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Before you trade in, sell or give away

The steps to take before your old phone leaves your hands.

Do these at home, at your own pace, before you hand your old phone to a shop, a buyer or a family member. If you skip step 4, the phone stays locked to you and a shop may refuse it or lower the trade-in price.

Your checklist

  1. Check your new phone has your photos, contacts, messages and WhatsApp chats.
  2. Make one last backup of the old phone (see our backup guide).
  3. Unpair anything linked to the old phone, such as a smartwatch.
  4. Sign out. iPhone: Settings › your name, scroll down and tap Sign Out. Follow the steps on screen (older iPhones ask for your Apple Account password, then Turn Off). Android: Settings › Accounts (on Samsung, Accounts and backup › Manage accounts), tap your Google Account and choose Remove account. On a Samsung, remove your Samsung account too.
  5. Wipe the phone. iPhone: Settings › General › Transfer or Reset iPhone › Erase All Content and Settings. Android: open Settings, search for Factory reset (on Samsung, Factory data reset) and follow the steps.
  6. If asked about an eSIM when wiping, choose to delete it only once your number is working on the new phone.
  7. Take out your SIM card and any memory card.
  8. Take a photo of the phone showing its condition, and keep any trade-in reference number.

Stay safe

Watch how it's done

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Pressing play loads YouTube in privacy-enhanced mode. YouTube may then store data on your device. Watch on YouTube instead.

Official help pages

More guides

iPhone to iPhoneAndroid to iPhoneiPhone to AndroidSamsung to SamsungGoogle Pixel or other AndroidNew HONOR phoneNew OPPO phoneNew OnePlus phoneNew Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO phoneNew Motorola phoneMoving your WhatsApp chatsKeep your contacts and photos safe

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These guides are written by Norfolk Fibre Watch in plain English. The videos and links come straight from Apple, Google, Samsung and WhatsApp. We don't earn anything from this section. Menus can change after phone updates, so if your screen looks different, follow the official guide linked on each page.