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I'm trading in an older MacBook Pro, all info is deleted and reset but my name is still on the computer. It won't take my password as I've reset. Can I remove my name before sending in for the trade in program?
MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15
Here is what you should do when getting rid of an old Apple computer:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201065
Keep in mind that these instructions from Apple assume your Mac uses an SSD or you are using Filevault if the computer has a hard drive. If your computer uses a hard drive, then first enable Filevault and let it finish encrypting. After it finishes encrypting, then you can perform the clean install by first using Disk Utility in Internet Recover Mode (or USB installer) to erase the whole physical drive before installing macOS. When installing macOS 10.13+ you need to click "View" within Disk Utility and click "Show All Devices" so that the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. The physical drive should be the top most item which usually contains the model of the internal drive. If you are booting a macOS 10.6 to 10.10 installer, then you instead need to partition and format the drive using these instructions before installing macOS:
https://www.owcdigital.com/assets/support/support-formatting-and-migration/Mac_Formatting_6-10.pdf
The above instructions I provided will not require you to enter any passwords when erasing/partitioning the physical drive and they will destroy all personal data on the drive.
If you don't enable Filevault on a hard drive, then you will need to write zeroes to the hard drive in order to destroy all data on a hard drive (no need to do this if using an SSD). In theory you should be able to use the "Advanced Options" within Disk Utility to "secure erase" the hard drive which will write zeroes to the drive, but I'm not sure this option is still available using the Disk Utility GUI interface even if performing the action on a hard drive. It can be done using the Terminal app and the command line though. As you can see enabling Filevault on a hard drive is a much easier option.
You may want to create an option macOS USB installer using the instructions in this Apple article in order to give you more options in case you have trouble using Internet Recovery Mode:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
If you have a really old Mac which shipped with DVDs, then you may need to use the macOS installer DVDs.
Here is what you should do when getting rid of an old Apple computer:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201065
Keep in mind that these instructions from Apple assume your Mac uses an SSD or you are using Filevault if the computer has a hard drive. If your computer uses a hard drive, then first enable Filevault and let it finish encrypting. After it finishes encrypting, then you can perform the clean install by first using Disk Utility in Internet Recover Mode (or USB installer) to erase the whole physical drive before installing macOS. When installing macOS 10.13+ you need to click "View" within Disk Utility and click "Show All Devices" so that the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. The physical drive should be the top most item which usually contains the model of the internal drive. If you are booting a macOS 10.6 to 10.10 installer, then you instead need to partition and format the drive using these instructions before installing macOS:
https://www.owcdigital.com/assets/support/support-formatting-and-migration/Mac_Formatting_6-10.pdf
The above instructions I provided will not require you to enter any passwords when erasing/partitioning the physical drive and they will destroy all personal data on the drive.
If you don't enable Filevault on a hard drive, then you will need to write zeroes to the hard drive in order to destroy all data on a hard drive (no need to do this if using an SSD). In theory you should be able to use the "Advanced Options" within Disk Utility to "secure erase" the hard drive which will write zeroes to the drive, but I'm not sure this option is still available using the Disk Utility GUI interface even if performing the action on a hard drive. It can be done using the Terminal app and the command line though. As you can see enabling Filevault on a hard drive is a much easier option.
You may want to create an option macOS USB installer using the instructions in this Apple article in order to give you more options in case you have trouble using Internet Recovery Mode:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
If you have a really old Mac which shipped with DVDs, then you may need to use the macOS installer DVDs.
Can't remove my name from erased MacBook Pro
