Can't Use Erase Assistant on Your Mac? Follow This Workaround Guide

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Use Disk Utility to wipe your Mac instead of Erase Assistant

Co-authored by Hannah Dillon Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: November 11, 2024 Fact Checked

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• Why can't I use the Erase Assistant?
|
• Using Disk Utility with Apple Silicon
|
• Using Disk Utility on an Intel-based Mac

|Show more |Show less

Are you trying to erase all the data on your Mac but getting an error that says "Erase Assistant is not supported on this Mac"? Thankfully, this doesn't mean you can't erase the data on your Mac at all; it just means you can't use Erase Assistant to do it. In this article, we'll go over what this error means and explain how to use Disk Utility to erase your Mac instead of Erase Assistant.

Quick Steps

1. Turn off your Mac.
2. Turn your Mac on and access the utility options menu.
3. Select Disk Utility.
4. Erase the Macintosh HD volume.
5. Go back to the utilities option menu and reinstall macOS.

Steps

Section 1 of 3:

Why can't I use the Erase Assistant?

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1. 
   Only certain Macs can use Erase Assistant. To use Erase Assistant, you must be on macOS Monterey or later, and your Mac must have Apple Silicon or the Apple T2 Security Chip.

   • If you don't meet both requirements, you can't use Erase Assistant. However, you can use Disk Utility to erase your Mac instead. Jump ahead to learn how for Macs with Apple Silicon and Intel-based Macs.
   • If you meet the requirements but Erase Assistant still isn't working, you can still use Disk Utility to erase your Mac.
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Section 2 of 3:

Using Disk Utility with Apple Silicon

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1. 
   1
   Install the latest macOS update and back up your files. Erasing your Mac will permanently delete all of your files, so be sure to back your files up on physical media (i.e., a flash drive or SD card) or on the cloud.
2. 
   2
   Turn off your Mac, if it's on. To get to Disk Utility, your computer must be off.
3. 
   3
   Press and hold the power button. This will turn on your Mac. Keep pressing and holding the button until you see the startup options window.
4. 
   4
   Select Options. Click Continue to move to the next step.

   • If prompted, log in to an administrator account.
   • If prompted to log in to the last-used Apple Account, log in to continue.
5. 
   5
   Select Disk Utility. Click Continue to move to the next step.
6. 
   6
   Ensure the Macintosh HD volume is present. If you don't see Macintosh HD but you see another drive, you may have changed the drive's name. If you don't see any drives, shut the computer down, remove any non-essential devices that are plugged in, and repeat the above steps to get into Disk Utility.

   • If you still don't see Macintosh HD after restarting, contact Apple for further assistance.
7. 
   7
   Remove any non-Macintosh HD volumes. To do this, click on the volume, then click on the minus button in the toolbar to delete it.
8. 
   8
   Click on Macintosh HD and click the erase button in the toolbar. The erase button looks like a drive with a small "x" symbol next to it.
9. 
   9
   Specify a name and format for the drive. By default, the name will be Macintosh HD. Make sure the drive's format is APFS.
10. 
    10
    Click Erase > Erase Mac and Restart. If you're prompted to enter your Apple Account information again, do so when requested.
11. 
    11
    Follow the on-screen instructions to activate your Mac. You'll need to choose a language and connect to Wi-Fi.
12. 
    12
    Click Exit to Recovery Utilities once your Mac is activated. You will now be able to reinstall macOS.
13. 
    13
    Click Reinstall macOS. Follow the on-screen instructions to reinstall macOS so you can use your Mac once again.
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Section 3 of 3:

Using Disk Utility on an Intel-based Mac

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1. 
   1
   Install the latest macOS update and back up your files. Erasing your Mac will permanently delete all of your files, so be sure to back your files up on physical media (i.e., a flash drive or SD card) or on the cloud.
2. 
   2
   Turn off your Mac, if it's on. To get to Disk Utility, your computer must be off.
3. 
   3
   Press and release the power button. Immediately after doing this, press and hold Cmd+R on your keyboard. Keep holding these buttons until you see the Apple logo or a spinning globe.

   • If prompted, log in to an administrator account to continue.
4. 
   4
   Select Disk Utility. Click Continue to move to the next step.
5. 
   5
   Ensure the Macintosh HD volume is present. If you don't see Macintosh HD but you see another drive, you may have changed the drive's name. If you don't see any drives, shut the computer down, remove any non-essential devices that are plugged in, and repeat the above steps to get into Disk Utility.

   • If you still don't see Macintosh HD after restarting, contact Apple for further assistance.
6. 
   6
   Click on Macintosh HD and click the erase button in the toolbar. The erase button looks like a drive with a small "x" symbol next to it.
7. 
   7
   Specify a name and format for the drive. By default, the name will be Macintosh HD. Make sure the drive's format is APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
8. 
   8
   Click Erase. If you're prompted to enter your Apple Account information again, do so when requested.

   • If you have any other volumes in your computer besides Macintosh HD, you can follow the above steps to erase them as well.
9. 
   9
   Click Exit to Recovery Utilities. You will now be able to reinstall macOS.
10. 
    10
    Click Reinstall macOS. Follow the on-screen instructions to reinstall macOS so you can use your Mac once again.
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