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

Looked at the new phone? Here's how to delete data from your current smartphone so that it can be sold or donated to your younger brother without transferring all your data with it.


Chose to buy a new smartphone on Android? Here is a list of steps you need to take to safely remove all data from your smartphone before discarding it.

1. Backup 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 charge so that it does not run out of energy - the removal process may take a very long time. Or at least charge the phone completely.
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 it 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 a regular Android, go to Settings> Accounts> Google and select Remove Account. On the Samsung Galaxy it will be Settings> Cloud & Accounts> Accounts [Settings> Cloud and accounts> Accounts], then Google, then Remove Account. record].
5. On Samsung Galaxy phones, then you also need to delete your Samsung account. To do this, go to Settings> Lock screen & Security> Find My Mobile. Enter a 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 clicking on the Menu button (three) / approx. trans.].
6. Go to Settings> Security> Encrypt to start encryption. On the Samsung Galaxy it will be Settings> Lock Screen & Security> Protect Encrypted Data [I have this Settings> Biometer. data and security> Safe start / approx. trans.].
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. This process can take a long time, have patience and plan it in advance.
8. It's time to return to the factory settings. On a regular Android, this is done via Settings> Backup & Reset> Factory Data Reset and Reset Phone. [On Samsung, this is Settings> General settings> Reset> Data reset / approx. transl.]
9. At the end of the process your data will disappear. Technically, they will still be recorded in flash memory, which is now marked as free, but in the end they will be overwritten. Encryption will make them 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 upload large files to the device (video files are ideal for this) until it stops, 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 away your smartphone or tablet.