5 Important Things to Check Before Selling Your Old Smartphone

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Exchanging or reselling your smartphone to buy the newest one is a very good option. But you still need to take the time to properly set up your old device.

When the time comes to replace your smartphone, it is quite possible to reduce the bill by exchanging or reselling your old device. However, before saying goodbye, it is necessary to carry out certain operations. This is to ensure that important data or accounts are not exposed.

Ideally, you'll even be using your old and new phones side by side for a few days, until you're sure everything works on your new device and you don't need anything on the phone anymore. Doing this check will save you a lot of trouble.

Checks and Things to Do Before Selling Your Old Smartphone

1. Back up everything

No one wants to lose data by changing phones. And luckily, today is pretty easy. Just sign in to Netflix and Spotify – for example – on your new device and all your content will be there, right where you left it.

Also, make sure everything is backed up in the cloud or on another device. Think especially of your important photos and videos (Apple Photos, Google Photos, or a service like Dropbox can handle that). If you're using a podcast player, make sure you don't lose places or downloaded episodes.

iPhone and Android smartphones also have native backup services that can handle this for you: read Apple and Google's help documents for all the details, but also do your own analysis to figure out what needs to be backed up to transfer.

2. Transfer your two-factor authentication code

Using your smartphone as a device for two-factor authentication is a good idea – it means that bad guys can't get into any of your accounts with just your username and password. However, this additional security measure can cause problems when you switch devices.

Your smartphone is the key to accessing a whole host of accounts, from social networks to your email clients. If you use it to generate two-factor authentication codes, then you need to configure this app on your new smartphone, in order to access your account normally.

The procedure varies by application, so check it out on a case by case basis how it works. Apps like Authy and Google Authenticator offer direct and simple guidelines for making these transfers.

3. Log out of your account

This isn't absolutely necessary in some apps, but it's a good idea to go out. And thus disabling access to as many of your apps as possible before leaving them, making the transition to new ones easier.

Some apps have a limit on the number of devices you can use – streaming apps count the number of devices to download, for example. Some apps have a limit on the number of their installs. So you want to undo your old installation before adding the new one.

Before logging out anywhere, also make sure you know all your passwords, because you'll need them the next time you want to log in. This is a very simple operation if you use a password manager.

4. Continue your chat

We've already mentioned backups, but it's worth discussing instant messaging apps separately. Your private conversations must be very important to you, and you don't want to see them disappear when you switch to a new phone.

Apps like Twitter, Facebook Messenger, or Google Chat store everything in the cloud. With Apple iMessage, your chats are backed up and synced across your devices via iCloud. If you use Signal and have both old and new smartphones, you can use the original account transfer feature.

The process differs from application to application, but be sure to use the most up-to-date version. WhatsApp is an app with an ever-changing transfer process, but there is such a feature.

5. Perform a factory reset

Lastly, you will have to do a factory reset to return your old smartphone to its original state, but only after checking the previous four points.

This means that no one will be able to access your account or data, as all your files, apps and identifiers will be deleted. Everything from details of the Wi-Fi network you have set up at home, to the browsing history on your device, to downloaded wallpapers, is deleted from local storage.

On Android, in Settings, go to System, then Reset and Wipe all data (factory reset). The name of the menu varies from one Android device to another, but the meaning is always the same. On iOS, in Settings, select General, then Transfer or Reset [Device] and finally Erase All Content and Settings.