I followed the guidance on how to reset my MacBook Air 2017 to factory settings and it didn’t work. I have now got a question mark ? On the screen and it’s deleted the Mac OS software. I tried to follow the support about this on the Apple website but it doesn’t work and it won’t go off the question mark even after turning it off and on multiple times.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.7
Chloejoy6 wrote:
Yeah I am trying to sell it on as I have a new one. I am unable to follow step 6 as it stays on the question mark screen and doesn’t give me any other recovery/ reinstall options, even after turning it on and off again.
You need to boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R so you can reinstall macOS.
How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support
Just remember after reinstalling macOS.....when it boots for the first time into Setup Assistant that you want to stop at that point since you want to leave it to the new owner to actually go through the Setup Assistant process.
If you have a problem booting into Internet Recovery, then please let us know at point the problem occurs and the exact error message you get. If you get a large negative error number when attempting to boot into Internet Recovery Mode to access the online macOS installer, then it is usually a network error of some sort.
Chloejoy6 wrote:
Yeah I am trying to sell it on as I have a new one. I am unable to follow step 6 as it stays on the question mark screen and doesn’t give me any other recovery/ reinstall options, even after turning it on and off again.
You need to boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R so you can reinstall macOS.
How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support
Just remember after reinstalling macOS.....when it boots for the first time into Setup Assistant that you want to stop at that point since you want to leave it to the new owner to actually go through the Setup Assistant process.
If you have a problem booting into Internet Recovery, then please let us know at point the problem occurs and the exact error message you get. If you get a large negative error number when attempting to boot into Internet Recovery Mode to access the online macOS installer, then it is usually a network error of some sort.
I don't know what "guidance" you followed, but here's the actual process:
What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support
Are you reseting to factory settings to solve a problem or to give it to someone else? If the latter, then @KiltedTim has provided the necessary steps.
If you were having a problem with this laptop, then that problem you were trying to solve may be interfering with reinstalling macOS. You can start the process for reinstalling macOS on Step #6 in the link provided by @KiltedTim as it explains how to reinstall macOS.
Yeah I am trying to sell it on as I have a new one. I am unable to follow step 6 as it stays on the question mark screen and doesn’t give me any other recovery/ reinstall options, even after turning it on and off again.
Thank you, I can’t get it to go to the recovery screen, where I can reinstall the Mac disk.
Chloejoy6 wrote:
Thank you, I can’t get it to go to the recovery screen, where I can reinstall the Mac disk.
What happens when you try?
When I turn it on and off again it stays on the same screen showing the question mark. It won’t give me any other options to reinstall/recover.
Did you actually read the article I linked above?
It doesn't seem like it.
Why is my MacBook Air stuck on a question mark when trying to reset to factory settings?
