It's been a few days since Apple announced macOS Monterey, and we're continuing to dig into new features that weren't mentioned at WWDC's inaugural conference, including a much more convenient way to wipe a Mac.
Following in the footsteps of the iPhone and iPad, the Mac now has the "Erase All Content and Settings" option in macOS Monterey. The option allows you to erase all user data and user-installed applications on the Mac without the need to reinstall macOS, making it much easier to restore a Mac to factory settings.
From the macOS Monterey features page on the Apple website:
Erase all content and settings
System Preferences now offers an option to clear all user data and user-installed applications from the system, while keeping the currently installed operating system. Since storage is always encrypted on Mac systems with Apple silicoN or the T2 chip, the system is instantly and securely "wiped" by destroying the encryption keys.
In the beta of macOS Monterey, the new option can be found by opening System Preferences and clicking "Clear All Content and Settings" from the drop-down menu. An administrator password is required to proceed with restoring the Mac to factory settings.
