How to delete everything from your iPhone or Android smartphone before selling

People buy and sell used smartphones all the time. In my opinion it is a good practice to sell your iPhone or Android device when you buy a new one. Selling your used smartphone not only allows you to get some of the money you spent on it back but also saves the device from sitting in the drawer for years and then get thrown away.

One of the mistakes sellers make before selling their device to someone is they forget to delete their personal data from it. Now smartphone is a device that has all the personal information related to you in it and it can be disastrous for you if your private data such as images, videos, contacts, notes and other things fall in wrong hands. In order to delete everything from your iPhone or Android device you need to follow a few simple steps that can save you from a lot of trouble.

In this post we are going to share how you can wipe your data from both iPhone or an Android powered smartphones.

iPhone

Deleting data from an iPhone before selling is fairly a simple task. By tapping on a few buttons iOS users can remove everything from their smartphone in a few minutes. Before doing so you can back up all of your data in iTunes or on the iCloud so you can restore it in case you plan on buying a newer iPhone or want to preserve your data for the future.

Remember this process does not delete anything that is stored on your SIM card.

To delete all of your personal data from your iPhone, which is everything stored on it open ‘Settings’ app and then go to ‘General’. Next look for the ‘Reset’ option and tap on it. Now all you have to do is tap on the ‘Erase all Content and Settings’ option. That’s it!

Android

If you are selling an Android device then process of deleting data on this mobile operating system is a little different then how it is done on iOS but don’t worry it is almost as simple as on the iPhone. To wipe your data from an Android smartphone before selling it you will have to perform encryption on your device for maximum security.

This is a simple process but might take a while to complete. Also you will have to enter the PIN whenever you first boot your device after encryption is complete. To encrypt Android smartphone open Settings and then tap on ‘Security’. There you will find an option that says ‘Encrypt Phone’ and tap on it. After doing that you can delete all your data by factory resetting your device.

To factory reset your Android smartphone before selling it open the ‘Backup & Reset’ option and look for the relevant option to do so. This will delete all of your data that you don’t want any stranger to have so make sure you create a backup in your computer.

Apart from the methods mentioned above you should also

• Remove the SD Card from your smartphone before giving it to someone or perform a flash on it if you have to give it away.
• Remember to remove your Sim Card from the phone as it contains your contacts.