What to erase before you sell your phone
A factory reset is not the last step. Here is the checklist we hand every customer before pickup.
Before your phone leaves your hand, five things should be done in this order. Skipping any of them can lock the device for the next owner or leave your data behind.
Sign out of your account first
On iPhone, turn off Find My iPhone and sign out of iCloud. On Android, remove the Google account from Settings. A reset done before signing out leaves the activation lock in place and the device becomes unusable.
Move your data out
Photos, WhatsApp backup, authenticator apps and password managers. Authenticator apps are the one people forget, and recovering those codes later is painful.
Remove the SIM and memory card
Check the tray twice. We find forgotten memory cards almost every week.
Unpair everything
Smartwatch, car Bluetooth, and any two factor SMS numbers linked to the device.
Then factory reset
Only after the four steps above. Our executive verifies the reset at pickup.
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