Reset Your iPhone to Sell – Follow These Simple Steps

Have you ever considered selling your iPhone to upgrade to a new model? Before you sell, you’ll want to wipe all of your personal data from your iPhone.

Your iPhone is presumably where you store a lot of your personal data. You’ll have pictures on there, message threads, documents, and other information that you don’t want anyone else to see. You can get a reasonable sum of money for your older iPhone, provided it’s in at least decent condition. But you’ll first need to reset it and remove all of the personalized features.

Why Should You Reset Your iPhone?

If you’re going to sell your iPhone, you should know that iOS devices are hardware encrypted. That means if someone doesn’t know the encryption key, they shouldn’t be able to access anything that’s on your phone.

You should still erase everything from your phone, though, before you try to sell it. That’s just doing your due diligence. It’s the same as if you were going to sell a laptop, desktop, or a tablet. You would want to remove everything and restore it to the factory settings, just to be safe.

Don’t Manually Delete Information from iCloud

You should also keep in mind that manually deleting your personal or sensitive information from iCloud is not the same as resetting your phone. Provided you backed up all the data from your phone beforehand, you can still retrieve it from the Cloud when you’re ready to do so.

If you manually delete your photos, contacts, reminders, documents, calendars, or anything else from iCloud, then you will not be able to get them back. Once you sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID and delete things, they cannot be recovered.

iCloud is like a bank vault for your information. Only erase things from it if you are confident that you are not going to have any use for them in the future.

Backing Up Your iPhone

Before you reset your iPhone and get ready to sell it, you should first back it up. This is something that happens automatically through iCloud each night, but you should still do it manually so that you’re sure you’re not losing anything of value.

1. To begin, make sure that your phone is connected to Wi-Fi. You should also plug it in for this process if you are running low on power.

2. Go to the Home screen and tap on “Settings.”

3. Next, tap the Apple ID banner at the top of the screen.
4. Tap “iCloud“

5. Scroll down a little, and then tap “iCloud Backup.”

6. Tap the switch so that it turns on.
7. Finally, tap “OK” when you’re prompted to do so. Now, all of your data and personal information will be safely stored, and you’ll know that you’re okay to sell the iPhone.

How to Reset Your iPhone

Now you’re ready to wipe the iPhone clean so that you can put it up for sale. You can go about this next step with confidence because everything that you wanted to save is safely in the Cloud, and you can retrieve it later and transfer it to your new iPhone or another Apple device. Follow these steps to reset the phone.

1. Start by launching the “Settings” app from your phone’s Home screen.
2. Next, tap “General.”

3. To find “Reset,” you will need to scroll all the way to the bottom. Once you’ve located it, tap on it.

4. Tap where it says “Erase All Content and Settings.”

5. “Erase iPhone” is one of the options. Tap on it.
6. Tap on it one more time for confirmation.
7. You’ll be prompted to enter your passcode. Enter it.
8. Now, you’ll be asked for your Apple ID password. This will turn off the Active Lock feature and remove the device from “Find My iPhone.” This is a service that runs automatically when you have an iPhone. Deactivating this feature effectively means that you are opting out of being tracked.

It may take a few minutes, but there isn’t anything further that you need to do. The phone will indicate to you when the wiping process is complete, and you can now give or sell it to someone else, and it will have the original factory settings. You won’t have to worry about them having access to any of your data or sensitive information. You can rest easy knowing that you can restore all of your information to a new Apple device because it is readily accessible in the Cloud.

Other Considerations for Protecting Your Personal Data

1. If you are going to be getting a non-Apple phone, then you should deregister iMessage. That way, you can be sure that no one is going to be impersonating you.
2. If you are selling or giving the iPhone to someone you know, it’s helpful if you contact your carrier to help transfer service to the new owner. That way, you can also be sure that you have given notice that you are opting out of your contract. You don’t want to keep getting billed after the phone is no longer in your possession.

Resetting Your iPhone is Simple and Easy

The good news when it comes to backing up and resetting your iPhone is that Apple devices are built in a way that is quite intuitive. Even if you’re not the most tech-savvy individual, you shouldn’t have much trouble following these instructions. Most of the phones also have similar features, so doing this for iPhone X will work just as well as doing it for an 8 or another one of the later models.

What if You Forgot to Reset Your Phone?

If for some reason you forgot to reset your phone before you sold it, you should contact the buyer and ask them to follow the steps mentioned above. To ensure that they do it, try to sell your phone through a reputable market. Try not to sell to anyone who you fear might be dishonest.