How do I erase ALL the files on my MacBook Pro?

I've just gotten a new MacBook Air and successfully migrated all my data from my MacBook Pro. Now I'd like to clean up my MacBook Pro for my son. I don't want to erase all the applications, but I do want to erase all my files. Is there an easy way to it?

Easiest thing to do is create a new Admin account, login using that account, then delete your old Admin & user accounts. All your apps will still be present, but your user data & files will be gone.

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How do I erase all info and reset my macbook pro to original settings so I can sell it?

Im trying to get my laptop ready to sell and need to erase all my info. its running 10.6. Thanks

Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:
Step One - Back up your data:
       A. If you have any Virtual PCs shut them down. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must be shut down from inside Windows.
       B. Clone to an external drive using using Carbon Copy Cloner.
          1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
          2. Select the Source volume from the Select a source drop down menu on the left side.
          3. Select the Destination volume from the Select a destination drop down menu on the right
              side.
          4. Click on the Clone button. If you are prompted about creating a clone of the Recovery HD be
              sure to opt for that.
               Destination means a freshly erased external backup drive. Source means the internal
               startup drive.
Step Two - Prepare the machine for the new buyer:
          1. De-authorize the computer in iTunes! De-authorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.
          2, Remove any Open Firmware passwords or Firmware passwords.
          3. Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.
          4. Turn off File Vault, if enabled.
          5. Disable iCloud, if enabled: See What to do with iCloud before selling your computer.
Step Three - Install a fresh OS:
     A. Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X
          1. Insert the original OS X install CD/DVD that came with your computer.
          2. Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.
          3. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu; repartition and reformat the internal hard drive.
              Optionally, click on the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          4. Install OS X.
          5. Upon completion DO NOT restart the computer.
          6. Shutdown the computer.
     B. Lion and Mountain Lion (if pre-installed on the computer at purchase*)
         Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because
                   it is three times faster than wireless.
          1. Restart the computer while holding down the COMMAND and R keys until the Mac OS X
              Utilities window appears.
          2. Select Disk Utility from the Mac OS X Utilities window and click on the Continue button.
          3. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the left side list. Click
              on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
          4. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on the Security button
              and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          5. Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
          6. Quit DU and return to the Mac OS X Utilities window.
          7. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
          8. Upon completion shutdown the computer.
*If your computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then you are entitled to transfer your license once. If you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from the App Store then you cannot transfer your license to another party. In the case of the latter you should install the original version of OS X that came with your computer. You need to repartition the hard drive as well as reformat it; this will assure that the Recovery HD partition is removed. See Step Three above. You may verify these requirements by reviewing your OS X Software License.

HT201250 How can I verify that the time machine has backed up all the files on my macbook pro?

Does someone have experience with the question I have raised on Time machine?

I use the Time Machine Buddy widget. It shows the log files or you could look in the Console and spotlight for Time Machine.

I am running out of memory on my hard drive and need to delete files. How can I see all the files/applications on my hard drive so I can see what is taking up a lot of room?

I am running out of memory on my hard drive and need to delete files. How can I see all the files/applications on my hard drive so I can see what is taking up a lot of room?
Thanks!
David

Either of these should help.
http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/
http://www.whatsizemac.com/
Or search 'disk size' in the App Store.
Be carefull with what you delete & have a backup BEFORE you start, you may also want to reboot to try to free any memory that may have been written to disk.

How can I delete all the files in the Adobe CS4 Master Collection from my machine?

How can I delete all the files in the Adobe CS4 Master Collection from my machine. I have tried Control Panel but it will not do anything, there are no error messages, it is like as if it is ignoring my instruction. Why should it be so difficult to delete programs one does not want. Any ideas please.

Moved from Cloud forum to Downloading, Installing forum
Try running the Adobe Cleaner Tool
http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/cs5-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

Yours sincerely! I just bought a Sony DCR-SD1000 camera only when installing the cd drivers not supported by the operating system Machintosh. I've contacted the seller said the store did not provide for the apple os. How can I move all the files on the ca

Yours sincerely! I just bought a Sony DCR-SD1000 camera only when installing the cd drivers not supported by the operating system Machintosh. I've contacted the seller said the store did not provide for the apple os. How can I move all the files on the camera the port out is to use a USB data cable to a laptop for my macbookpro can not read the contents of the file and the camera. I also want to use the lens on the camera as a substitute for the embedded camera on my macbookpro, what should I do to replace the embedded camera on macbookpro with sony camera so that the camera could be more variety and can I record when I turned macbookpro . Please help for this so that I can quickly capture the results from sony camera to my macbookpro. Thank you.

See this page http://macosx.com/forums/networking-compatibility/296947-sony-camcorder-my-mac.h tml - might be some helpful tips there.
Clinton

How can I copy all the files from my iMac to an external drive so they remain as 'regular accessible files'? I want to clean my dive

How can I copy all the files from my iMac to an external drive so they remain as 'regular accessible files'? I want to clean my dive

You can use a program like Carbon Copy Cloner. It will clone your HD to the external. The format is the same as your internal drive and you can boot from it using Option key at boot time.
http://www.bombich.com/
Regards,
Captfred

How do I erase all the emails from my iPad in one or two clicks?

