Unable to Reset MacBook Air

I am trying to 'factory reset' my mid-2013 11" MacBook Air ... and the first time, I was able to use Command-R at restart and had the recovery options menu come up. I incorrectly clicked on 'Reinstall MacOS', which actually went great - but there was never a confirmation so I couldn't cancel to do what I wanted - which was erase and reinstall.

I figured I would just have to repeat the process - but once the install was done, I have been unable to get the system to respond to keys on restart. I mean, ANY keys - not just the Command-R thing, but the Option key, Command-Option-R, Command-Option-Shift-R ... and even the zapping PRAM Command-Option-P-R thing. I have tried restarting, shutting down and restarting - even shutting down, waiting a while and then restarting. All to no avail.

I have checked my updates and the Mac is on High Sierra 10.13.6, all of the keys by themselves work fine when I am running inside MacOS ... just no options at restart.

Any thoughts?

MacBook Air, macOS High Sierra (10.13.6)

Posted on Aug 18, 2018 2:09 PM

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19 replies

dialabrain

Level 10

136,199 points

Aug 18, 2018 3:15 PM in response to Kappy

LOL. Personally I'd rather die happy without insulin. I think we've lost track of the thread. 😎

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Aug 18, 2018 3:20 PM in response to dialabrain

Whenever that happens a moderator deletes it all then sends me a warning email.

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Aug 18, 2018 2:30 PM in response to txa1265

This is an Erase and Install. Is this what you need?

Internet/Network Recovery of El Capitan or Later on a Clean Disk

Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the (Command-Option-Shift-R) keys until a globe appears.
The Utility Menu will appear in from 5-20 minutes. Be patient.
Select Disk Utility and click on the Continue button.
When Disk Utility loads select the drive (usually, the out-dented entry) from the side list.
Click on the Erase tab in Disk Utility's main window. A panel will drop down.
Set the partition scheme to GUID.
Set the Format type to APFS (SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
Click on the Apply button, then click on the Done button when it activates.
Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.

Note:

1. To install the version of OS X that was currently installed use Command-Option-R.

2. To install the original factory version when the computer was new use Command-Option-Shift-R.

txa1265 Author

Level 1

7 points

Aug 19, 2018 7:27 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks for the help - I am going to see if I still have a spare wired keyboard at work to grab to try this out. Sadly I am 2 hours from nearest Apple Store, have found remote service to be ... mediocre, and will honestly have to evaluate what to do if this doesn't work - because I was prepping it for a trade-in. Frustrating to have seen the screen I need and now be unable to get to it again.

(sorry for delay, college move-in day for younger son - more casual now he's a junior ... also sorry for both of you dealing with diabetes)

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Unable to Reset MacBook Air