Before throwing away, selling, or giving away an old phone, there are several important steps you should take. Otherwise, you risk losing valuable data or leaving the new owner with access to your accounts. Dmitry Model, head of the Financial Literacy Directorate at the Research Financial Institute of the Russian Ministry of Finance, has explained in detail what to pay attention to.

Don't rely solely on automatic syncing

Many users assume that the cloud will save everything automatically. In practice, this does not always work. Automatic backups can fail or occur too infrequently. As a result, photos, messages, and documents from the last few days—or even weeks—may simply not have been uploaded.

Therefore, before disposing of your smartphone, the expert advises manually initiating a full backup. Particularly important files—family photos, document scans, work materials—should ideally be stored in two places: in the cloud and on a physical medium (a computer or a USB drive).

Sign out of all accounts completely

Simply deleting apps from the home screen is not enough. Data and authorisation tokens may remain in the system and could be restored. You need to:

  • sign out of all apps, messengers, gaming services, and app stores;
  • remove saved passwords from browsers used for autofill;
  • unlink the device from the manufacturer's primary account—Apple ID or Google account.

Only after this should you perform a full factory reset. This operation will permanently delete user data and make the phone "clean" for the next owner.

Don't forget the small details

Before handing over the device, be sure to remove the SIM card and memory card. They often remain in the tray, and later you have to restore contacts or transfer files separately.

If the smartphone is being sold or given as a gift, it is worth tidying it up. Carefully clean the body, ports, and speakers (without letting water in), and find the original box, documents, and charger. This will increase the device's value and make a better impression on the buyer.

In brief

Before disposing of, selling, or handing over your smartphone, be sure to manually back up all important data and store critical files in two places. Sign out of all accounts completely, delete saved passwords, unlink the device from your Apple ID or Google account, and only then perform a factory reset. Don't forget to remove the SIM card and memory card, and if selling, tidy up the phone and assemble the documentation package.