4 Ways to Reset a Hard Drive on PC or Mac

Erase and reformat a storage device or hard drive for your computer

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

|

|

|

This wikiHow teaches you how to restore your Windows or macOS computer’s hard drive to its original factory settings.

How do you wipe and reset a hard drive on PC or Mac?

You can wipe and reset a hard drive to factory settings by going to "Settings > Recovery > Get Started" in Windows.
Using a Mac, restart, and press "Cmd + R" as it's restarting, then click "Disk Utility > Your Drive > Erase."
Reformat a storage or secondary drive using Disk Management or Disk Utility.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

1
Click the
menu. It’s usually at the bottom-left corner of the screen.
- This method will delete all of the data on your hard drive and replace it with its original factory settings.
- Make sure to back up your data before you begin.
It’s near the bottom of the menu.

Advertisement
^{[1]
X
Trustworthy Source

Microsoft Support
Technical support and product information from Microsoft.

Go to source}
It’s in the left column.
This ensures that all of your apps and personal data will be deleted from the hard drive.
7
Select a drive-cleaning option.
- If you’re resetting the PC because someone else will be using it, click Remove files and clean the drive to ensure that they won’t be able to access your data.
- If you plan to keep the PC, click Just remove my files. ^{[2]
  X
  Research source}
Another confirmation will appear.
Windows will now begin the reset process. Once the process is complete, follow the prompts to set up Windows as new.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

1
Press ⊞ Win+S. This opens the Windows search bar.
- This method will help you delete the data from a hard drive on your computer that isn’t your primary drive.
It’s in the left column. You may have to click the arrow next to “Storage” to see Disk Management. A list of hard drives connected to your PC will appear.
You can select any drive other than the one on which Windows is installed.
The data on the hard drive will be deleted.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

1
Make sure your Mac is connected to the internet. You’ll need a way to access your Mac’s factory settings once your hard drive is erased, so your computer must be online.^{[3]
X
Research source}
- This method will delete all of the data on your hard drive and replace it with its original factory settings.
- Make sure to back up your data before you begin.
It’s at the top-left corner of the screen.
Your Mac will now shut down and restart. You’ll have to perform the next step before the login screen appears so act quickly.
This screen appears after the computer shuts down and begins to restart. The Utilities panel will appear.
The name varies by Mac but it will appear in the left panel. Look for a drive with a name like “startup disk.”
It’s in the main panel.
The data on your hard drive will now be erased and re-formatted. This may take several minutes to several hours. Once the process is complete, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process and set up your Mac as new.