What to Do Before Selling Your Phone [5 Necessary Tips]

Mobile phones update so quickly and phone replacement is more frequent than before.

11:00 24 November 2020

When you get a new mobile phone, perhaps you want to sell your old phone. But there are many important personal data on your old phone. For privacy security, you need to know what to do before selling your phone.

 

The following tips will tell you what you should do correctly. Whether the phone is Android or Apple, and you plan to sell or donate your phone, they are also available. Please carry them out in order.

 

Back-Up Data

 

Don’t hurry to remove your account. You need to back up your phone data first to your account. As long as you have a Google account, you can sync files from the Android phone or iPhone to it faster than manual backup. Generally, it can sync contacts, messages, photos, videos, and more.

 

For Android devices, you can back up data to your Google account. Take Samsung Galaxy Note 8 as an example. Here’s how: click the Settings app and choose the “Cloud and accounts” > “Backup and restore” option. Then you can enable the “Back up my data” feature. Many manufacturers have their cloud storage service, like Samsung Cloud. Also you can choose a reliable backup tool from the market, not free but effective.

 

 

For iOS devices, to sync files to Google, you can open the Settings app, and click the “Passwords & Accounts” > “Add account” > “Google” icon. Of course, iOS users can back up data to iCloud as well: Settings > [your name] > iCloud.

 

 

Disable Password Protection

 

Once the data backup is over, you can disable the password protection on your phone. The password protection is to get rid of prying from others. If you don’t disable it, the new owner can’t access your phone either without them. Thus, it’s necessary to turn off this feature.

 

Here’s how to turn off the lock screen on the Android phone. Enter Settings and choose the “Lock screen” > “Screen lock type” > “None” option. Then there is no screen lock on your phone.

 

 

If needed, you can switch off the iPhone lock screen feature as follows: go to Settings, choose the “Face ID & Passcode” and enter your passcode. Next, tap the “Reset Face ID” > “Turn Passcode Off” > “Turn Off” icon. And please type your Apple ID password and passcode for confirmation. The passcode is off now.

 

 

Remove Accounts and Log Out of Apps

 

The password is cleared, and the next thing you do is remove accounts and log out of apps. Then no one can activate your accounts to check your files and settings. You can complete the account removal on the phone’s Settings app.

 

To disable Google accounts on Android, you can launch the Settings app, and tap the “Accounts and backup” > “Accounts” > “Remove account” icon. Next, please log out of your Android phone account, like the Samsung account. For Samsung, you can sign it out by tapping the “Accounts and backup” from Settings, and clicking the “Accounts” > “Personal info” > “More options” > “Sign out” feature.

 

 

On Apple devices, you can go to Settings and tap the “Passwords & Accounts” > “Gmail” > “Delete Account” button. Besides, don’t forget to sign out of your Apple ID on the old iPhone: enter Settings, and choose [your name]. Then you can tap the “Sign Out” button at the lower.

After eliminating accounts, please log out all apps you have logged in with your personal registration information.

 

 

Take Out SIM and SD Cards

 

Now, it’s time to take out your SIM card and SD card. If you don’t remember to do this, your contacts, text messages, and the SD card data will be leaked out. Certainly, the trouble for you is far from over. To avoid these problems, please remember to TAKE OUT YOUR CARDS from the old phone.

 

Be careful that you use an appropriate pin to make the card tray out. Then you can directly get your cards. Since both cards are tiny, please insert them into the new phone as fast as possible without missing them.

 

 

Erase the Whole Phone

 

The last step is to erase your phone. You can use the factory reset function on your phone to reset your phone to delete all data.

 

To factory reset Android, please open Settings and tap the “General management” > “Reset” > “Factory data reset” option. Then scroll down and select the “Reset” icon to initiate the process.

 

 

However, it is not thorough enough that it is possible to recover your data after performing the factory reset. Therefore, lots of people will choose a professional data cleaner, such as Coolmuster Android Eraser. It can permanently wipe all information with a deep scan, so your deleted files can no longer be restored.

 

 

How to clear data on an iPhone? Here’s the guide: enter Settings, and select the “General” > “Reset” > “Erase All Content and Settings” > “Erase Now” icon. The iPhone files are deleted.

 

 

Conclusion

 

To sell your old phone securely, please read every section above carefully. Maybe they are a little troublesome, but it is effective to prevent data leakage. Believe it or not, they will help you get a safe second-hand cellphone transaction.