Before You Trade In an Old Phone: A Wipe Checklist
Trading in, selling or handing down a phone? Back up, sign out and erase in the right order so your accounts, cards and messages don't leave with the device.
The new phone is out of the box and the old one is going to a trade-in program, a nephew or a stranger on a marketplace. A factory reset alone can leave the phone tied to your account, and forgetting one step means chasing a device you no longer hold.
Old phones hold a lot: banking apps, photos of IDs, saved passwords and the two-step codes that protect everything else. The order of the steps matters, because some of them depend on the phone still being signed in. Do this after your new phone is working and has been tested for at least a day.
iPhone, step by step
These steps follow Apple’s guide to preparing an iPhone or iPad for sale, gift or trade-in.
- Back up and move your information to the new device. If your phone number is changing, add extra trusted numbers to your Apple Account first.
- Check Parts and Service History if you are trading in. Apple says to finish any repair marked “Finish Repair” first.
- Unpair your Apple Watch if one is paired, and cancel or transfer any AppleCare plan.
- Sign out of your Apple Account. On iOS 26 or later, Apple’s path is Settings, tap your name, scroll down, Sign Out.
- If moving to a non-Apple phone, deregister iMessage, so texts sent to you don’t vanish.
- Erase: Settings, General, Transfer or Reset, then Erase All Content and Settings. Enter your passcode if asked.
- Remove the phone from your trusted devices list.
Apple says erasing turns off Find My and Activation Lock, and that you may need your Apple Account password if Find My is on. Apple also notes a one-hour security delay can apply to changing your password with Stolen Device Protection on, so don’t start this at the trade-in counter. If the phone uses an eSIM, choose the option to erase the device and the eSIM profile when asked.
Android, step by step
Google’s help page on resetting an old device sets out the same basic order: back up, remove accounts, reset. Menu names differ by brand.
- Back up. Google says, “You must back up your data before resetting your device.”
- Confirm you know the Google password by signing in on another device. Android Help says to do this before a reset, and to wait: “If you recently reset your Google Account password, wait 24 hours before you perform a factory reset.”
- Remove each Google account: Settings, the passwords and accounts section, select the account, remove.
- Remove any manufacturer account such as a Samsung account, in the same area of Settings.
- Charge and connect. Android Help recommends at least 70% charge and a network connection. “A factory reset can take up to an hour.”
- Reset: Settings, System, Reset options, then erase all data (factory reset).
- Take out any memory card and SIM, if there is one, before handing the phone over.
The accounts that outlive the phone
Wiping the phone clears it, but your accounts may still think it’s a trusted device. Go through this list on the new phone.
| Where | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Apple Account or Google Account device list | Remove the old phone |
| Phone wallets | Erasing removes Apple Pay cards, per Apple. If you no longer have the phone, remove them from Wallet on your iPhone |
| Banking apps | Check each bank’s list of authorized devices, if it has one |
| Messaging apps | Check “linked devices” in WhatsApp or Signal, if you use them |
| Authenticator apps | Make sure every account now has codes on the new phone before you lose the old one |
| Streaming and shopping apps | Sign out everywhere from the account page |
| Your carrier | Confirm the old SIM or eSIM is no longer active on your line |
This is also a good moment for a password review. Our 20-minute cleanup covers reused passwords, and our guide to closing accounts you no longer use deals with app accounts you are not reinstalling.
If the phone already left your hands
It’s easy to discover the omission a week later. Apple’s advice for a device you no longer have:
- Ask the new owner to erase all content and settings.
- If it’s lost or stolen, or you cannot reach the new owner, erase it using Find Devices on iCloud.com.
- Remove the device from your trusted devices list.
- Change your Apple Account password and turn on two-factor authentication. Apple notes that changing the password stops the new owner from deleting your iCloud data but won’t erase the phone.
- Remove cards and passes in Wallet on your iPhone.
On Android, change your Google Account password and remove the old phone from your account’s device list. If it holds a passkey or an authenticator, treat those accounts as needing a review.
Trade-in, sale or hand-me-down?
Trade-in: get the program’s confirmation of the received device and keep it
Marketplace sale: reset in front of the buyer so they see it power on clean
Hand-me-down: reset anyway; a child should start with their own account
Recycling: erase first, even if the phone seems dead, if you can power it on
If you sell it yourself, a buyer who wants you to read out a code “to verify the phone” is running a different con. Our rules for selling online cover that, and a phone going to a child should be set up from scratch on the child’s own account.
A test before you box it
Turn the phone on after the reset. It should show a setup screen and ask for a language. If it asks for your old account, the reset isn’t finished from the account side: go back and remove the account from the device list. Take a photo of the setup screen and the serial number for your own records, especially if you are mailing the phone.