HT201065: What to do before selling or giving away your Mac

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Michael Paul

Q: Once I reformat and the setup assistant appears, will wireless keyboard and mouse be recognized?

I reformatted my iMac (to sell it) and now the wireless keyboard and mouse aren't recognized. Any way to get these back so the new user I sell it to can set it up without resorting to a wired keyboard and mouse?

Posted on Jun 7, 2015 11:35 AM

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Q: Once I reformat and the setup assistant appears, will wireless keyboard and mouse be recognized?

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  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Jun 7, 2015 11:45 AM in response to Michael Paul
    Level 9 (58,164 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jun 7, 2015 11:45 AM in response to Michael Paul

    Likely yes.

  • by Michael Paul,

    Michael Paul Michael Paul Jun 7, 2015 11:46 AM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 2 (465 points)
    Jun 7, 2015 11:46 AM in response to rkaufmann87

    OK, any thoughts as to how?

  • by Michael Paul,Solvedanswer

    Michael Paul Michael Paul Jun 7, 2015 12:23 PM in response to Michael Paul
    Level 2 (465 points)
    Jun 7, 2015 12:23 PM in response to Michael Paul

    Bottom line is this: I wanted to sell this mac in out-of-box state, meaning I did an Erase and Install. However, I did that with a wired keyboard attached, while my bluetooth keyboard (which was paired but not in use) sat in the box, powered off.

     

    For this reason, the iMac didn't recognize the wireless keyboard. For reasons unknown to me, it didn't recognize the wireless mouse I had, either, which I've been using since I got the machine.

     

    Long story short: had to use a wired keyboard and mouse to run through the initial setup screen, create a temporary user account, and manually pair the wireless keyboard and mouse to the machine. After that, I disconnected the wired keyboard and mouse, rebooted, held down the Command+R keys, and was able to do an Erase and Install once again, this time using the wireless keyboard and mouse.

     

    So the key is that before you perform an Erase and Install, make sure you're only using the wireless keyboard and mouse with no wired ones attached.