[SOLVED] Buying used Mac safe?

[OfficeJerk]

As a new Mac user, I am still getting used to a lot of the commands and the OS in general, but one, how safe is using the machine right away as I do not know how to reformat a Mac. I literally turned it on and started using it and I cannot appear to find any personal files, while the seller did note that they 'factory reset' it.

 

[USAFRet]

Personally, I wouldn't trust the software on any used system. Windows, Linux, Mac, whatever.
You're trusting not only the seller, but every person whoever touched that system.

Full wipe and reinstall.

 

[gmagdna]

Not finding personal files is what you'd expect following a factory reset. The seller wouldn't want the next user to see their data. But as @USAFRet wrote - don't trust what they did, for your own security.

 

[USAFRet]

Personal experience:

Buying a refurb system at BestBuy.
I ask the floor walker - "You guys do a full reinstall on these, right?"
'Oh yes. Just like it came from the factory'

Later, asking a manager the same:
"Oh yes. Every system we get back has a full wipe and factory reset"

Later, when I get it home, poking around in the Registry:
Original owners name, address, phone num, credit card num.....
Some application he registered or paid for stored that in the Reg.
----------------------------------

My neighbor, school teacher, buying a system from a coworker.
It was kind of funky, so she asked me to take a look at it.
5 minutes of poking around...."ooohhh"
I pushed back from the desk and said "Mary, you need to call the police. Right now. If you don't, I will"

Some things cannot be unseen...
-----------------------------------

Never trust what the seller says he did.

 

[OfficeJerk]

Ok point made. How do I perform a safe reset? I have next to no experience using a mac

 

[USAFRet]

Ok point made. How do I perform a safe reset? I have next to no experience using a mac

hehe, neither do I.
But someone from the mac world will probably be along to suggest a way forward.

 

[gmagdna]

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

 

[RamBoy_69]

Ok point made. How do I perform a safe reset? I have next to no experience using a mac

To 100% delete everything from your mac, do this-->Click on the apple logo at the top left of the screen and press "Shut Down". When your Mac has completely shut down, turn it back on !!!!! The second you turn it back on, press and hold Command+R at the same time until the Apple logo appears. When it finally boots up you'll see a tab/window that says macOS Utilities at the top. On it will be 4 options of what you can do. Click on "Disk Utility" and press continue. It will show you your Drives. Click on the one that is under the option "Internal" or named "Macintosh HD". Then, on the top middle of the window will be an option named "Erase", click on it. Make sure the format is "APFS". If you don't have this option, ("APFS"), then select "Mac OS Extended Journal". After that, click Erase. After it is finished press Done. Then click on the red X on the top left of the screen to close that window. You'll go back to the first window you saw. Click on "Reinstall macOS". Then press Continue. Click Continue again. Then click Agree. Then click Agree. Finally select Macintosh HD and press install. When it finishes, everything is easy from there. Hope this helps.