh a laptop are the same regardless of whether it's a Windows laptop. Apple MacBook or Chromebook -- save your old data, remove all personal data, then go for a factory reset. It's the actual pace-by-step procedure that differs depending on the blazon of laptop you're dealing with. Below, you'll find everything you need to know and do earlier giving your laptop a second life. And with supply chain problems, shipping problems and chip shortages making new devices harder to get, passing along a new-to-yous laptop can exist a welcome holiday souvenir.

Last affair first

I typically save the laptop'south physical cleaning until last (why clean your fingerprints off twice?), only yous may desire to outset there -- particularly if it's been gathering dust in the back of a closet/under a bed/in the garage for the by several years. The basic equipment required for a good laptop cleaning is a can of compressed air and some disinfectant or alcohol wipes. For a slightly deeper clean, yous may also desire to grab a screwdriver and remove the bottom cover of your laptop (if possible) and so you can advisedly blow out whatever dust that'southward accumulated on the fans and vents.

Afterwards the laptop is clean, you can as well wipe downwards the power adapter and any related accessories. It'due south likewise a good thought to ensure the power adapter is still in good, working condition. If you're still not quite sure where to starting time with the cleaning, cheque out ourconsummate guide to getting your laptop looking its all-time.

Gifting a used MacBook

macbook-air-2018-analisis-3 — Óscar Gutiérrez/CNET

Before you even call back about doing a factory reset on your MacBook, y'all need to salve any information you want to keep. You may have already done this at some point if yous migrated data from this onetime MacBook to a new one using using Apple's Migration Assistant. If that's not the case, information technology'due south time to hook upwardly an external drive and utilize MacOS' built-in Time Machine tool to create a backup. If you have an iCloud account, you can back up your data in that location equally well.

Sign out of everything

You'll also want to log out of all accounts before wiping your MacBook'south drive. Kickoff with iCloud, Find My Mac and iMessage. Then look for individual software accounts yous may need to deregister. If yous employ a browser other than Safari, such as Chrome or Firefox, you should sign out of those equally well. Basically, if it's got personal business relationship data, yous'll desire to sign out. (Here'due south how to find business relationship settings in MacOS.)

2 other things you should exercise before a mill reset: Unpair any Bluetooth devices -- peculiarly if the MacBook is beingness gifted to someone in your household -- and reset the NVRAM. The latter is retentiveness that holds onto settings that the MacBook needs before loading MacOS. On startup, printing and concordOption-Command-P-R to reset the NVRAM.

Perform a mill reset

If you've done everything above, you're ready to return your MacBook to its out-of-the-box country. On an Intel-based Mac, reboot the organisation and press and concord Command-R to enter Recovery Mode. (Accessing Recovery Style on new MacBooks running on the visitor'south M1 chips is dissimilar, however.)

Read more:Before selling your MacBook, you demand to factory reset information technology

In one case in Recovery Mode, you lot'll come across a window of MacOS utilities. Use the Disk Utility to erase your drive. When that's consummate, you'll be able to reinstall MacOS. After information technology's done reinstalling, you'll accomplish the Setup Assistant. From there you tin stop and shut it downward or prepare it up for the recipient.

Gifting a used Windows laptop

As with gifting a MacBook, start by backing upwards any important folders and files on your old laptop to cloud storage or an external drive. If you're doing the latter, go to Settings > Update & Security > Fill-in > Add together a drive and select the external bulldoze. Then click on Backup Now.

Sign out of all your apps

A lot of paid software requires yous to sign in with an account, a product key or both. Before you wipe your laptop's storage, sign out of any accounts and deregister software licenses (if possible). If y'all need those product keys to re-register software on a new laptop, exist sure to save that information. If you lot use a browser other than Edge, such as Chrome or Firefox, sign out of those too. Basically, if it'southward got personal account information, sign out.

Reset the laptop

Set to clean the drive and reinstall Windows? Go toStart > Settings > Update and security > Recovery. At the pinnacle of the window, y'all'll meet Reset this PC. Click on Get Started and select Remove Everything from the box that appears. From at that place, you lot can select to reinstall Windows from the local drive or download from the deject. After that, Windows cleans the bulldoze of all software, settings and data. When it'southward done, the laptop volition first in its setup banana mode. You can then stop and shut it downward for a fresh-out-of-the-box experience or do some setup, which is nice touch, specially if it's going to a family unit member so they tin can utilise it right abroad.

Unlink from your Microsoft account

If yous used a Microsoft business relationship to sign in to the laptop, the last thing you'll want to practice is remove the laptop from that account. Sign in to your account from another computer and click on the Devices tab at the meridian of the page. Find the laptop that yous're gifting on the list of devices, and at the lesser of the listing, you'll run into the option to remove the device. Click it and you're done.

Gifting a used Chromebook

Chromebooks are the easiest to refresh for gifting. That'south mainly because of their cloud-based blueprint. Google also makes information technology extremely easy to wipe your information and securely clean the internal storage as well every bit remove the Chromebook from your Google business relationship.

Check the AUE offset

Before y'all even consider gifting an sometime Chromebook, bank check its auto-update expiration. Google only guarantees Chrome Bone and browser feature support on non-Google hardware for so long. Every device has a date on which it stops receiving updates, aka its AUE date. Current models receive updates for 8 years; older models could potentially be a year or ii away from reaching their AUE.

Google maintains an AUE listing, and so finding the date your Chromebook volition cease receiving updates is equally piece of cake as locating your model on that list. The AUE can as well be found in your Chromebook'due south settings. Hither's how to notice the AUE from Google and in your Chromebook.

Give it a Powerwash

Powerwash is Google's built-in manufactory reset tool for Chromebooks. Once you lot've backed upwards folders or files stored on the Chromebook's internal bulldoze, running Powerwash will securely scrub the system and reboot. When information technology restarts, it'll be just similar the 24-hour interval you unboxed it.

The bodily Powerwash typically takes less than a minute to complete. A simple search for "powerwash" in your Chromebook'south settings will bring you right to the feature, simply here'southward everything you need to know most the procedure.

Remove the Chromebook from your Google business relationship

Although you've removed your account from the Chromebook, you oasis't removed the Chromebook from your account. Kickoff by signing into your Google business relationship and head to the Security settings. If you employ the Chrome browser, you tin can also click on your account avatar and select Manage your Google Business relationship from the drop-downwardly card.

Once you're in the Security section, scroll downward until y'all see a box labeled Your devices, which lists all the devices attached to your account. At the bottom of the box, click on Manage devices and find the Chromebook y'all're gifting and select Sign Out.

Requite the Chromebook a good external cleaning, gather up any accessories and information technology's ready to manus off to your giftee.

Read more: How to regift a game console