Laptops and MacBooks theft is not something new. They get lost or stolen every day because these devices are expensive. As they are in high demand by the youngsters, the thieves earn black money by selling the stolen mac or stolen laptop. The first thing thieves usually do is to factory reset the device. So, one must know, “Can a MacBook be tracked after factory reset.”
Apart from the high price of the MacBook or laptop, the biggest apprehension of the person who has lost MacBook is the personal data and any confidential information stored in the stolen device. If the information reaches the wrong hand, it could be dangerous. Furthermore, the MacBook or laptop is not easily affordable for everyone, and one might not be able to buy it for the second time once it is lost.
There are only two options available for those who have lost MacBook: either track MacBook air to find its location and get it recovered or delete all the personal data and important files if the chance of recovery is reduced to none. We will discuss some valuable methods of MacBook pro tracking in our article that will help you find the location of stolen mac or stolen laptop. Let’s dive into the details.
Can a MacBook Be Tracked After Factory Reset
The laptop can be easily tracked by the IP addresses, serial number, and network connection. However, once it gets a factory reset, the chances of recovering it are usually slight. So, you might be curious about the question ‘can you track mac laptop after factory reset.’ The answer is optimistic yes, you can find stolen mac or stolen laptop even after the factory reset.
Let’s move to the part: ‘How is this possible.’
Absolute Software
The absolute software has the powerful app of computrace, enabling you to track your device easily after a factory reset. It is embedded into the BiOS of the laptop. Besides tracking the lost MacBook, the application helps you lock your device or delete the important files from the remote. This feature is highly appreciable from security and privacy perspectives.
Once the location of the stolen laptop is detected, it forwards the necessary information to the police department, making it easier to salvage the stolen device.
The absolute software can do wonders in the situation of theft, but only if it is activated on your stolen laptop or stolen mac. Many people are unaware of how to enable the absolute software. No worries, we are here to guide you through the process.
Steps to Activate Computrace
To track your device, enabling the computrace is a must for the anti-theft software to work. Follow the quick steps to activate it:
- Press the power on button of your laptop.
- When the laptop’s trademark appears on the screen, press the f2 key.
- Find the security option in the list and select it.
- Select computrace and click the activate button.
It is important to note that some laptops don’t have built-in Absolute software, so that the other methods might work for them.
Find My Mac
The MacBook provides the Find My Mac feature that works similarly to the Computrace app to track MacBook air. But before using it, you need to set it up. If Find My Mac is set up before the theft incident, it will make the work of ‘track my laptop easy.’ The steps here are simple too:
- Open Find My app on another Apple device and select the Devices tab. You can sign in to iCloud.com/find on the web; if you don’t have any other Apple device. Select All devices from the options.
- Click on your mac and see its location. If its location is near you, you can play any specific sound to find it. That’s how MacBook pro tracking works.
- To prevent anyone from accessing your device, you can lock your device with a password by signing in to iCloud.com and selecting Lock or marking your device as lost in the app.
- If the chances of a macbook are minimum, you can also delete the important data from MacBook by signing in to the iCloud.com or Find My app.
If the Find My app is not set up, you should immediately report to the police and change your apple ID and passwords of all social media accounts. The Apple company gives you no help in this regard, you have to do everything on your own with the Find My Mac feature.
Find My Device (windows 10)
Windows 10 offers a Find My Device feature, which works similarly to the software and features mentioned above. The limitation is that you can only use this feature in Windows 10 and no other. You have to enable this feature too in the setting before theft to track your stolen laptop. You can also lock your device and delete all its data from a distance.
FAQs
can a laptop be tracked after factory reset?
Ans: Yes, many ways can help you track your stolen laptop or stolen easily after a factory reset. But the prerequisite for every anti-theft software and feature to work is to enable them in the setting before the theft incident. The important ones are the Computrace app of the Absolute software, the Find My Mac feature of MacBooks, and the Find My Device Feature of Windows 10.
These three function precisely to track lost MacBooks or lost laptops. If the chances of recovering lost devices are almost none, it enables you to delete important files and personal data remotely.
How to make a stolen laptop untraceable?
Ans: to make a stolen laptop untraceable, the first thing to keep in mind is to don’t connect it to the internet immediately, as you can be caught with the IP address. Then check if the absolute software is enabled, and turn it off. Change the operating system of the stolen laptop. Replace the hard drive with another drive type. Make as many changes as you can. Finally, hide your IP address.
Final thoughts
We hope you have a clear mind for the question Can a Macbook be tracked after factory reset. By just taking some precautionary measures, you can actually be saved from a disaster. With quick steps and a simple setting to enable the anti-theft software/feature, you can easily track the location of your stolen device and lock the device and secure important data. If you are lucky enough, you can recover your device with the tracked location. However, if the chances of recovery are none, you are still safe as the confidential data in your device can be deleted from remote with the help of Absolute software and find my Mac feature.
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