How To Set Phone To Default Settings

Before you become too excited nigh your new telephone, you demand to set up your old Android for selling or recycling without compromising your security in the process.

The day has finally come up! That new phone you've been so excited about has arrived and y'all can't wait to get started learning most all the new features at your fingertips. (You're definitely going to want to check out these hidden Android features and find out how to stop spam texts). But first, you have to prepare your one-time phone for selling or recycling. And that means performing a factory reset of your Android phone, which volition wipe all your data so that someone else can't get their easily on your personal information.

Why is information technology of import to wipe all personal data from your phone?

Put simply: If you lot don't, someone else will be able to access it. That tin can be embarrassing and intrusive at best—and downright dangerous at worst. "If yous practise not factory reset your phone before selling it to someone, they can expect at all of your pictures and documents and also find your address and have all of your passwords," explains Rickey Cyr, co-founder and editor of TechTastes.com. They tin even recall deleted text messages.

And the security risks don't stop there. If you're still logged into Google Pay, Samsung Pay, your bank account, or apps for other fiscal services, whoever ends upwardly with your telephone could theoretically spend your coin and impersonate yous. "The risk of identity theft is very existent," says Liam Shotwell, atomic number 82 Android author at UpPhone. "Failing to properly factory reset your Android phone earlier giving information technology to someone else is a lot like giving someone every important detail of your life. This is peculiarly the case if you store important data similar your social security number, bank business relationship numbers, passwords, addresses, and other personal information on your device." Speaking of which, you actually shouldn't store these 8 things on your smartphone. And, to be prophylactic, yous tin can as well learn how to turn off Google Assistant on an Android phone—information technology's always listening, later all.

ⓘ

What steps should you take before yous do a factory reset?

Prior to performing a factory reset, y'all should dorsum up all of your data. "Wiping all the data from your telephone poses a risk of deleting something you care about forever," Shotwell explains. "This could be personal information, photos, videos, files, or other data. Users should back up all data that they [want to keep]." Technically, there are means to retrieve data subsequently a factory reset, but doing then is complicated and not at all guaranteed. It's meliorate to just not take that chance.

Just be careful non to select "Erase SIM Menu Retentiveness" along with your reset, as this will too reset your SIM card. Otherwise, the reset applies only to your phone and non to the information on your SIM carte.

Worried virtually the payment methods y'all have saved on your phone? Don't exist. They volition be deleted with a manufacturing plant reset, so you don't accept to have any additional steps ahead of time. Speaking of payments on your smartphone, here's what you demand to know about how safety Google Pay is, in general.

How to clear your Android phone

One time all your data is backed upwards, you are fix to begin the steps for performing your manufacturing plant reset and clearing your Android phone.

Disable factory reset protection

"Manufacturing plant reset protection is a feature that restricts anyone simply the possessor of the device from resetting the phone," Shotwell says. "This is determined by the Google account logged into the device." If you fail to log out of your Google account before performing a manufacturing plant reset on your device, Shotwell says the new owner of your phone won't be able to go past the initial setup process.

Is that a big deal? In a word: yes. "If y'all forget to do this footstep, you might have to share your Google password with the new owner or sign in for them," he explains. "Endeavour to avert this problem as best you can past disabling manufacturing plant reset protection earlier getting rid of your Android device."

To do this, simply sign out of all your Google accounts (which might include Gmail, Google Docs, GSuite, and Google Play). "This can be done in the device settings under Accounts or Google, depending on what phone y'all take," Shotwell says.

Encrypt information

The goal of a factory reset is to wipe everything—but that doesn't always happen. Data ofttimes remains subconscious in the background, fifty-fifty afterward a factory reset, and determined hackers can discover it if you don't take a few actress steps. That'south just ane of the secrets hackers don't want you lot to know.

