How do I erase my hard drive completely...It's a 2008 or 2009 MacBook that I'm wanting to recycle. When I go into disc utility and select the drive it doesn't allow me to change the drive to be formatted. It only gives me the option to do something with the free space.
Help! :/
If the macbook wasn't upgraded with later OS installer to allow online Recovery ~ you
may need to find & try to use original system install DVDs. Does macOS Recovery start?
• How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904
Learn more about when and how to erase.
There usually were grey-label official install restore discs included with Macs.
& were expressly intended for hardware-match to that build year version.
Some of those models were offered firmware update with specific online upgrades.
If the macbook wasn't upgraded with later OS installer to allow online Recovery ~ you
may need to find & try to use original system install DVDs. Does macOS Recovery start?
• How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904
Learn more about when and how to erase.
There usually were grey-label official install restore discs included with Macs.
& were expressly intended for hardware-match to that build year version.
Some of those models were offered firmware update with specific online upgrades.
Try booting into Recovery Mode using Command + R. Then erase the drive before reinstalling macOS.
If your laptop can run macOS 10.11 El Capitan, then I highly recommend you create a bootable macOS USB installer using these instructions since many people have issues with recovery mode downloading the installer for various reasons:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
Old MacBook needing erasing
