Erase Apple devices
If you’re an administrator or user, you can locally or remotely erase a device—in most cases using the option Erase All Content and Settings. On the device, erasing (or wiping) obliterates all the keys in effaceable storage and renders all user data cryptographically inaccessible.
Erase all content and settings
Mac computers with Apple silicon, or with the Apple T2 Security Chip with macOS 12.0.1 or later, allow a local administrator—or, if enrolled in a device management service, that service administrator—to initiate the Erase All Content and Settings option, similar to behavior permitted on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch devices. This process erases all user data, along with any additional volumes on the Mac. For a Mac with Apple silicon, it also resets the security settings to their default state (Full Security). A device management service can also:
Can use a restriction to prevent erasing all content and settings on a Mac (this feature already exists for iPhone and iPad devices)
Can use the existing
EraseDevicecommand to erase all content and settings
Ways to initiate a remote wipe command
No matter which Apple device you want to wipe (iPhone, iPad, or Mac), you can initiate a remote wipe command through a device management service, iCloud, or Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. When you initiate a remote wipe command through a device management service, the Apple device sends an acknowledgment back to the service and performs the wipe. For more information, see Remote wipe.
When you initiate a remote wipe through Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync (iPhone and iPad only), the device checks in with the Microsoft Exchange Server before performing the wipe. You can perform the remote wipe using the Exchange Management Console, Outlook Web Access, or the Exchange ActiveSync Mobile Administration Web Tool.
Remote wipe in iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS
For iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, the Erase All Content and Settings option is located in the Settings app. Remote wipe using Erase All Content and Settings isnʼt possible for the following kinds of accounts:
Accounts using User Enrollment
Accounts using Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync when the account that was installed with User Enrollment
Accounts using Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync if the device is supervised
Note: Besides using the Erase All Content and Settings option, device management services and users can also set an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro to automatically wipe after a series of failed passcode attempts.
Remote wipe in macOS with a device management service
For a Mac with macOS 12.0.1 or later, a device management service initiates a remote wipe by default with the Erase All Content and Settings option, which you can find in Apple menu > System Settings > General > Transfer or Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.
The device management service initiates a remote wipe on Mac computers with Apple silicon, and those with the Apple T2 Security Chip.
Using a device management service, depending on which Mac model you have, you can trigger the Erase All Content and Settings option by sending an EraseDevice command to the Mac. To receive this command, the Mac needs to meet the requirements listed below:
Mac model | Minimum supported operating system | Requirement for enabling remote wipe |
|---|---|---|
With Apple silicon | macOS 12.0.1 |
|
With Apple silicon or with the Apple T2 Security Chip | macOS 12.0.1 |
|
With the Apple T2 Security Chip | macOS 12.0.1 |
|
If one or more of the above conditions arenʼt met when receiving an EraseDevice command, a Mac by default falls back to using a macOS 11 behavior called obliteration. After a device is erased with obliteration, you need to reinstall macOS before the Mac can be used.
You can manage the obliteration fallback behavior for erasing a Mac in the EraseDevice command’s ObliterationBehavior key. If Erase All Content and Settings fails, you use this key (which has no effect on machines prior to the T2 chip) to specify a Mac’s fallback behavior by choosing one of the following values:
Default (or missing key): The device responds to the server with an
Errorstatus or no status, and then attempts obliteration.DoNotObliterate: The device responds with an
Errorstatus, and no obliteration occurs.ObliterateWithWarning: The device responds with an
AcknowledgementorWarningstatus, and then attempts obliteration.
In addition, an EACSPreflight check can determine the behavior ahead of time, and return Success, Not supported, or Unknown failure with data on why it may have failed. This allows organizations and device management services to determine the most suitable way to proceed prior to sending the EraseDevice command.
Important: This process can inadvertently erase a Mac that enrolls with a device management service if the Mac has FileVault turned on and it doesn’t support Erase All Content and Settings. The behavior is similar to obliteration, and a full reinstall of macOS is required.