How to wipe your Android phone before selling it or trading it in

Are you thinking of buying the latest Samsung phone? Or do you prefer the Pixel? Whether you’re planning to trade in your old Android phone for a discount on a new one, sell it on eBay, give it away, or recycle it, you’ll want to wipe it off all its data first by restoring it to the factory settings. Fortunately, that’s quite simple to do. Let’s know How to wipe your Android phone before selling it or trading it in.

Please note that these instructions were tested on a Pixel 3 running Android 12. However, you should be able to follow these instructions using most of the current Android phones available. You will want to ensure that all your data is backed up or transferred to your new device. Resetting your old phone leaves you with any option but to start again.

• Click on Settings
• then on System > Reset
• Reset
• Reset. Four choices will appear. If you are experiencing connectivity issues, you may need to reset your Wi-Fi, mobile phone, and Bluetooth. In addition to restoring your app and notification preferences. If you no longer need any digital SIM cards, you can erase downloaded SIM cards. These actions will not wipe your phone’s data, though. Choosing to Erase all data (factory reset) accomplish what you should do.
• Next, you will find out what information is going to be deleted and which accounts you are logged into. Choose Delete everything.
• You’ll need to enter your PIN or another form of security if you have one.
• Once you confirm this is a good idea, you’ll receive a second screen asking whether you’re sure. Is that right? Next, click Reset all data.

There you have it! The whole process takes no longer than a few minutes most of the time. After the phone reboots, you will be prompted to select a language, account, network, etc. It will tell you the process has been successful when it shows them.

Know More – How to Remove Google or Gmail Account from an Android Phone?

Here are some things to keep in mind. First, if you have a Samsung phone, you may have to enter your Samsung account password before resetting the phone (if you have already created one and added it to the phone).

A reset will, after it reboots, ask for your login if the Android phone is using an older operating system (such as version 8). If you have already given someone the phone, this could be awkward. For this reason, if your phone is an older model, it’s a good idea to turn off the screen lock (by selecting None in Security > Screen lock) and delete your Google account (found at Settings > Account > Google) before you attempt to reset it. It seems like an excellent idea anyway.

After a phone has been reset, data remains even if it is not plugged in. Before resetting the phone, you can encrypt it as a precaution:

• You can select Encrypt phone under Settings > Security > Encryption & credentials
• and then proceed to reset your phone.

Unless you plan to hand the phone over to anybody, you could always use a hammer if you wanted to be sure.