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Error in Disk Utility - Unable to erase iMac for recycling

Tried to use disk utility to erase an old iMac running Yosemite. Followed the instructions in this Help article What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support. When I try to erase an additional drive that has the HD as a partition, I get an error: cannot unmount disk. There is no option available to unmount the disk before erasing so I'm stuck. I need to get rid of the computer but I'm afraid someone could still recover my data. What can I do? Can I physically remove a HD if I open it up??

Posted on Oct 19, 2023 8:01 PM

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Posted on Oct 20, 2023 6:32 AM

If it is a 2010 or earlier, startup from the original gray instal disc > go to Utilities > Disk Utility and Erase the internal drive.

If it is a 2011 or later, startup in macOS Recovery > go to Disk Utility and Erase the internal drive.

see > Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support

The other option, is to physically remove the internal hard drive before recycling.

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Oct 20, 2023 6:32 AM in response to AmyMal

If it is a 2010 or earlier, startup from the original gray instal disc > go to Utilities > Disk Utility and Erase the internal drive.

If it is a 2011 or later, startup in macOS Recovery > go to Disk Utility and Erase the internal drive.

see > Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support

The other option, is to physically remove the internal hard drive before recycling.

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Level 10

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Oct 19, 2023 9:09 PM in response to AmyMal

If you are having Apple recycle the computer your data is safe. The way I always look at it is if they compromise your data a trillion dollar company has a heck of lot more to lose than I do. Failing that, simply remove the HD yourself and destroy it.

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Error in Disk Utility - Unable to erase iMac for recycling

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