How to wipe data from your gadgets before selling them

Your devices are full of personal information that you don’t want to share. Before you sell them, learn how to wipe data from your gadgets.

Clear data from your gadgets before selling them is the best way to prevent your passwords or your personal data fall into the hands of the new owners.

Even if the buyer is a trusted friend or family member, it is not good practice to leave your information on devices you will no longer use. They can be at the mercy of new usage behaviors that are less secure than their own, allowing hackers to spring into action.

Reset your gadget to factory settings, be it a computer, smartphone or another device that connects to the internet, it is the easiest and safest option to clean your data or personal information.

But before doing so, confirm that you have already transferred everything you wanted to transfer to a new device or if there are things that you want to store on a disk or pen. Once the original configuration has been reset, it will be very difficult to recover what you didn’t want to lose.

How to clear data from your gadgets

Laptops Running Windows: Microsoft Made It Easy

Microsoft makes the factory reset task easy for Windows users. Windows. Be sure to clean your laptop, as these devices store even more personal information than smartphones.

Steps to clean:

• First connect your device to a power source so that it doesn’t stop the cleaning process midway if it runs out of battery;
• Type in the Windows search bar (in the lower right corner of the screen) “reset this PC” or go to > Settings (Settings) in the Windows start menu;
• The first option will open a dialog box titled >Recovery and then click on the button >Get started. The >Recovery option also appears when accessed via the menu;
• In the next option choose > Remove everything (Remove everything);
• On the following screen, also click on >Change settings and activate the ‘on’ in the option >Delete data (Data erasure).

MacBooks and Macs: less “friendly” to cleaning

THE apple it made the job of resetting to factory settings a little less intuitive than Microsoft, but it’s just as efficient at clearing data from your gadgets.

Steps to clean:

• Press the Command+R keys at the same time and press the Mac’s shutdown button. Release when the Apple logo appears;
• From the >Recovery menu, select >Disk utility and choose your disk (HD or SDD) from the list of drives that appear;
• Click on delete everything that appears on this MacOS partition, selecting Delete over each drive;
• Return to >Recovery and use the shortcut Command+R again from a new restart;
• Choose your startup disk and select Install (Install) MacOS;
• Let the computer work on its own. It will restart at least once or twice.

iPhones and iPads: It’s easy to keep everything clean

Steps to clean:

• Look for the >Reset option in >Settings and in General;
• Click >Erase all content and settings. You will need your Apple ID to complete the operation.

You can also do this cleanup from iTunes or the Finder if you have macOS Catalina installed. Just connect the device you want to clean to the computer and you will see >Restore (Restore) iphone or another.

Android: same on mobile phones and computers

Varying a little with the different versions of the operating system installed on the device, it is however normal to find the cleaning options in more or less the same places.

• Look for >Reset options or >Factory Reset in >System Settings;
• Then find something like >Erase All Data or >Factory Reset;
• The system will ask you to confirm once or twice if you want to continue – ensuring that it’s not an accident – ​​and, finally, ask for your PIN.

On the gadget or via the control device

whether it be a smartwatch, a fitness tracker or other device, your quest to clean your gadjets should always be the same. On the device itself, go to > Settings (Settings) and look for an option that says > Reset, > Erase all (Erase all) or Factory reset (Factory Reset). When connecting the gadjet to the computer or mobile phone that controls it, also make an identical search.

Consoles: must also clean

Microsoft Xbox One

• Home button select the pulley icon to enter the >Settings menu;
• Go to >System, then >Console Info and choose >Reset and Remove Everything.

sony ps4

• Enter the console’s Safe Mode by turning it off and then holding down the ‘on’ (power) button until you hear two beeps;
• This beep means the console will open in Safe Mode, offering a basic troubleshooting menu that includes >Start PS4 (Initialize PS4) and >Reinstall system software (Reinstall system software).

nintendo switch

• Turn on the console and look for the >System settings menu;
• Look for >System and then >Formatting options. This is where you’ll find the >Factory Reset that you’ll want to trigger.