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halon52 Author

Level 1

12 points

reset MacBook air M1 to factory settings

We were just setting up our new MacBook Air with the M1 chip, and after all said and done, decided we wanted to have it on its own Apple ID, username, etc. We would like to reset it back to the way it was when we took it out of the box before any of that was entered. We would like to start the process all over. Does anyone know how to do that?

MacBook

Posted on Nov 25, 2020 6:33 PM

Top-ranking reply

Crynay

Level 3

649 points

Posted on Dec 5, 2020 8:17 AM

There's a few ways to reset your M1 MacBook, but it's more complicated than a standard erase/restore - if you've already "bricked" your MacBook skip to the first section.

Create a bootable macOS installer to a USB drive which avoids the current bug where it crashes mid-reinstall.
Follow the instructions here starting with "Prepare Your Mac" carefully. Remember to repeat this section twice before re-installing macOS. This properly erases the drive for reinstall.
Boot from the installer you made in #1 and reinstall Big Sur. Do NOT erase the drive using Disk Utility since it's already erased.

If you did try the old way of booting to recovery / erasing drive, you'll get errors trying to reinstall and it won't go any further.

In that case, get another Mac - doesn't matter if it's an older Mac (2012 Pro/Air/Mini) as long as it can run Catalina and Configurator 2. Then follow the instructions here which brought my M1 back to life. Some hints:

Get a USB cable and connect both Mac's together - so USB-C/USB-C if it's newer or USB-A/USB-C for older. On the M1, plug into the BACK LEFT port
Download Configurator 2 in the App Store on the other Mac and open it
Enter DFU mode on the M1 (hold Left-Ctrl + Left-Option + Right SHIFT + Power button) until it pops up in Configurator 2. If Configurator 2 can't see it, that means you didn't hold all keys down correctly or long enough. This took me awhile to figure out but the easiest way is to hold all 3 keys on the keyboard first then power button last. Hold until Configurator sees it - about 15-20 seconds
In Configurator, right-click on it
In the menu, click Advanced then Restore. This will erase everything! You can also try Revive which tries to keep the data but this did not work for me
It takes about 20-30 minutes to download Big Sur and send it to the M1. After 20-30 min you'll see the factory setup screen.

In hindsight, it would have been easiest to just use Configurator. Nothing to do except connect 2 Mac's together and let one reset the other.

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reset MacBook air M1 to factory settings

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