How to Deauthorize Your Mac

Want to know how you can deauthorize your Mac?

Suppose you are planning to sell your Mac to a new owner or give it away to a colleague or a family member. In that case, it is essential to deauthorize your Mac. Deauthorizing removes access to protected purchases and prevents it from continuing to count as one of your authorized computers.

It’s also important to note that Apple allows five computers to use one single Apple ID. This includes any computer that is capable of running iTunes. If including other iOS or iPod devices, the limit of associations is up to 10. 

There are different ways to deauthorize your Mac using several apps, and we will discuss those methods in this article.

Let’s get right into it!

1. Deauthorize on iTunes.

The first step that you need to do is to deauthorize on iTunes. It’s vital to deauthorize using iTunes because it contains your Apple ID summary. This is also where all the downloads and purchases are stored. Most of the content of your Mac is located here, as well.

To deauthorize on iTunes, do the following steps:

  1. First, open iTunes. Make sure you are logged in to your account. If you are using the latest macOS version, open Music instead.
  2. On the menu bar at the top of the iTunes window, click Account.
  3. Select Authorizations, and then click Deauthorize This Computer
Deauthorize Mac
  1. Finally, enter your Apple ID and Password, and tap the Deauthorize button.
Apple ID Confirmation


2. Sign Out of iCloud.

Removing the connection between your iCloud and your Mac will make the stored and synced files no longer accessible. To do this, you need to sign out of your iCloud account.

Here are the steps to sign out of iCloud:

  1. First, click on the Apple menu on the upper left of your screen and go to System Preferences.
  2. On the upper right side of the window, you will see Apple ID. Click on that icon.
  3. Then on the Apple ID window, click Overview.
Mac System Preferences
  1. Finally, click the Sign Out button.
deauthorize your mac

Wait for a few minutes, and it’s done! All of your iCloud documents and files will no longer be accessible to your Mac.

3. Sign out of Messages.

It’s essential to cover all apps when deauthorizing Mac. This ensures that all data will be inaccessible to the following user. So, we’re also going to teach you how to sign out of Messages on your Mac.

  1. Launch the Messages app on your Mac.
  2. Then click on Menu and go to Preferences
  3. On the top of the window, click iMessage and then Sign Out.
deauthorize your mac

Once you click ‘Sign Out‘, your Mac will no longer be receiving any messages.

4. Deauthorize on Apple TV.

Since we want to deauthorize our Mac in many apps, Apple TV is another way to deauthorize it. This will prevent a new user from accessing your AppleTV account.

You can deauthorize using the Apple TV app on your Mac by doing the following steps:

  1. First, open the Apple TV app on your dock or use Spotlight Search.
  2. Next, log in to your account if you haven’t yet.
  3. On the menu bar at the top of the iTunes window, click Account.
  4. Select Authorizations, and then click Deauthorize This Computer. 
deauthorize your mac
  1. Finally, enter your Apple ID and Password, then click the Deauthorize button.

The access to Apple TV on your Mac is now revoked. Quite simple, right?

5. Deauthorize All Devices.

If you already reached the limit of allowed devices connected to your Apple ID or no longer using these devices, there is an option to deauthorize all devices. Before we show you the steps to deauthorize all devices, you may want to check first which computers you’ve authorized. 

Here are the steps to do that:

  1. Open the iTunes or Music app.
  2. On the Menu bar, click Account, then View My Account.
  3. You will be taken to the Account Information window, where you can find all your account details.
  4. Under Apple ID Summary, you can see Computer Authorisations. All authorized computers are listed there.
deauthorize your mac

Now, let’s learn how to deauthorize all.

  1. First, open the iTunes or Music app.
  2. On the Menu bar, click Account, then View My Account.
  3. On the Account Information window, look for Apple ID Summary.
  4. Under Apple ID Summary, you can find ‘Computer Authorisations‘ where you can see how many devices are connected to your Apple ID.
  5. Click the Deauthorize All button. This option will only appear if you have two or more devices connected to your Apple ID.

Be careful on clicking the deauthorize all button since you can only do this once a year.

6. Remove Mac as a Trusted Device.

Now that we talked about the different apps where you can deauthorize your Mac let’s go to the deletion of the actual device. If you have enabled the two-factor authentication, you have to remove your Mac as a trusted device.

Just follow the steps below:

  1. First, open a browser and go to My Apple ID’s website.
  2. Log in by entering your Apple ID and Password.
Enter Apple ID
  1. There will be a prompt for two-factor authentication. Enter the code that you received to proceed.
  2. Scroll down to see the devices that are signed in using your Apple ID.
  3. Click on the device that you no longer want to use, and then click Remove from Account.
Remove Account
  1. Then, a pop-up window will appear to confirm. If you agree, you may proceed by clicking Remove This [Device].
Remove MacBook Air

7. Deauthorize Third-party Apps.

For the last part, each third-party application will have a different set of procedures to deauthorize. If you need to deauthorize a third-party application, it’s best to follow the developer’s instructions on how to do this.

Going to each application’s official support page or contacting their team would be your best option to know the exact steps to deauthorize their applications.

This ends our guide on how to deauthorize your Mac. We hope you learned a thing or two! If you have clarifications on the methods, please let us know in the comment section below, and we’ll be ready to answer them.

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂

Author

  • Mako Young

    Mako is a staff writer at Saint. He's been writing about tech for more than a decade. When he isn't reading about the latest news on Apple, he's busy studying cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, cloud computing, and other IT-related sectors. His exceptional work graces technology and Apple-related blogs like How-To Geek, VEED.io, Macgasm, onMac, PhotoWorkout, GameRant, and many more. He also has a Bachelors in Computer Science and has been writing since 2018, with over 400 posts published. LinkedIn X (Twitter)

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