There are certain apps that will need to be manually unlinked from your Mac before you say goodbye to it. That way, the same backup volume can be used by Apple's Migration Assistant during a macOS installation to quickly transfer your applications, files and settings from the old Mac to a new one.Ĭheck out our dedicated guide on how to back up your Mac using Time Machine.

However, we highly recommend that you take the time to perform a Time Machine backup of your system using an external drive.

If you use iCloud, your photos, mail, contacts, documents, and so on should be automatically backed up in cloud storage. You could do this manually by copying across files onto an external drive. If you plan to give away, sell, or trade in a Mac, erasing your Mac should be the final step.īefore you do anything, you should back up the files on your Mac. Note that erasing your Mac permanently deletes all files on it, so follow the backup advice carefully. This article explains how to erase (or format) the built-in startup disk of a Mac with Apple silicon.

Macbook pro wipe hard drive