How to Erase an Old Phone Before You Sell or Trade It In
Do not erase the old phone until the replacement device can access essential data, phone service, email, password management, and multifactor authentication. Then remove account locks and removable cards, perform the operating system’s factory reset, and verify the initial setup screen.
What to know
- A factory reset is the last step, not the first.
- Authenticator codes, passkeys, and recovery methods may require separate transfer.
- Remove physical SIM and removable storage cards.
- Verify that the phone no longer requests the previous owner’s account.
Do not erase an old phone until the replacement device can access your essential data, phone number, email, password manager, and multifactor authentication.
A reset removes local information, but it cannot rescue an authentication method you forgot to transfer or remove an account lock you left attached to the device.
What to know
- A factory reset is the final step.
- Authenticator codes and passkeys may require a separate transfer.
- Remove physical SIM cards and removable storage.
- Clear Activation Lock or Android account protection.
- Verify the initial setup screen before handing over the phone.
Confirm the replacement device first
Open several important items on the new device instead of trusting one “backup complete” message. Check contacts, recent photographs, messages, notes, locally stored documents, email, banking applications, password manager, authenticator codes, passkeys, carrier service, voicemail, and health or fitness data that matters.
Keep recovery codes somewhere separate from the phone being erased. Storing the only spare key inside the device you are about to wipe is a remarkably efficient method of manufacturing a lockout.
Transfer authentication methods
A password backup may not contain time-based one-time-password seeds, hardware security-key registrations, push-approval credentials, recovery codes, or device-bound passkeys.
For critical accounts, sign in from the replacement device before resetting the old one. Confirm that the second factor works and that an independent recovery route exists.
Handle paired devices and payment services
Before resetting, unpair a smartwatch when its manufacturer requires it, transfer transit or payment credentials according to the service instructions, deregister services tied to the old phone, and remove workplace or school management with administrator approval.
Apple’s transfer guidance includes unpairing an Apple Watch and signing out of services before an iPhone changes owners. [1]
Remove cards and service credentials
Take out the physical SIM and any removable storage card. A factory reset does not guarantee that a removable card was erased.
For eSIM service, follow the carrier and trade-in instructions. The reset process may offer a choice to retain or delete an eSIM. Deleting it can require carrier reactivation later, while retaining it may be inappropriate when ownership is changing.
Erase an iPhone
Apple’s current process uses Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content and Settings. Follow the prompts for the device passcode and Apple Account credentials. [1]
The correct process removes personal content and prepares the device for another owner. If Find My or Activation Lock remains attached, the new owner may be unable to activate the phone.
Do not give a recipient your Apple Account password. Remove the device through Apple’s documented account process instead.
Erase an Android phone
Android menus vary by manufacturer. Google’s general process uses the factory-reset controls in Settings, with Pixel devices placing them under System → Reset options → Erase all data. [2]
Remove personal accounts as directed before transfer. An improperly reset Android phone may request credentials from a previously synchronized Google Account during setup.
Verify the result
After the reset:
- Allow the phone to restart.
- Confirm that the language or welcome screen appears.
- Do not continue setup with your account.
- Confirm that no removable card remains.
- Record the serial number or IMEI for the transaction.
- Photograph the setup screen and physical condition.
- Preserve the trade-in or sale receipt.
If setup requests the former owner’s account, the transfer is not complete.
If the phone will not turn on
A dead or badly damaged phone cannot be reliably verified as erased through normal controls. Safer routes include manufacturer-authorized service, a recycling program with documented data-destruction procedures, supported remote erase when the phone later connects, or qualified physical storage destruction when reuse is impossible.
Do not sell an unverified data-bearing phone merely because its screen is broken.
Bottom line
Transfer data and authentication first, remove cards and account locks, use the built-in reset, and verify the welcome screen. The transaction is not complete until the phone is free of your data and usable by its next owner.
Limits and cautions
- Menus and account-removal steps vary by operating-system version and manufacturer.
- A broken phone that cannot be unlocked and reset cannot be verified through the normal process.
Source notes
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