Related Article: Erase your Mac and reset it to factory settings

how do you factory reset if you cannot make any connection to the internet

My 2019 Macbook Pro 16" [16,1] has completely lost all internet connectivity. I am running macOS 13.5.2, and the wifi works. The LAN through wifi works and connects to smb server running on Linux and connected through my router. But, no internet connection I try works. All my other devices are connecting to the Internet through my router.


I have tried using my phone as a hot spot, connecting through an ethernet adapter, and wifi--all to no avail.


At this point all I want to do is to complete a full erase and reset to original factory settings, but I cannot do that because I cannot log out of Apple ID without connecting to the internet, even though I have deleted this machine from my Apple ID profile remotely using another macOS computer.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.7

Posted on Sep 15, 2023 12:11 PM

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1 reply

Sep 15, 2023 7:08 PM in response to shawnlouistickle

Try booting into Safe Mode to see if that allows you to access the Internet since Safe Mode will prevent third party software from launching automatically during boot & login.


If you have any anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, third party security software, or VPN software installed, then uninstall them by following the developer's instructions. These types of apps are the ones most likely to affect your ability to access the Internet. None of these types of apps are needed on a Mac, plus they usually cause more problems than they solve.


Also, disable or uninstall any browser extensions & plugins that you may be using. Many of them can cause issues as well.


You can also try creating a new macOS user account. Log out of your main user account, then log into the new user account. See if you can access the Internet now.


Did you (or someone else) possibly enable any macOS security features to limit the functionality of your macOS user account? Or maybe you have some customized network "locations" which may not work at your current location....the other macOS user account should get around that possibility since it should only have the default macOS network options.


You can also try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected. Since the Apple Diagnostics are online, this is another way of finding out whether the issue is with the hardware or macOS. You may want to perform a PRAM Reset (hold the PRAM Reset for two chimes if possible...not always possible with the 2019 model).


Here is an Apple article with instructions for reinstalling macOS:

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support


Before reinstalling macOS, make sure you have a good backup before you do anything else. There are so many new ways of permanently losing access to your data with the 2018+ Macs.

how do you factory reset if you cannot make any connection to the internet

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