I'm trying to erase all my data before sending my old computer in for a buyback.
All the instructions tell me to hold down command-R during restart. This doesn't do anything... the computer just starts up as normal.
Is there any other way to accomplish this? When I go to Disk Utility, "erase" is grayed out.
iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), macOS Sierra (10.12.6)
Yes, if your Mac boots from the hard disk as normal and you launch Disk Utility from there, it won't let you erase the disk because that's what it's running from. That makes sense. When booted into Recovery, the machine is running from a separate partition, which allows the disk to be erased.
Technically, you're supposed to hold ⌘-R immediately after pressing the power button. Try that after shutting the computer down normally, rather than restarting. Here's the official word on macOS Recovery: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201314
Do you have a USB keyboard? There's a chance your Bluetooth keyboard isn't connecting to the computer in time to interrupt the boot process. Using a USB keyboard could circumvent that problem.
Yes, if your Mac boots from the hard disk as normal and you launch Disk Utility from there, it won't let you erase the disk because that's what it's running from. That makes sense. When booted into Recovery, the machine is running from a separate partition, which allows the disk to be erased.
Technically, you're supposed to hold ⌘-R immediately after pressing the power button. Try that after shutting the computer down normally, rather than restarting. Here's the official word on macOS Recovery: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201314
Do you have a USB keyboard? There's a chance your Bluetooth keyboard isn't connecting to the computer in time to interrupt the boot process. Using a USB keyboard could circumvent that problem.
Upon restarting keep holding the Command R keys down until you see the "macOS Utilities" screen or a spinning world globe. You might have to hold these keys down for several minutes.
Thank you so much! This worked! With the wired keyboard and making sure to hold down the keys immediately when I turned it on, the recovery menu eventually showed up.
Thank you for letting me know it could take longer than expected!
Command-R not working
