Scott Brenner

As a software engineer, I made technology safe to use. Now I help people protect their accounts, devices, and privacy.

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Don't Trade In Your Old Phone Until You Do This

Why a factory reset is the only safe way to let go of your old device

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My neighbor upgraded his phone last month and traded in his old one. Everything seemed fine... until he started getting "password reset" notifications for accounts he was still actively using.

He had done all the "normal" stuff: He logged out of apps, deleted his photos, and even cleared his browsing history.

But he never did a full factory reset.

That means his phone still had things like saved logins, cached data, and enough information for someone to potentially access his accounts. He got lucky and was able to stop the unauthorized access attempts, but it was way too close.

When you trade in your phone (or give it away, sell it, or even recycle it) there is real risk if you skip a critical step.

Here is what could still be stored on your old phone:

⚠️ Password managers (if not properly locked)

⚠️ Personal photos, notes, and saved documents

⚠️ Logins to email, social media, or shopping sites

⚠️ Banking and payment apps with active sessions

⚠️ Text message or call history (including sensitive conversations)

All of this can still be sitting on your phone even if you think you deleted it.

The only way to be sure everything is gone is to do a full factory reset.

🛡️ How to safely wipe your phone before trade-in:

1. Back up anything you still need (photos, contacts, documents) to the cloud or a new device.

2. Sign out of every account manually. This includes email, banking, social media, and any other apps you use.

3. Turn off Find My Device or equivalent tracking features. (For iPhones, this is "Find My iPhone" in iCloud settings; for Android, it's "Find My Device" in Google account settings.)

4. Do a factory reset from your phone's settings menu (look under "Settings > General > Reset" on iPhone or "Settings > System > Reset options" on Android).

This applies to every device — phones, tablets, laptops, even smart speakers or watches.

⏱️ This week's action:

If you are planning to trade in, sell, or give away an old device, write yourself a reminder to back up → sign out → factory reset before you hand it over.

Better to take an extra 10 minutes now than to spend hours cleaning up unauthorized access later.

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Not sure if there are other everyday risks you might be missing?

That's why I created the 15-Minute Online Safety Checkup. It helps you find the gaps that matter most and shows you how to fix them.

👉   Get Your 15-Minute Online Safety Checkup

It's only $7 and takes about 15 minutes.
Get peace of mind in less time than it takes to drink your coffee.

Plus, you'll get a free bonus guide called 5 Phishing Red Flags Most Travelers Miss to keep you safer while traveling.

Stay safe,

OnlineSafetyZone.com

PS - If you'd like me to cover another online safety topic that's been nagging at you, just hit reply and tell me.

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