What to do before you sell or give away your devices

Upgrading your technology can be an exciting time, with lots of new bells and whistles taking your attention. But what do you do with outdated technology?

Whether you choose to sell it or give it away to the grandkids, there are a number of steps that you should go through to ensure your personal information is protected.

The key component of your technology transfer is transferring all of the information to your new device and then removing all of your personal information from the old device, but it is extremely important to do it in that order.

If you remove the information from your old device before you have transferred it to the new one, you can find yourself in a bit of strife, even for information that you may have stored on the cloud.

A common mistake is manually deleting contacts, calendars reminders, documents or any other information on the cloud while signed in with your ID. You should never ever do this as it will delete your content from the cloud servers and any of your other devices that are signed into the cloud.

Firstly, you should follow the manufacturer’s directions when transferring information to your new device. These instructions are usually pretty straightforward and involve running an app and entering your information when requested.

Once you have completed the transfer process you can concentrate on removing the personal information from your old device.

To avoid losing anything important you should backup your device, which you can do to the cloud.

Once the backup is complete you should sign out of your cloud storage area and the app store if you are using an Apple device, or Google Play if you are using an Android device.

Once you are signed out you should go the ‘Settings’ area and tap General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. 

If your device asks for a passcode at this point you should enter it and then continue with the erase process.

If you have already given away the device without completing this process you can ask the new owner to erase all content and settings by following the above steps.

If that is not possible, you should change your ID password. That won’t remove the personal information that you have stored on your older device, but it will prevent the new owner from being able to delete your information from the cloud.

What do you do with your devices when you upgrade them? Are you too worried about your personal information to sell them?

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