Erasing an iPhone — The Order to Follow Before You Sell It

Tech Explainer September 20, 2026

You erase an iPhone when you sell it used, send it in for repair, or hand it back on a trade-in. It looks like one tap in Settings, but get the order wrong and the device goes out with Activation Lock still set.

The person receiving it is then asked for the previous owner’s Apple Account password, and a trade-in inspection classifies it as lost or stolen and rejects it. That is why unlinking the account comes before erasing the data.

Concept image of an account and data separating out of an iPhone — Source: concept image · self-generated with agy

What to finish before erasing

Unpairing an Apple Watch in the Watch app — Source: Apple

In Apple’s order, erasing comes last. Skip the preparation and there is no good way back once it is erased.

Order	What to do	If you skip it
1	Back up and transfer data	Unrecoverable
2	Check parts and service history	Reduced trade-in value
3	Unpair the Apple Watch	Lock remains on the Apple Watch
4	Cancel or transfer AppleCare	Coverage goes to someone else’s device
5	Sign out of the Apple Account	Activation Lock remains
6	Remove Wallet cards and passes	Payment methods exposed
7	Remove trusted devices	Verification codes go to the old phone

If a trade-in or a used sale is coming, look first at the parts and service history in Settings > General > About. If the screen or battery was replaced through third-party repair, a note such as “Repair completed” remains, and that mark is grounds for a reduction or rejection at inspection. If you plan to replace them with genuine parts, it is better to handle that before erasing.

If you use an Apple Watch, unpair it before erasing the iPhone. Unpairing returns the Apple Watch to factory settings and removes its Activation Lock at the same time.

Sign out of the account at Settings > [your name] > Sign Out at the bottom. You are offered a choice between erasing the data from the device and signing out while keeping it; for a device you are handing over, take the former.

The latter keeps iCloud data on the device, so it is for a device you will keep using — changing only the account, for instance. Choosing it on a device you hand over sends contacts and calendars along with it.

If you are moving to a phone that is not an iPhone, you also have to deregister iMessage. Otherwise texts people send you go out as iMessages and never reach the new phone.

The erase procedure

The "Erase All Content and Settings" menu in Settings The “Erase All Content and Settings” menu in Settings — Source: Apple

Once the preparation is done, the erase itself takes a few minutes.

① Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings ② Tap Continue ③ Choose whether to keep or delete the eSIM (deleting means reactivating with your carrier) ④ Enter the device passcode ⑤ If a backup is running, wait for it to finish ⑥ Enter the Apple Account password and tap the confirm mark on the keyboard ⑦ After the restart, check for the “Hello” screen

At step ⑥ Find My and Activation Lock are turned off together, so a normal erase leaves no lock behind.

When you do not need to erase everything

If you came looking for a reset to fix a problem rather than to hand the device over, look first at the Reset item in the same menu. It holds partial resets of its own.

Symptom	What to choose
Wi-Fi or cellular connection problems	Reset Network Settings
Settings tangled and behavior odd	Reset All Settings
Home Screen layout scrambled	Reset Home Screen Layout
Autocorrect suggesting the wrong words	Reset Keyboard Dictionary

These four do not delete photos, apps, or messages. Resetting network settings erases saved Wi-Fi passwords, so check those in advance; the rest delete almost no data.

Find My and Activation Lock

Confirming the erase by entering the Apple Account password — Source: Apple

Activation Lock is an anti-theft measure that is set the moment you turn on Find My. Even after the device is erased, if it is still tied to an Apple Account it asks for that account’s ID and password when turned back on.

Most used-device disputes start here. When a seller force-erases without signing out, the buyer is left with a device that cannot get past the lock screen.

Dealing with a locked device

If you can reach the previous owner, the lock can be cleared right away. The owner goes into Find Devices in iCloud and removes the device from their account, which releases Activation Lock remotely, with the device nowhere nearby.

Otherwise the only route is to contact Apple Support with formal proof of purchase such as a receipt and the device’s serial number and IMEI; Apple does not recommend third-party bypass tools.

Trade-in inspections use the same standard, so a device still carrying Activation Lock is classified as lost or stolen and the trade-in is refused.

When buying used, the surest thing is to watch it reach the Hello screen yourself, in front of the seller

Run the initial setup all the way to the Home Screen, and check Settings > [your name] for any remaining seller account. If the screen moves on but an account is still linked, it locks again at the next erase. If the seller cannot handle it on the spot, it is better to put the deal off.

The state of the data after erasing

Concept image of data becoming unreadable once the encryption key is gone — Source: concept image · self-generated with agy

It can feel strange that wiping hundreds of gigabytes takes only a few minutes. That is because the files are not overwritten one by one.

An iPhone’s storage is used encrypted from end to end. What the erase removes is the encryption key, and the moment it is gone the remaining bits are random data that cannot be decrypted. Even if data physically remains somewhere on the storage, there is no way to read it.

So there is no need to go to a recovery firm — and equally, there is no way back if you erased by mistake.

When you have forgotten the passcode or do not have the device

The device reset screen shown when you have forgotten the passcode — Source: Apple

Even if a forgotten passcode keeps you out of Settings, you can erase without a computer.

Entering the wrong passcode repeatedly on the lock screen brings up the “iPhone Unavailable” screen; tap Forgot Passcode?, choose Start iPhone Reset on the security lockout screen, and enter the Apple Account password to erase the device. Two conditions make that button appear: a cellular or Wi-Fi connection, and Find My turned on.

If you just changed the passcode and cannot recall the new one, you do not need to erase. Since iOS 17 you can unlock with the previous passcode for 72 hours after changing it.

If you do not have the device at all, turn on Lost Mode in Find Devices in iCloud to track its location, then erase it remotely once you give up on getting it back. A remote erase alone is not enough — after erasing you have to remove the device from your account for Activation Lock to come off with it.

Extra items for Korea

Choosing whether to keep or delete the eSIM during the erase — Source: Apple

Item	Before erasing
eSIM	Delete after moving the line to the new device
Mobile payments	Unlink cards and accounts
Mobile ID	Discard in the app, re-register on the new device
Returning to a carrier	Confirm Activation Lock is off

The erase screen asks whether to keep or delete the eSIM. If you have already moved the line to the new device, delete; if not, keeping it is safer. Getting it back after deletion means going through the carrier’s process, and the three carriers charge an eSIM download fee of ₩2,750 including VAT.

Mobile payment apps and mobile IDs are registered to and run on the device, so it is cleaner to unlink or discard them in each app before erasing. After the erase you cannot get into the apps and end up going through customer service.

The order, by situation

Summary card of the iPhone erase order by situation — Source: compiled from this post · self-rendered

Unlink the account before erasing the data, and after erasing, check that the lock really came off. For a used sale, do that check together, at the handover.