How to safely delete your data from your Android smartphone before selling it

Have you looked for a new phone? Here's how to delete data from your current smartphone so that you can sell it or give it to your younger brother without transferring all your data with it


Have you chosen a new Android smartphone for purchase? Here is a list of steps you need to take to safely delete all data from your smartphone before abandoning it.

1. Back up all data. After they disappear, it will be impossible to return them. No undo buttons. No “oh wait ...” No recovery.
2. Connect the device to charging so that it does not run out of energy - the removal process can take a very long time. Or at least charge the phone fully.
3. For Android 5.0 Lollipop systems and later, you will need to enable the factory reset function (Android Factory Reset Protection, FRP). It is disabled so that thieves or pranksters cannot erase data from your phone. First you need to remove the screen protection: Settings> Security & Location> Screen Lock and select None. On Samsung Galaxy phones, this will be Settings> Lock Screen & Security> Screen Lock Type [Settings> Lock Screen> Screen Lock Type] and select None.
4. Then you need to delete all Google accounts. On regular Android, go to Settings> Accounts> Google and select Remove Account. On Samsung Galaxy it will be Settings> Cloud & Accounts> Accounts [Settings> Cloud and Accounts> Accounts], then Google, then Remove Account [Delete Account record].
5. On Samsung Galaxy phones, then you still need to delete the Samsung account. To do this, go to Settings> Lock screen & Security> Find My Mobile. Enter the password, select an account, and then More> Remove Account [on my Samsung J5, you can delete a Samsung account by selecting it in the Accounts section and then pressing the Menu button (ellipsis) / approx. transl.].
6. Go to Settings> Security> Encrypt to start encryption. On Samsung Galaxy it will be Settings> Lock Screen & Security> Protect Encrypted Data [I have it Settings> Biometer. data and security> Safe start / approx. transl.].
7. The phone will tell you what to do next. Set a complex password. Do not encrypt the SD card, you can remove it and keep it for yourself. This process can take a long time, be patient and plan ahead.
8. It is time to reset to factory settings. On regular Android, this is done through Settings> Backup & Reset> Factory Data Reset and Reset Phone. [On Samsung, this is Settings> General Settings> Reset> Data Reset / approx. perev.]
9. At the end of the process, your data will disappear. Technically, they will still be written to flash memory, which is now marked as free, but they will eventually be overwritten. Thanks to encryption, it will be extremely difficult to recover. But if you want to completely get rid of them, go to the next step.
10. The best way to get rid of encrypted data is to overwrite it with new ones. There are two ways to do this. You can download large files to the device (video files are ideal for this) to the stop, and then delete them, or use a special application, for example, iShredder, to overwrite data.

That's all! Your data is no more, and you can safely give your smartphone or tablet.