"Android phones use a kind of flash storage called a solid-state bulldoze or SSD," Shotwell explains. "Flash retentiveness is express by how much data can be overwritten to the drive." If this is overwritten also much, the drive can become unusable. To help prevent this, whenever you lot delete information from your phone, it is often marked every bit being available for other information to take its identify rather than being fully deleted. Every bit a consequence, a hacker could use special software to recover that overwritten data.

"To prevent the telephone'southward new owner from recovering your data, one of your options is to encrypt the phone," Shotwell says. "In the by, you had to do this manually. Nonetheless, most phones from the terminal few years no longer have this choice, and I presume that this is because it can exist done automatically once you lot begin the factory data reset."

To exist safety, check to see if your telephone has the choice to encrypt data. You can perform the encryption on phones that still let you to practise and so manually by going to Settings > Security > Encrypt Phone.

"It's possible to encrypt an SD card manually if you accept expandable storage installed," Shotwell adds. "However, this is not related to the manufactory reset process." Still, information technology is important to remove your memory card before giving your telephone abroad, he adds. This is more often than not yours to proceed and use in your side by side phone. While encrypting your data can assistance go along your personal information out of hackers' hands, it'south still of import to know how to remove spyware on an Android phone to ensure your telephone is the safest it tin perchance be. Likewise, make sure you lot stay up-to-date on the best Android deject storage available.

Android phone showing the factory reset settings menu Getty Images (2)

Factory reset: Step by step

While the steps for performing a factory reset may vary depending on the brand of your Android phone, there'southward 1 affair everyone should do. "Before commencement, make sure that your device is charging," Shotwell says. "Resets can take a long time, and it's very important that your phone isn't interrupted by its battery dying."

One time you have a full accuse, he says to follow these steps for a factory reset:

Open up your settings.
Become to System > Avant-garde > Reset Options > Erase All Information (Factory Reset) > Reset Phone.
You may need to enter a password or PIN.
Finally, tap Erase Everything.

One important note: These steps are specifically for a Google Pixel device. While they will likely exist similar for other Android devices, but be sure to check your make instructions to be safe. "Other phones tin be reset in a similar fashion, just the options might be located in a slightly different place in your settings," Shotwell adds.

By the way—doing a factory reset can also help you get rid of a virus. Here'south more information on how to get rid of a virus on an Android telephone.

Load the phone with junk data

If you want to be absolutely sure that your personal data is prophylactic, Shotwell says at that place is an extra footstep you tin take: You can brand sure all of your information is overwritten before giving your phone abroad. "Theoretically, subsequently you perform a factory reset, you could fill the phone with every bit much data equally you lot tin can and then perform another manufacturing plant information reset," he explains. "This would overwrite all the sectors of the drive and make accessing your old data impossible."

Remember, this probably isn't a necessary step for newer phones that already encrypt your data upon mill reset. And Shotwell warns that a telephone'due south SSD tin can only perform so many overwrites. "Filling the Android device with junk data and then resetting it again may reduce the life bridge of the hard drive," he explains. So you lot should probably simply do this if have a much older phone you are concerned near. No affair what model you take, though, these are the pinnacle mobile security threats you need to worry about in 2022.

What to expect from a factory reset

"When you lot factory reset an Android phone, you completely wipe everything that was on your phone and give it a fresh start, like you lot but bought information technology for the showtime fourth dimension," Cyr explains. All data should be wiped, and all apps, photos, letters, files, and videos erased.

But, as Shotwell notes, a factory reset doesn't necessarily delete everything. "It does preserve the credentials of the Google account that was logged into the phone before you reset information technology," he explains. "If you do non log out of your Google account, information technology will require you lot to sign in after the reset is completed to finish setting the phone backup." For this reason, again, it'south important to brand sure you log out of your account before doing the reset and before getting rid of the telephone.

Once your reset is consummate, you're ready to say goodbye to your old phone and utilize your new ane! Start by enjoying these things Android tin practise that iPhones can't.

Sources:

Rickey Cyr, cofounder and editor of TechTastes.com
Liam Shotwell, lead android writer at UpPhone

<h4 data-lazy-src=