How to wipe your phone safely before selling it: a step-by-step guide
From backing up and signing out of your accounts to a factory reset: what to do before you sell or trade in your phone.
Contents
When you sell or trade in your phone, your photos, messages and accounts should stay with you. Prepare the phone in the right order and your data stays safe, while the new owner can use the phone without any problems. The order matters: back up first, then sign out of your accounts, and reset last.
1. Back up your data
iPhone: tap your name at the top of Settings and back up to iCloud from there, or connect the phone to a computer and back it up that way.
Android: back up to your Google account from the backup section in Settings (its name varies by brand). For your photos, make sure Google Photos backup is switched on, or copy your files to a computer.
Check that the backup has actually finished. If your iCloud or Google storage is full, the backup may be incomplete.
If your new phone is to hand, you can also move your data across directly with its phone-to-phone transfer feature.
2. WhatsApp and other important apps
WhatsApp chats are backed up separately from the rest of the phone. The chat backup under Settings > Chats in WhatsApp is saved to Google Drive on Android and to iCloud on an iPhone. If your new phone runs the same operating system, you can restore your chats from that backup or move them directly with WhatsApp's chat transfer feature. If you're switching from Android to iPhone or the other way round, the backup won't carry over; use WhatsApp's own method for transferring between phones instead.
If you use an authenticator app for two-step verification, don't reset the old phone until you've moved your codes to the new one. Otherwise you may struggle to sign in to some of your accounts.
3. Sign out of your accounts
This is the most important step, both for your security and for the buyer's. If your account stays on the phone, it will still ask for your password after a reset, and the new owner won't be able to use it.
iPhone
Tap your name at the top of Settings, choose Sign Out at the bottom of the page and enter your Apple Account (Apple ID) password. This also turns off Find My and Activation Lock.
If Stolen Device Protection is on and you're away from a familiar place such as home or work, you may have to wait an hour before you can sign out. Doing these steps at home makes things easier.
Android
Remove your Google account from the accounts section in Settings (its name can vary by brand). If you don't, the phone will ask for your Google account after a reset. This is known as the FRP lock, and it stops the buyer from setting the phone up.
If your phone's manufacturer has its own account and “find my device” feature (Samsung or Xiaomi, for example), sign out of that as well.
4. Unpair your watch and earbuds
If you use an Apple Watch, unpair it in the Watch app on your iPhone.
Remove smartwatches and wireless earbuds from the phone in the Bluetooth settings and, if they have one, in their own app.
5. Take out the SIM and memory card, and remove the eSIM
Take out your physical SIM card and any memory card. If you're handing the memory card over with the phone, back it up and format it first.
If you use an eSIM, ask your operator how to move your number to the new phone before you reset. Then delete the eSIM from the old phone; an iPhone will also ask whether to erase the eSIM during the reset. Deleting the eSIM from the phone doesn't cancel your line.
6. Factory reset the phone
Make sure the battery has enough charge, or plug the phone in, so that it doesn't switch off during the reset.
iPhone: go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings and follow the steps on screen. You may be asked for your Apple Account password.
Android: menu names vary by brand. There's usually a “Reset” or “Factory data reset” option in Settings, and you can also type “reset” into the Settings search box. Choose the option that erases all data, not the ones that only reset network or app settings.
Deleting photos and apps one by one isn't enough: deleted photos stay in the bin or the “Recently Deleted” album for a while, and your accounts remain signed in. On most modern smartphones data is stored encrypted, so a factory reset erases it in a way that can't be recovered.
7. Check for the setup screen
When the reset finishes, the phone restarts and shows the language selection or “Hello” screen, just as if it were new. Leave it there; the new owner will set it up with their own account. If you still have the box and invoice, keep them ready with the phone.
If the phone asks for your Apple or Google account during setup, signing out didn't complete. In that case, unlock it with your own password, finish the setup, sign out of your account and reset the phone again.
Want to sell or trade in your phone?
At Işıltı İletişim in Kahramanmaraş, we buy used phones and take trade-ins. Just fill in the Sell Your Phone form and we'll send you our offer by phone or WhatsApp. If you accept, the final amount is set once the phone has been checked in our shop, and you can either take cash or trade it in.
We will never ask for your screen passcode or your iCloud or Google account details. Don't share them with anyone; the steps above are all you need to prepare your phone.