How to Safely Erase Your Phone Before Selling
Official steps to wipe an iPhone or Android phone so your data stays private.
iPhone
- Back up the phone.
- Sign out: Settings → [your name] → Sign Out. This turns off Find My and Activation Lock.
- Erase: Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content and Settings.
- If you use an eSIM, contact your carrier about transferring or removing it.
Android
- Back up the phone.
- Remove your Google account (Settings → Passwords & accounts, or similar). This prevents Factory Reset Protection from locking out the buyer.
- Samsung: also remove your Samsung account.
- Factory reset: Settings → System → Reset options → Erase all data (wording varies by brand).
Modern phones encrypt your data, so an official factory reset makes it unreadable. Follow the official steps for your exact model.