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The FTC says to remove the SIM card before getting rid of a phone, because it may store personal information, and to destroy it if you will not reuse it.
Restoring factory settings erases contacts, messages, photos, videos and browsing history, according to the FTC.
If you use multi-factor authentication, remove the old phone from your accounts’ trusted devices.
A phone is a wallet, a photo album, a mailbox and a key ring at once. The FTC points out that phones hold passwords, account numbers, emails, texts, photos and videos, and that in the wrong hands that information can lead to identity theft or hacked accounts. Before your old phone goes to a buyer, a carrier or a recycler, clear it properly.
The FTC’s steps, in the right order
The FTC’s guidance boils down to four steps. The order matters, because doing them out of sequence can lock you out of accounts or leave the phone tied to you.
1. Back up
Back up the phone to the cloud or a computer first. You will need that copy to set up the new phone. Check that the backup finished and that your photos and messages appear where you expect.
2. Move your security to the new phone
If you use an authenticator app or text-message codes to sign in, set those up on the new phone before you wipe the old one. The FTC notes that you may have to reactivate an authenticator app. Then remove the old phone from the list of trusted devices for any account that uses multi-factor authentication.
3. Unlink accounts and remove cards
- Sign out of your accounts and turn off the find-my-phone feature that ties the phone to you. If you skip this, the next owner may not be able to set it up.
- Remove the SIM card. The FTC says it may store personal information. If you are keeping your number, ask whether it can move to the new phone; if not, destroy it.
- Remove any SD memory card.
4. Erase
Restore the phone to factory settings. The FTC says this erases contacts, text messages, photos, videos, search history and browsing history, along with account numbers and passwords.
| Step | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Back up | Keeps your data before you erase it |
| Move authentication | Avoids being locked out of accounts |
| Unlink and sign out | Lets the next owner activate the phone |
| Remove SIM and SD | They can hold your information and are not erased by a reset |
| Factory reset | Erases the phone’s own storage |
How far a reset goes
The National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes guidelines for organizations on media sanitization, SP 800-88, which it describes as making access to data on a device infeasible for a given level of effort; cryptographic erase and secure erase are among the methods it covers. For a personal phone, the FTC’s advice to restore factory settings is the practical standard, and it is what phone makers’ own reset tools are built to do. Removable SIM and memory cards are separate, which is why the FTC lists them as their own step.
Tip: After the reset, start the setup screen and confirm the phone shows no trace of your accounts. Then power it off. Do not sign back in.
Update your number elsewhere
If you are not keeping your phone number, the FTC suggests updating it with any accounts or services that use it to identify you, such as banks or email. Otherwise, password reset codes may go to whoever gets the number next.
eSIMs and accessories
If your phone uses an eSIM instead of a physical card, ask your carrier how to move it to the new phone or remove it from the old one; there is no card to pull out. Unpair the old phone from smartwatches, earbuds, cars and home devices, too, so they stop trusting it. And check the case and the box for anything personal, such as a spare key card or a sticky note with a code.
If the phone does not work
A phone with a broken screen can still hold data. If you cannot reset it, ask the trade-in program or recycler how it handles data, or consider a repair shop that can connect a screen long enough to reset it. If none of that is possible, keep the phone until you can deal with it rather than handing over an unwiped device.
Protect the new phone too
The FTC’s advice for the new phone mirrors the steps above: set it to lock automatically with at least a 6-digit passcode, turn on automatic software updates, back up regularly and turn on the feature that can find, lock or erase it if it is lost or stolen.
Then what?
Once wiped, the phone is ready to sell, trade in, donate or recycle. If it is going to a buyer, see Trade-Ins and Bill Credits: How to Get Real Value From an Old Phone for getting fair value; if it has reached the end of its life, see Recycling an Old Phone Safely and Responsibly.
The bottom line
Back up, move your sign-in security, unlink accounts, pull the SIM and memory card, then reset. Ten minutes of care keeps your accounts safe and makes the phone easy for the next owner to use.