Ready your Apple devices for return

Follow these steps to prepare your device for collection

a collection of apple devices

Create a backup

  1. Make sure you have a current backup of your important files.
  2. Find out how to back up your Mac.

Sign out of iTunes in macOS Mojave or earlier

  1. If you’re using macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes. From the menu bar at the top of the screen or iTunes window, choose Account > Authorisations > Deauthorise This Computer.
  2. Then enter your Apple ID and password and click Deauthorise.

Sign out of iCloud

  1. If you’re using macOS Catalina or later, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Apple ID. Select Overview in the sidebar, then click Sign Out.
  2. If you’re using macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System

Sign out of iMessage

  1. If you’re using OS X Mountain Lion or later, open the Messages app, then choose Messages > Preferences from the menu bar.
  2. Click iMessage, then click Sign Out.

Remove devices from Find My…

iPhone/iPad

  1. Open the settings app and tap your name at the top of the screen
  2. Tap “Find my”
  3. Tap ”Find my iPhone/iPad”
  4. Tap “Find my iPhone/iPad” button to switch it off, you may need to enter your Apple ID password

Apple Watch

  1. open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone
  2. tap My Watch
  3. tap your Apple Watch at the top of the screen
  4. tap Unpair Apple Watch

MacBook/iMac

  1. Launch System Preferences from your Mac’s Dock, from the Applications folder, or from the Apple menu bar
  2. Click iCloud in the preferences panel.
  3. Scroll down to Find My Mac and untick the checkbox next to it.
  4. Enter your Apple ID password when prompted.
  5. Click Continue.
  6. Click the red dot at the top left corner of the window to close the preference pane.

Erase all data

Use Disk Utility to erase all data

  1. Start up from macOS Recovery by pressing and holding Command and R immediately after turning on your Mac. Hold until you see an Apple logo or other image.
  2. If asked, select a user you know the password for and enter their administrator password.
  3. From the utilities window, select Disk Utility and click Continue.
  4. Select Macintosh HD in the sidebar of Disk Utility.
  5. If you cannot see Macintosh HD, click the Erase button in the toolbar, then enter the requested details – Name: Macintosh HD, Format: APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled), as recommended by Disk Utility.
  6. Click Erase Volume Group. If you can’t see this button, click Erase.
  7. If asked, enter your Apple ID.
  8. After the erase process has been completed, select any other internal volumes in Prior to Returning.
  9. The sidebar, then click the delete volume (–) button in the toolbar to delete that volume. During this step, disregard any internal volume named Macintosh HD or Macintosh HD – Data, as well as any volumes in the External and Disk Images sections of the sidebar.
  10. Quit Disk Utility to return to the utilities window.
  11. If you want to start up again from the disk you’ve erased, select Reinstall macOS in the utilities window, then click Continue and follow the on-screen instructions to reinstall macOS.

Erase all data from your iPhone or iPad

  1. go to Settings
  2. tap General
  3. tap Reset
  4. tap Erase All Content and Settings

How to turn off a firmware password

NOTE: you can also disable Find My Mac by signing your Mac out of iCloud completely. To do so, just click Sign Out in the iCloud preference pane. If you sign out, any mail, contacts, calendars, photos, notes, reminders, or other documents that are stored in iCloud will be removed from your Mac, but they will remain in the cloud.

  1. Start up from macOS Recovery. During the startup process, you’ll be prompted to enter the firmware password.
  2. When the utilities window appears, click Utilities in the menu bar, then choose Startup Security Utility or Firmware Password Utility.
  3. Click Turn Off Firmware Password.
  4. Enter the firmware password again when prompted.
  5. Quit the utility, then choose Apple menu > Restart.