8 Vital Steps To Protect Your Privacy Before Selling Your Phone

Intending to sell your phone and buy a new one? Nowadays, smartphone replacement is more frequent than before, and resale is an excellent way to deal with old phones.

However, the purchase is easy but resale not. There is lots of your information on the current handset. If you don’t cope with it correctly, maybe you will leak your privacy. To avoid this situation, we are going to share 8 essential tips about what to do before selling your phone. You can securely trade your device with them.

1. Back up your data

In general, there are plenty of important files on the old phone, like contacts, text messages, photos, and more. Therefore, you’d better back up the data before you get the new phone. Then you can restore them to the new device without trouble.

For Android

How to fast back up an Android phone before factory reset? Perhaps using Google Drive is the first way in your mind. Besides installing the app, you can add your Google account on Android and enable the backup option. It will automatically back up your files.

Open the Settings app, and choose the “Accounts and backup” > “Backup and restore” option. Then turn on the “Back up my data” icon, and you can type your Google account by clicking the “Backup account” option.

For iPhone

iCloud, as a built-in feature on the iPhone, can back up different data types to the cloud space. If your next phone is still an iOS device, you can directly get the backup files back with iCloud. Furthermore, browse iCloud on the computer, and you can view and download what you want without a hitch.

It is simple to back up files with iCloud. Please unlock your iPhone and open Settings. Tap your name, find the “iCloud” feature, enter it and switch on the “iCloud Backup” icon. Finally, press the “Back Up Now” to start the backup.

2. Remove trusted devices from the phone

As you finish the data backup, it’s time to remove the Bluetooth accessories that you have paired with this phone, such as your Bluetooth headset, smartwatch, and the like.

For Android

To remove the paired devices from your old phone, you can run the Settings app, and click the “Connections” > “Bluetooth” option. Then you can tap the “Unpair” icon to disconnect them from the old phone.

For iPhone

If you want to delete your Apple Watch on the old iPhone, please place the watch and the phone together. Then open the Watch app and choose the “My Watch” tab and “All Watches” option. Next, tap the info button near the watch, and press the “Unpair Apple Watch” button.

As for deleting the Bluetooth accessory from the iPhone, you can also go to Settings > Bluetooth, click the info button, and select Forget this Device.

3. Eliminate payment cards attached to the phone

For paying conveniently, you might like attaching payment cards to the phone. Generally, it contains your card numbers and passwords, which are vital for you. To prevent information leakage, you’d better eradicate all cards from the phone.

For Android

Is there a payment app on your Android phone, like Google Pay and Samsung Pay? Actually, almost all Android brands have their own payment applications. If the brand of your new phone is different from the old one, you should obliterate your credit and debit cards from the app.

For example, if you plan to remove your cards from Samsung Pay, please open the app first. Then click the “Menu” > “Cards” > “More options” > “Delete card” > “DELETE” icon.

For iPhone

So, how to eradicate your cards on the iPhone? Its steps are different from Android. You can complete the eradication on the Settings app. Please choose the “Wallet & Apple Pay” option. Then highlight the card you want to delete, and tap the “Remove This Card” button.

4. Log out of your accounts

Now, it is ready to log out of accounts. As we all know, every brand of mobile phone requires users to register an account. The user account allows users to upload data with the cloud storage services, and access exclusive apps, like Samsung Pay, SmartThings, Apple Pay, and more. For safety, you also need to log out of this account, and your mail, Facebook, WhatsApp, Apple Pay, etc.

For Android

If you are an Android user, you can remove your user account on Settings. Please tap the “People” icon on the top right, and choose the “Personal info” option. Then hit the “More” icon like three-dot on the upper right, and click the “Sign out” button. By the way, if you have added your Google account on the phone, please remove it as well.

For iPhone

Well, for iPhone, the first thing is to sign out of your Apple ID and iCloud. Navigate to Settings, and tap your user name, scroll down the screen, and you can tap the “Sign Out” button. Then it will ask you to enter your ID password. Once done, you will sign out your Apple ID and iCloud.

5. Remove the SIM card and SD card

Why do you need to remove your SIM card and SD card? Well, if you don’t want your text messages and address book to be exposed to strangers or even bad guys, please take out the SIM card. And the SD card, stores your images, songs, movies, and more. Even though you don’t need both cards anymore, please remove them for protecting your privacy.

For Android

Normally, there is a tray and slot on Android. If you have the original pin, please insert it into the hole, and push it until the tray pops out. Now you can get the cards. Please put your cards in a safe place, and plug the tray into your phone.

For iPhone

iPhone doesn’t support installing the SD card, so you need to only take out the SIM card. By the way, Apple doesn’t offer a pin for customers, so you can use a paper clip to eject the SIM tray.

6. Encrypt your data

The encryption gives your data extra protection. However, this feature is not available on all mobile phones. On Android 6.0 and higher, there is the SD card encryption feature merely. That means you can’t encrypt your device data on Android 7 and later. For iOS, you can encrypt the backup with iTunes.

For Android

To encrypt Samsung Galaxy 5, Google Nexus 7, etc., you can open Settings, and choose the “Security” > “Encrypt device” icon. Then you can set a password to encrypt your device. It will need more than an hour and consume much power. Please charge your phone until it is over.

For iPhone

As for the iPhone, you cannot encrypt your phone, but you can encrypt the backup with iTunes. Launch iTunes on the computer, and connect your iPhone to it via USB. Then, click the iPhone icon and choose the Summary. Please tick the “Encrypt iPhone Backup” in the backup section, create a password, and start the encryption by clicking the “Back Up Now” button.

7. Erase everything

The next step is to erase everything on your phone. Please note that the factory reset can’t erase data completely, and the deleted files can be recovered. If you want to clean up your phone thoroughly, please use professional software.

For Android

It is recommended to choose an effective Android data eraser software, which can wipe all files permanently. But if you still believe in the factory reset. You can go to Settings, choose the “General management” > “Reset” > “Factory data reset” option. Then scroll down the screen, tap the “Reset” button, enter your current PIN, and click the “Delete all” icon.

For iPhone

To reset your iPhone, please go to Settings, choose the “General” > “Erase All Content and Settings” option, Then input your passcode and tap the “Erase iPhone” icon. When it is over, you will complete the factory reset.

8. Clean and repackage the phone

As you cannot find any data related to yourself on your phone, the erasing work is over. The last step is to help you sell your phone at a better price. At first, please clean it with a dry and soft cloth. A clean phone will make a good impression on others.

Next, repackage the phone. If you still keep the box of this phone, it is the best. If not, please package it with a suitable box. All is done, and you can sell your phone now.

Conclusion

Undeniably, selling an old phone is more troublesome than we thought. But if you want secure trading, the steps mentioned above are necessary. They are also practical tips on second-hand transactions. Thus, please be more patient. Don’t forget that your new phone is waiting for you.