How to Wipe a Phone Before You Sell or Trade It

Last updated: November 6, 2026 · Steps checked against Apple Support, Google, Samsung, and FTC guidance (sources at the bottom)

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A modern phone is not really a phone. It is your photo library, your messages, your saved passwords, your banking apps, and the device that approves your sign-ins. Handing it to a buyer, a trade-in desk, or a family member without wiping it properly hands over all of that. Wiping it in the wrong order creates the opposite problem: your photos and two-factor codes gone before they reach the new phone, or a security lock left behind that makes the phone unusable for its next owner.

Three terms, defined before we start. A factory reset (Apple calls its version Erase All Content and Settings) returns a phone to its first-run state and removes your data, apps, and accounts from it. The master accounts are the accounts the phone itself is signed in to: your Apple Account on an iPhone, your Google Account (and a Samsung account, on a Galaxy) on Android. And the activation locks are the anti-theft ties between a phone and its master account: Activation Lock on Apple devices, Factory Reset Protection (FRP) on Android. Both exist so a stolen phone cannot simply be wiped and reused, and both will block your buyer the same way if you leave them on.

One warning before the steps. Deleting things by hand is not a wipe. The FTC's advice is to restore or reset the phone, not to delete files one by one. On an iPhone, hand-deleting is worse than useless: Apple warns that deleting contacts, calendars, documents, or photos while you are signed in to iCloud deletes them from iCloud and from every device you own. The erase at the end of this guide is what removes your data from the phone.

Before you start

What you need

Both phones, if the new one has arrived. The safest version of this job sets the new phone up first and wipes the old one last. If you are selling before the replacement arrives, the backup in step 1 is your only copy, so check it twice.
Your master account passwords. Apple Account, Google, and Samsung, whichever apply. Several steps ask for them, and a password reset in the middle can add a waiting period (Google advises waiting 24 hours after a password change before a factory reset). A password manager makes this painless.
A charger and Wi-Fi. Google advises charging an Android phone to at least 70 percent before a reset, which can take up to an hour.

The safe order, and why it matters

Every official guide for this job, from Apple, Google, Samsung, and the FTC, follows the same shape, even though the button names differ. Five steps: 1. Back up, and prove the backup exists. 2. Move your authenticator codes and passkeys. 3. Unpair, sign out, and deregister. 4. Erase the phone. 5. Check the result, and remove the phone from your accounts.

The order fails in two directions. Erase too early, and you lose data and sign-in codes that only existed on that phone. Skip step 3, and the phone reaches its new owner still tied to your account: an iPhone with Activation Lock still on cannot be set up by anyone else, and an Android phone that trips Factory Reset Protection asks the buyer for your Google credentials. Both mistakes are just sequence.

Step 1: back up, then prove the backup exists

The FTC puts this first: back up your phone so you have a copy of your information for the new phone. What counts as proof differs by platform.

iPhone: back up, or transfer straight to the new iPhone

Back the phone up to iCloud or to a computer before anything else. If the new iPhone is already in your hands and the old one runs iOS 11 or later, Apple's Quick Start can transfer your information directly to the new one. If your phone number is changing with the new device, Apple also advises adding additional trusted phone numbers to your account now.

Android: back up to your Google Account, then open Backup details

You can back up content, data, and settings to your Google Account, automatically or manually. Google is specific about what a reset does with that: data stored in your Google Account can be restored, but your apps and their data are uninstalled by the reset itself. So check the backup rather than assuming it. Open Settings, tap Google services, then Backup, and review Backup details. The backup restores during setup of the new phone, and Google notes the full process can take up to 24 hours.

Prove it on the new phone, if you have it

The strongest check is a working new phone: set it up from the backup or transfer, then open your photos, messages, and contacts and confirm the recent ones are there. Only a checked backup counts. And do not tidy the old phone by deleting photos or contacts by hand. On an iPhone signed in to iCloud, those deletions sync everywhere, as the warning at the top explained.

You should now have: a backup you have seen complete, or a new phone already holding your data.

Step 2: move your authenticator codes and passkeys

This is the step most wipe guides skip, and it is the one that locks people out of their own accounts. Two quick definitions. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is the second proof at sign-in, after your password. An authenticator app generates that proof as a six-digit code that changes every 30 seconds. If the old phone is the only place those codes live, erasing it erases your way into your email, your banking, and everything else. The FTC flags the same point: if you use an authenticator app, you may have to reactivate it on the new phone.

