What To Do Before Selling My Phone?

Introduction

Before you sell your phone or hand it down to someone, make sure you have taken these steps to ensure the safety of your personal data and proper device restoration.  

1. Back up the data in your phone

For Apple user, you can back up your data to iTunes or iCloud. Do take note iCloud only limited to 5GB of free storage, beyond that, you have to pay for more storage space. 
You can follow this guide for step-by-step instruction to back up your iPhone and iPad. 
 
Android user can either use Google account or manually drag and drop the files to your computer. We do not recommend the latter as you may miss out copying important files.   

2. Transferring of data to new phone (If you have the new phone already) 

Once back up is done, we strongly recommend to transfer the data to your new device. DO NOT erase any information from your old device yet until you are sure all the important data and contacts are properly transferred. 

3. Encrypt your data

Encryption is a process that scrambles the data stored in your phone, making it unreadable. 
Apple iOS turned on the encryption by default but on Android phone, you have to manually enable it at the Security Settings.   

4. Factory Reset

Perform a factory reset to wipe all data and settings on the device. This process will restore the phone back to its original software condition when you first purchase. It is the easiest and most secure method to ensure your data is completely wipe off.   

5. Remove any SIM or SD cards

These external storage components may contain sensitive personal information. Ensure you remove them and keep it in a safe place. If no longer needed, use a scissor to cut it up into half and discard it.   

6. Clean the phone

If you are selling your phone, you would want it to look its best. Wipe the screen with a dry cloth and make sure all ports are clear of dust and dirt.   

7. Charge up device battery

Having some battery juice in the device will be very much appreciated especially if you are selling your phone. It will allow the buyer to turn on the device and check its condition before dealing. Do remember battery life will drained over time and hence charging it a day before handing over the device is advisable.   

8. Include accompany accessories

If the charger and cable are still in good working condition, include them together when you hand them away. This allows the next user to operate the phone immediately and helps to reduce unnecessary e-waste.