Manage Setup Assistant for Apple devices
You can skip all Setup Assistant panes for all your Apple devices by using a device management service and Apple School Manager or Apple Business. Sometimes you may not want users to make specific choices about how to initially configure their devices. You can prevent users from configuring initial settings for supervised Apple devices as long as their devices enroll in a device management service and assigned in Apple School Manager or Apple Business. The device also needs to support the feature for configuration to be available. For example, if the device lacks support for Touch ID, the Touch ID setup pane doesn’t appear.
Note: Not all Setup Assistant options are available in all device management services. To learn which options are available for your devices, consult your developer’s device management service documentation.
Passkey and hardware security key support during enrollment
For a Mac with macOS 15 or later, Setup Assistant supports ASWebAuthenticationSession, allowing support for passkeys and supported hardware security keys during enrollment.
Setup Assistant parity
The following options (already available in iOS and iPadOS) can be used on a Mac with macOS 15 or later for a seamless setup experience:
Welcomeas part of Skip Keys for Automated Device EnrollmentSkipSetupItemsin the Setup Assistant profile payload
Remove the .AppleSetupDone file
For a Mac with macOS 14 or later, removing the /private/var/db/.AppleSetupDone file no longer relaunches Setup Assistant if a local user already exists on the Mac. Use either Erase All Contents and Settings or the erase command to reset the device, and then go through Setup Assistant to configure the device for a new user.
Requirement for internet access in Setup Assistant
There are instances where internet access is required before the user can proceed with the setup of their Mac.
The Mac is owned by an organization and appears in Apple School Manager or Apple Business: The first time a Mac with macOS 13 or later is set up and connected to a network, it’s acknowledged as owned by an organization (Apple School Manager or Apple Business). As long as the device remains registered to the organization, when the device is erased, Setup Assistant requires a network connection to proceed with future activations. The Mac computer requires Apple silicon or an Apple T2 Security Chip.
The Mac requires a mandatory software update: This may occur whether the Mac is owned by an organization or owned by the user. When the Mac is taken out of its packaging and the user starts up the Mac, if a mandatory update is required, the Mac needs to connect to the internet to perform the software update.
If you’re using Apple School Manager or Apple Business
If your organization is using Apple School Manager or Apple Business to enroll devices in a device management service to manage them:
A device can remain in Setup Assistant while your device management service configures it, before the user starts interacting with it.
A customized Setup Assistant can be provided, letting you add things such as a user agreement or modern authentication methods.
You can skip all Setup Assistant panes using your device management service so that a user can’t interact with them. When skipping a pane, the service uses the more privacy-preserving setting for that feature.
If a Mac or Apple TV is connected to Ethernet and the device management service is locatable on the network or the internet, you can skip all Setup Assistant panes and set up the device entirely without touching it using Auto Advance. For more information, see Auto Advance and Automated Device Enrollment (macOS) and Auto Advance for Automated Device Enrollment with Apple TV.
Important: Unless you also permanently restrict these features using your device management service, users can set up any of the settings that retain the default values after setting up the Apple device.
Setup Assistant pane options
The following table shows all available Setup Assistant panes, whether they can be managed by a profile or a key in the Setup Assistant payload, the minimum operating system, and what happens when the pane is hidden from the user.
Setup Assistant pane | Device |
|---|---|
Accessibility | Mac Note: For this pane to be hidden, the Mac needs to use macOS 11 or later, be connected with Ethernet to the internet, be assigned a device management service that links to Apple School Manager or Apple Business, and be enrolled in a device management service. |
Age Range | iPhone iPad Mac Note: Automatically skipped for devices using Automated Device Enrollment. |
App Analytics | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV |
Appearance | iPhone iPad Mac |
Apple Account | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV |
Apple Pay | iPhone iPad Mac Note: Requires Touch ID and Apple Account to be enabled. |
Apple Watch migration | iPhone |
Country or region (Can be skipped using Apple Configurator) | iPhone iPad Apple TV |
Data and privacy | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV |
Device-to-device migration | iPhone iPad Note: This option is never shown if the new device was added to Apple School Manager or Apple Business. |
Display Zoom | iPhone iPad |
FileVault | Mac |
Home Button feedback | iPhone 7 iPhone 7 Plus iPhone 8 iPhone SE |
iCloud Desktop and Documents | Mac |
iCloud Diagnostics | Mac Note: Requires Apple Account. |
iMessage and FaceTime | iPhone iPad |
Language (Can be skipped using Apple Configurator) | iPhone iPad Apple TV |
Location Services | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV |
Move data from an Android device | iPhone |
New Feature Highlights | iPhone iPad |
Passcode and password lock | iPhone iPad Mac Note: This pane isn’t skipped if it appears before the device retrieves the configuration from the server or if the user configures a Persona with Apple Vision Pro. |
Quick Start | iPhone iPad Apple TV Note: This pane appears on first-time configured devices. A device management service can hide it after erasing the device. |
Remote Management | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV Note: You can’t skip this pane if you add the device to Apple School Manager or Apple Business when using a device management service. |
Restore completed | iPhone iPad |
Screen Time | iPhone iPad Mac |
See the world | Apple TV |
Set Up as New or Restore | iPhone iPad Mac For an iPhone and iPad, the user can’t:
For a Mac, the user can’t:
For Mac computers with macOS 15.4 or later, a device management service can’t hide this pane. The user receives an alert after enrollment that they’re unable to transfer data from another device because device management controls the setting. |
Set up cellular | iPhone iPad with eSIM |
Set up your Apple TV | Apple TV |
Sign in to your TV provider | Apple TV |
Siri | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV |
Software update | iPhone iPad Mac |
Software update completed | iPhone iPad |
Sync Apple TV Home Screen layout | Apple TV |
Terms and conditions | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV Note: For this screen to be hidden, the serial number of the device needs to appear in Apple School Manager or Apple Business. |
Touch ID Face ID | iPhone and iPad devices that support Touch ID or Face ID Mac computers that support (Touch ID) |
True Tone Display | Supported iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices |
Unlock with Apple Watch | Mac |
Welcome | iPhone iPad |
Where is the Apple TV | Apple TV |