How do I erase a hard drive on an iMac

Question

How do I erase a hard drive on an iMac

I want to remove all information from the hard drive of my old 2014 iMac to give it to a friend. How do I erase the hard drive? Is there anything further that I can do to take anything out of the iMac to "clean" it besides erasing the hard drive? I don't want anything of my using it to remain in the computer. Will erasing the hard drive make it. usable by someone else?

and finally, "How do I erase the hard drive?

thanks!

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 21, 2021 8:29 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Jack-19

Level 8

46,008 points

Mar 21, 2021 12:07 PM in response to karlssongunvor

Hi there,

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

Make sure all your data you want to save is stored elsewhere.
Sign out of your Apple ID in System Preferences > Apple ID/iCloud > Sign Out
Shut down the Mac.
Turn on the Mac, and immediately press and hold Option + Command + R until you see a spinning globe.
Once you are in macOS Recovery, verify you are connected to WiFi in the top right corner.
Go to Disk Utility.
Select "View" in the toolbar > "Show All Devices".
Select your main hard drive. This will either be "APPLE SSD...", "APPLE HDD...", or "Fusion Drive".
Click Erase, and input the following exactly: (If you cannot select erase on the main hard drive, erase the "Container".)
Name: Macintosh HD
Format: APFS
Scheme: GUID Partition Map (if shown)
Click Erase
Quit Disk Utility
Go to the reinstall macOS app.
Follow the prompts, and install on Macintosh HD.