Selling or Giving Away an Old Phone Safely
Before you sell, trade in, recycle or give away a phone, remove your accounts and data properly. A step-by-step checklist for Android and iPhone, including the SIM and memory card.
An old phone can hold years of photos, messages, banking app sessions and saved passwords. Selling, trading in or passing it to a relative is fine, as long as you remove your accounts and data properly first. This takes about 20 minutes.
Before you begin
- Move to your new phone first and check everything works. See changing phones safely.
- Back up anything you want to keep.
- Move your authenticator codes and WhatsApp to the new phone.
The checklist
- Unpair smartwatches and other accessories.
- Sign out of banking and payment apps, and deregister the device in them if the option exists.
- Sign out of your cloud account:
- iPhone: sign out of your Apple account in Settings, which also turns off Find My.
- Android: remove your Google account in Settings, then Accounts. Remove Samsung or other manufacturer accounts too.
- Factory reset the phone from Settings (search for "reset" or "erase all content").
- Remove the SIM card and any memory card.
- Remove the phone from your accounts' device lists: your cloud account, email, WhatsApp and social media.
Do not skip signing out of your cloud account. If you reset without it, the phone may stay locked to you, and a buyer may later contact you, or a scammer may pose as one, asking for your account password.
If the phone is broken
- If it still turns on, follow the steps above.
- If it does not, remove it from your cloud account's device list online, and consider erasing it remotely through find-my-device.
- Use reputable recycling services, or ask them how data is handled.
Selling safely
- Meet buyers in public places, and confirm payment has arrived in your own account before handing over the phone. See fake payment screenshots.
- Never share your cloud account password with a buyer "to unlock" the phone.
A buyer asking for your account details or a code? Paste the message into CyberWatch AI Scan for a free check.
For more, read protecting your phone and number in our complete guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is a factory reset enough?
It removes your data from a modern encrypted phone, but you should also sign out of your cloud account first so the phone is not locked to you, and remove the SIM and memory card.
Why must I sign out of my Google or Apple account first?
So the activation or anti-theft lock is removed, and the next owner can use the phone. It also removes the device from your trusted devices.
What about the SIM card?
Take it out and keep it or destroy it. Never give away a phone with your active SIM inside.
Sources
- How To Remove Your Personal Information Before You Get Rid of Your Phone, US Federal Trade Commission
- Device security guidance, UK National Cyber Security Centre
- Find, secure, or erase a lost Android device, Android Help