Move the codes while the old phone still works. Some apps transfer codes directly, some sync them, and some, notably Authy, have no export at all and require re-enrolling each account. Our guide to moving 2FA codes to a new authenticator app walks through every route. Do that job here, before any erasing.
Check your passkeys arrived. Passkeys stored in iCloud Keychain or in your Google Account sync to your other devices, so they should appear on the new phone when you sign in. Sign in to one or two important accounts on the new phone to prove it. Our passkey walkthrough covers the device-only cases that do not sync.
Save fresh recovery codes somewhere that is not this phone. Moving your authenticator often generates new recovery codes (the one-time backup codes an account gives you for emergencies). They belong in your password manager, not in a screenshot on the phone you are about to erase.

Our pick for where the codes and passwords live NordPass

NordPass

This job puts every secret you own in your hands at once: account passwords, a backups password, and fresh recovery codes for each account you re-enroll. They need a home that survives the phone. Our pick is NordPass, the password manager from the team behind NordVPN. It is clean, simple, and easy to learn. Store the recovery codes on the matching login items as you go, and they will be waiting on the new phone when the old one is wiped.

Visit NordPass

Step 3: unpair, sign out, and deregister

Now disconnect the phone from everything it is paired with or signed in to. This step turns the activation locks off, and it has to happen while the phone is still signed in and in your hands.

Unpair your Apple Watch, and settle AppleCare (iPhone)

If an Apple Watch is paired with the iPhone, Apple lists unpairing it as its own step, before signing out, so do it now, not after the erase. And if the device has an AppleCare plan, Apple notes you can cancel it or transfer it to the new owner.

Sign out of your Apple Account (iPhone)

Open Settings, tap [your name], scroll down, and tap Sign Out. On iOS 18 or earlier, enter your Apple Account password and tap Turn Off. On iOS 26 or later, you will choose between erasing the device as part of signing out and signing out without erasing. Choose the full path, or sign out and run the erase in step 4 straight away.

Remove every Google account, and your Samsung account (Android)

On a Samsung Galaxy, Samsung's own route is: open Settings, tap Accounts and backup, tap Manage accounts, select your Google account, and tap Remove account, then confirm. Samsung's note is the important part: remove all Google accounts on the phone, to avoid verification issues after the reset. On other Android phones the same list lives under Settings and then Accounts or Passwords & accounts. Remove your Samsung account there too, if the phone has one. One timing note: Google warns that removing your Google Account deletes its backup, which is why this step comes after step 1, and ideally after the new phone has restored from that backup.

Deregister iMessage if you are leaving iPhone

If you are switching to a non-Apple phone, Apple lists deregistering iMessage as a required step. Skip it, and texts from other Apple users can keep routing to iMessage instead of arriving at your new phone as regular texts.

Step 4: erase the phone

Everything above exists to make this step safe. Last preparations, both platforms: charge the phone first (Google advises at least 70 percent for Android, and a reset can take up to an hour), keep Wi-Fi or mobile data connected, and know your passwords. Google asks you to be sure you know a Google Account username and password on the phone, plus its PIN, pattern, or password. Pick your platform below. Android menu names vary by model and software version, and Google and Samsung both say to check the manufacturer's support pages if your screens differ.

iPhone: Erase All Content and Settings

Open the erase screen

Go back to Settings, tap General, then tap Transfer or Reset iPhone, and tap Erase All Content and Settings.

Confirm, including the eSIM choice

Enter your device passcode or Restrictions passcode if asked, then tap Erase iPhone to confirm. If Find My is turned on, you may need to enter your Apple Account and password. If the phone uses an eSIM (a digital SIM built into the phone, with no plastic card to remove), choose the option to erase the device and the eSIM profile when asked.

Know what the erase actually does

Apple spells this out: erasing removes any credit or debit cards you added for Apple Pay, plus photos, contacts, music, and apps, and turns off iCloud, iMessage, FaceTime, Game Center, and other services. It also turns off Find My and Activation Lock, which frees the phone for its next owner. And your content is not deleted from iCloud when you erase the device. The copies you backed up in step 1 stay where they are.

You should now see: the phone restart to its first-run welcome screen, as if it had just come out of the box.

Android: factory reset (Pixel and Samsung tracks)

Google's guidance for trade-ins is to use the factory reset inside the Settings app, not the button-combination recovery route. The two most common paths:

Google Pixel: erase from Reset options

Open Settings, tap System, then Reset options, then Erase all data (factory reset). Tap Erase all data, enter your PIN if asked, and confirm once more. Then leave the phone alone while it works.

