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GUIDE2025.09.15 — 3 min read — By Macauley Lynch, Founder

How to Wipe Your Phone Before Donating It

Planning to donate your old phone? Smart move. But before you do, here's a quick guide to wiping it yourself — just in case you want that extra peace of mind.

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We Wipe It Anyway, But...

When you donate a phone to us we sanitise it to NIST SP 800-88 regardless. But we completely understand wanting to do a clean yourself first — especially if you are posting it.

iPhone

  • Go to Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content and Settings
  • Sign out of iCloud first (Settings → your name → Sign Out)
  • Remove your SIM card

Android

  • Go to Settings → System → Reset → Factory Data Reset
  • Sign out of your Google account first
  • Remove your SIM and SD card

Important Note

A factory reset on a phone is more effective than on a laptop, because modern phones encrypt by default and the reset destroys the key. We still run our own sanitisation on everything regardless, so you are covered twice.

GOT OLD TECH LYING AROUND?

Free pickup. Free data wipe. Someone who needs it gets it. Zero hassle.