Looking to sell your old Android phone so that you can upgrade to a new one? Or thinking of passing your old phone to a family member or friend? While this is a good idea, it is important that you move all your data off the device before doing anything with it. There are plenty of other things that you also need to take care of before getting rid of your old device which could otherwise cause issues down the line.
You should ensure that all your accounts have been unlinked from the device, and that it does not retain any of your data, and that it is in a "sale"-able condition. These are simple things, but since most people tend to upgrade their devices once every couple of years, they tend to forget about it. Below is everything important that you need to do before you sell your Android phone.
Backup everything
This goes without saying but if you are giving away your old Android phone, you must first create a backup of all your important data on it. This includes your photos, videos, documents, messages, contacts, and more.
If you don't already, you should use Google Photos for backing up your photos and videos. This is much better than manually transferring all your photos and videos to a PC or an external drive. For contacts, they should be automatically synced to Google Contacts but you should still double-check this. If you have important documents stored on your phone, transfer them to Google Drive/Dropbox. This way, you will be able to access them even from your PC.
Most people usually tend to forget backing up their chat history. If you use WhatsApp, you should head into the app's settings and create a backup and upload it to Google Drive. Otherwise, you will not be able to transfer your WhatsApp conversation history from your old phone to the new one. For backing up your important SMS conversations, you can use the SMS Backup & Restore app.
Since your app data will not be backed up in most scenarios, make sure to open the app which contains important data and use its built-in backup option, if any. Also, make sure to backup any two-factor authentication app that you have on your old Android phone.
Transfer data to new device
Most people tend to get their new phone after selling the old one. In case you are selling your old Android phone after getting the new one, you can transfer all your data on the latter. The issue, however, is that it is not easy to transfer app data between Android devices. There's no official solution from Google for this and while some OEMs do offer an app for this, it usually tends to not work well with devices from other brands. And even when the app works, the results tend to be a hit or miss.
If you are switching between Samsung devices, you can make use of Smart Switch. For OnePlus phones, you can use the OnePlus Switch app. Although even these apps may not work if both phones have a different version of Android installed.
Remove Google account
Until and unless you own a really old Android phone, it likely features Factory Reset Protection (FRP). This is an additional layer of security measure introduced by Google that will render your device useless if it ever gets stolen and the thief does a factory reset on it. Whenever the device is booted after that, it will ask for the Google account details signed into it previously. Without this, there is no way to start the phone and use it.
You will obviously want to turn off FRP before selling off your old Android device. For this, you will have to remove all Google accounts signed into the device. Go to Settings -> Accounts and select the Google account which was used to first sign into the device. Find and select the Remove account option to unlink it from your old device.
Factory reset
Once you are done getting all your data off the device and creating backups of everything important, you need to factory reset it. This will remove all accounts that you have signed into the device and essentially put the software back in an unused state. This way, when the new owner of your old phone gets their hands on the device, they will be setting it up from scratch, just like one does with any new phone.
Clean everything and remove SIM card
Now that you have taken care of the software aspect, its time to remove the SIM card and microSD card (if any) from your old Android device. It is also a good idea to clean the device thoroughly using a damp microfiber cloth as it would have gotten pretty dirty over the years. You should also keep the bill, box, and other accessories of the phone handy and should pass it on to the new owner.
Where to sell your old Android phone
Once you are done with everything and are ready to bid adieu to your old Android phone, you can sell it to your friend or family members or pass it on to somebody you know. In case you are looking for a buyer for your old phone, you can try some of the options listed below:
What do you usually do with your old phone if you are upgrading to a new device? Drop a comment and let us know!
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