Samsung Galaxy: erase from General management

Open Settings, tap General management, tap Reset, and select Factory data reset. Review the list of what will be deleted, tap Reset, then tap Delete all.

Understand the two things a reset does not touch

Your memory card. A factory reset removes apps, files, and personal data from the phone's internal storage. Data on an SD card is not deleted automatically. Samsung says to remove the card or format it separately, and the FTC says to take it out.
Factory Reset Protection, if you skipped step 3. Samsung notes that FRP may require your Google account credentials after a reset. Removing every Google account in step 3 prevents the buyer from ever seeing that prompt. If the phone does ask for a previous account during the check in step 5, the accounts were not all removed. Sign back in and repeat steps 3 and 4 properly. Never hand your password to the buyer.

You should now see: the phone restart to its first-run setup screen.

Step 5: the checks after the erase

Four quick checks close the job:

Leave the phone on its welcome screen. It should sit at the first setup screen, asking a new owner to begin. Do not start the setup yourself. If anything of yours appears instead, the erase did not run, and step 4 needs repeating.
Remove the phone from your trusted devices. Apple lists this as the final step for an iPhone, so the phone can no longer approve sign-ins or receive verification codes. On the Google side, the equivalent is signing the device out from your Google Account's device list, under Security and then Your devices in your account settings.
Take out the physical SIM card and any SD card. The FTC's reasoning is simple: a SIM card may store personal information. If you are keeping the same number, the SIM can move to your new phone. If you will not reuse it, the FTC advises destroying it.
Remember what the erase did not do. It did not cancel your mobile service. If you are not using a SIM with the device, Apple advises contacting your carrier for help transferring service to the new owner.

If you already handed it over

If the device has already left your hands unwiped, or was lost or stolen, work these routes in order:

Ask the new owner to erase it. Apple's first suggestion is the simplest: contact the new owner and ask them to run Erase All Content and Settings using the steps above.
Erase it remotely. If you lost the device, or it was stolen, Apple says you can erase it in Find Devices on iCloud.com. On Android, Google's remote reset requires the phone to be online with Find My Device turned on.
Remove it from your trusted devices, and change your Apple Account password. Apple is honest about the limits: changing your password will not remove personal information stored on the old device, but it prevents the new owner from deleting your information from iCloud.
Finish the loose ends. Deregister iMessage if you switched away from iPhone, so your texts reach you, and remove your payment cards from the old device through your account's Wallet settings.

Common mistakes

Erasing first and backing up second. There is no second. The reset is permanent, so backup, authenticator move, and sign-out all happen while the phone is still fully yours.
Deleting photos and contacts by hand on an iPhone. Signed in to iCloud, those deletions sync to iCloud and to every device you own. The erase removes them from the phone only, which is what you wanted.
Leaving one Google account signed in on Android. Samsung's warning is specific: remove all of them. One leftover account can trigger a verification prompt for the buyer.
Selling a phone with its activation lock still on. An iPhone never signed out and erased properly keeps Activation Lock, and an FRP-locked Android asks for the old owner's credentials. Both are prevented by step 3.
Leaving the SIM or SD card in the phone. The reset erases neither card. The SIM may hold personal information, and the SD card holds your files exactly as they were.
Setting the phone up again to check it. Running setup after the erase signs your accounts back in. The welcome screen is the check.

The whole job, as a checklist

Summary

Back up first, and prove it: a completed iCloud or computer backup, a Quick Start transfer, or a Google backup you opened under Backup details.
Move your authenticator codes and check your passkeys on the new phone before the old one is wiped. Save fresh recovery codes in your password manager.
Unpair your Apple Watch, settle AppleCare, then sign out of your Apple Account, or remove every Google account (and Samsung account) on Android.
Erase: Erase All Content and Settings on iPhone, eSIM profile included. Factory reset on Android, from Reset options on Pixel, or General management on Samsung.
Afterward: welcome screen showing, phone removed from your trusted devices, SIM and SD cards in your hand, not in the phone.
Already handed it over: ask the owner to erase it, erase remotely if you can, and change your Apple Account password.

Where these steps come from

Every settings path and policy claim in this guide was checked against the official help pages below in November 2026. Menus change. If a name on your screen differs slightly, the manufacturers' pages carry the current version.