Question :

I’ve just got myself a new Mac and transfered all data to it. Now I want to donate the old Mac (a MacBook Pro) to my children, but I would prefer to take my own documents off before I do so…

Isn’t there an easier way to do this than reinstalling macOS ?

Answer :

If you would sell the old Mac or give it to someone you do not trust completely, wiping the harddrive (or SSD) completely and reinstalling macOS would be the best way to go.

If you are giving the old Mac to someone you completely trust (like your partner, parent or child) you can wipe your old data and documents far quicker. Do this :

• open System Preferences (to do so, goto Apple-icon top-left onscreen, and choose System Preferences from the pulldown menu)
• in the window that opens, select “Users & Groups”
• in the next window, click on the padlock (bottom left)
• typ your computer-password when asked
• now the padlock will open and the +sign (plus-icon) just above it will turn black (it was greyed out, just below “Login Options”)
• in the drop-down panel that appears, choose “Administrator” at “New Account:”
• then fill out the Full Name, the Account Name, a Password and a Password hint for the person that is going to be the next ‘owner’ of that Mac
• then, click the “Create User”-button
• then, check in the Users-list on the left if the user you’ve just created is listed at “Other Users”
• if you’re sure the new user is properly created, log out the current user (to do so, goto Apple-icon top-left onscreen, and choose “Log Out [username]” from the pulldown menu
• in the window that appears, click the “Log Out”-botton
• wait for your Mac to return to the login-screen, then login as the new user you have previously created
• wait for the macOS-desktop to appear, then open System Preferences (to do so, goto Apple-icon top-left onscreen, and choose System Preferences form the pulldown menu)
• in the window that opens, select “Users & Groups”
• in the next window, click on the padlock (bottom left)
• typ the new user’s computer-password when asked
• now the padlock will open and the +sign (plus-icon) just above it will turn black (it was greyed out, just below “Login Options”)
• then select your (old) username from the list on the left (listed under “Other Users”)
• then click the -sign (minus-icon)
• in the window that appears, choose “Delete the Home folder” and click the OK-button
• Then wait for the deletion to complete

That’s it – you now have deleted all your personal files from your old Mac.

Note : all applications that you had installed when the Mac was yours, will still be available in the Applications folder, if you want to delete any of them, just move them to the trash and empty the trash (to also delete supporting files, you should use an app like AppCleaner). If you had any applications that had personal licences, make sure these are still working from this new user account by trying to start them up and typing the appication’s licence key when asked 😉

enjoy !