Don’t Trade-In Your Old iPhone Until You Take These 3 Vital Steps

How often do you switch to a new phone? While some of us hang on to the same one for years and years – I have a friend who still uses an old flip-phone! – others just HAVE to have the new model of iPhone as soon as Apple releases it. If you love technology and fall into the latter camp, more power to you – have fun! – but one question: what are you doing with those old iPhones? Do you trade them in or pass them on to another family member? And most importantly— do you follow the right steps before you let it out of your sight? As PureWow recently reminded us, there are actually THREE key steps we should all take whenever you replace an old iPhone. Do you know what they are? Don’t worry— that’s why you have us. Just read on!

3 Key Steps

  1. Sync and back-up EVERYTHING.
    You might want to lose the old phone, but that doesn’t mean you want to lose everything ON it, right? After all, as more and more of us use our phones as cameras, we have pictures on there that are actually irreplaceable. Plus, you wouldn’t want to lose any of those songs you’ve downloaded while on-the-go. Even if you’ve regularly backed up to the Cloud, you’ll want to use iTunes to also back-up to your computer and sync everything, and you’ll also need to go through a specific process for your photos. Click here for instructions for the overall back-up, and here for the photo-specific instructions.
  2. Log out of everything. Yes, EVERYTHING.
    Now that you’ve backed up your data, photos, music and everything else, make sure you’re the ONLY one who can get it! That means logging out of EVERY app – including Dropbox, email, Facebook, Instagram, iTunes, Venmo, etc. – and disconnecting from the Cloud and your Apple ID. To do those last two:
    • Apple ID: Settings => App and iTunes Stores => Apple ID => Sign out
    • Cloud: Settings => iCloud => Scroll to Delete Account => Tap and confirm
  3. Perform a secure erase.
    When there’s nothing left to back-up and you’re really ready to let it go, erase everything and take your phone back to it’s fresh, blank factory settings. Absolutely do not perform this step until you’ve done the first two and you’re REALLY ready. You sure? OK. Here’s how:
      Settings => General => Reset => Erase All Content and Settings

How many of these steps did you know already? Do you follow this routine when you upgrade your phone? What’s your experience in the past been like? Share your wisdom in the comments!