How do I erase all the emails from my iPad in just a few clicks?

The links below have instructions for deleting photos.
iOS and iPod: Syncing photos using iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4236
iPad Tip: How to Delete Photos from Your iPad in the Photos App
http://ipadacademy.com/2011/08/ipad-tip-how-to-delete-photos-from-your-ipad-in-t he-photos-app
Another Way to Quickly Delete Photos from Your iPad (Mac Only)
http://ipadacademy.com/2011/09/another-way-to-quickly-delete-photos-from-your-ip ad-mac-only
How to Delete Photos from iPad
http://www.wondershare.com/apple-idevice/how-to-delete-photos-from-ipad.html
How to: Batch Delete Photos on the iPad
http://www.lifeisaprayer.com/blog/2010/how-batch-delete-photos-ipad
(With iOS 5.1, use 2 fingers)
How to Delete Photos from iCloud’s Photo Stream
http://www.cultofmac.com/124235/how-to-delete-photos-from-iclouds-photo-stream/
 Cheers, Tom

How do I empty all the files in the "Downloads" folder ?

How do I empty all the files in the "Downloads" folder ? Can they all be deleted at once?

PS: when you look into the menu bar commands by mouse, you may note
there are keyboard shortcuts to perform the same tasks; such as they are.
*Edit> Select all* = uses 'Command + A' keys to do this, without mouse/menu.
And, it can be done quickly by keyboard. +(this will select all, for the next step)+
You would have to select the folder to be edited; yet there also are other key
board commands to select items, folders, applications, etc all without a mouse.
Once you choose items in a folder or other location, you can then use a
keyboard command to Move them to the Trash; from there, Empty Trash
with a three-key command; all without use of the mouse.
The keys to *Move to Trash* looks like it is 'Command + Delete'. Some key-
boards have two marked delete keys, so you may have to try both. The
+small delete key+ has an icon with right-facing x in a box.
The three keys, to *Empty Trash* via keyboard instead of menu bar/mouse
appear to be the combination of 'up-arrow, command, delete.'
Understanding some of the iconography of symbols used to indicate function,
or what keys to use, as indicated by icons instead of words, is not too hard.
There are articles and web pages which show various keyboard shortcuts.
Here's an example, from one of several I've bookmarked over a few years.
This one has images and shows what the key shortcut symbols mean.
• Mastering Keyboard Shortcuts: (from myfirstmac site)
http://www.myfirstmac.com/index.php/mac/articles/mastering-keyboard-shortcuts
• Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343
However, if you have anything you may want to keep before mass deleting, be
sure to move it into another folder. +re: The docked folders in Leopard+ 10.5 have
one .PDF in each, about each of the purposed folders. I haven't deleted mine yet.
{And I've added another folder into the dock near the Trash for my own alias items
and the original is on the hard disk drive (one user) or could be put into an account
folder so it would not have permissions or privilege issues with a second account.}
I'd thought about those 'keyboard symbols' after the first posting; but,
had to take an elder parent on several errands that took quite awhile.
PS: there probably are ways to use AppleScript and Automator to handle folder contents.
Good luck & happy computing!

How do I erase all the songs on a Ipod shuffle 1st. generation

How do I erase all the songs on an IPod shuffle 1st. generation

Hey Kjohnston5,
The easiest way to erase all songs from your iPod shuffle would be to restore it to factory settings. Use the steps in this article to to so -
Restoring iPod shuffle to factory settings - Apple Support
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Be well,
Brett L

How do i wipe all the files and information on my macbook air?

how do i wipe all the files and information on my macbook air?

Are you selling this machine,

How do I erase all the music off my iphone?

How do I erase all the music off my iphone? The album artwork that's in my phone, doesn't match what's in my itunes. I've synced, but it still is all screwed up.

in itunes - select your device name - click music tab - select sync music - select selected playlists, albumns, artists, - just click one song or artist or album not playlist. hit apply
no see if ok if so re sync what you want/
if not
erase all content and start anew
Peace, Clyde

How do I erase all the data on an old imac?

How do I erase all the data on an old imac, so I can safely sell/give it away without any personal information on it?
Joel

Boot with your original install discs, launch Disk Utility from the Utilities menu, select the HD, erase, reformat, and zero out the data. Once that's finished, reinstall the OS and on first boot quit the installer and shutdown the machine. Give the original discs to the new owner and when they start it up, they'll experience the first time Setup Assistant. Since it's not a new machine, there should be nothing associated with Lion or ML to muck things up.

All my files in my macbook pro is saved several times. How can I delete all the multiple copies easily?

All my files in my macbook pro is saved several times. How can I delete all the multiple copies easily?

Moved from Cloud forum to Downloading, Installing forum
Try running the Adobe Cleaner Tool
http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/cs5-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

How do I keep all the windows on my MacBook open at the same time?

How do I keep all the windows on my MacBook open at the same time?

They are always open until you close or minimize them. They may be behind other windows, but if you haven't physically closed them, then they are still open.

How do I erase ALL the files on my MacBook Pro?

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