The craze over iPhone 13 hasn’t died down yet, and Apple is already rumored to release iPhone 14 models in September 2022. So, it’s normal for iPhone users to start preparing to get rid of their old phones.
Whether you wish to sell, give away, or trade-in your old iPhone, you must ensure to take the following steps. If you fail to do so, you might be giving away your personal, sensitive data to the next iPhone owner.
- Don’t forget to back up your phone
The data stored on your device is useful. It would be best to back up your iPhone to a computer or iCloud to avoid losing your valuable data when you give away or sell your device.
To accelerate the backup process, you can uninstall unnecessary social media apps or game apps. Removing things you don’t need will reduce the backup size, and hence, the time. Furthermore, such apps already store data on their servers, and when you log in to these applications on your brand new iPhone, you will get everything back.
- Delete the text messages
Why would you want the new owner of your iPhone to read your text messages? You can manually delete messages by holding the message bubble or attachment and tapping More. Then, you need to tap Trash and select Delete Message.
If you’re using iMessage, you need to sign out from the account and delete all the message history. You can also do the same for your WhatsApp messages.
Most people sync their iMessage with their Mac, and therefore, if you wish to be doubly sure your messages are deleted, you can delete the messages on your Mac too. However, if you wonder how to delete messages on Mac, it can be done manually by signing out from your messaging accounts.
- Erase all the settings and data from your phone
Once you have a backup copy of your data, you can delete the settings and data from your iPhone. Go to Settings > tap on General > scroll down and tap Reset > tap on the Erase All Content and Settings option. If you have set any Restrictions passcode, you will be asked to enter the passcode to proceed.
After entering the passcode, you will get one more prompt to confirm whether you truly want to delete settings and data from your iPhone. Again, it would be best to tap on the Erase iPhone button, and you’ll be good to go.
The process might take a few minutes or hours, depending on your iPhone’s version and the amount of data you had stored.
It is also good to unlink your device and sign out from online services like Dropbox, Google, etc.
- Switch off Find My iPhone
The Activation Lock on iPhones is enabled with Find My iPhone, and if you do not switch it off, the new owner cannot use the phone. So, before giving, selling, or trading, you need to go to Settings > tap your name > tap Find My iPhone and switch it off.
- Remember to unpair your Apple Watch
If you have paired your iPhone with your Apple Watch, you must remember to unpair it before selling your iPhone. Then, you can pair your watch with your new iPhone and restore the backed-up data.
- Sign out of Apple ID and iCloud
You need to sign out of your Apple ID and iCloud by tapping Settings > tapping your name > tapping Sign Out. Then, you’ll be asked if you would want to keep a copy of your Keychains, contacts, and other data. You need to turn them off because you no longer need that information and data on your device.
- Get more resale value by unlocking your carrier-locked iPhone
Is your iPhone locked to your carrier? If so, it would do you good to unlock it before you sell or trade-in your phone. Unlocking an iPhone means allowing the new owner to use the phone with their preferred carrier.
Furthermore, the resale value of an unlocked iPhone is significantly higher. So, you can speak to your carrier and find out what you can do about this.
- Remember to remove this iPhone from your list of trusted devices
Before giving away or selling your iPhone, there’s one last thing you need to do. Ensure your old iPhone doesn’t show up on your list of trusted devices. You can remove this device from a web browser by visiting appleid.apple.com and logging in using your Apple ID. Next, tap on devices, and if you see the iPhone you have sold or given away, tap Remove from Account.
So, these are a few of the steps you must take before giving away or selling your iPhone. You cannot overlook any of these steps because they will safeguard your data and ensure the new owner doesn’t have any problems using the phone.