iPhone: how to back up and protect your data – a simple guide before selling your phone
Before selling your iPhone, back it up to iCloud (Settings → Your Name → iCloud → iCloud Backup → Back Up Now) or to a Mac via Finder. Then sign out of your Apple ID (Settings → Your Name → Sign Out), turn off Find My, and perform a full reset (Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content). This unlinks the device from your account and lets the new owner set it up as new.
Before selling your iPhone, back it up to iCloud (Settings → Your Name → iCloud → iCloud Backup → Back Up Now) or to a Mac via Finder. Then sign out of your Apple ID (Settings → Your Name → Sign Out), turn off Find My, and perform a full reset (Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content). This unlinks the device from your account and lets the new owner set it up as new.
In this article
- How to back up your iPhone: step by step
- How to create a backup via iCloud
- How to create a backup on a computer
- More information about backing up your iPhone
- How to erase data and prepare your iPhone for sale
- Steps to prepare your iPhone for sale:
How to back up your iPhone: step by step
Whether you're selling your iPhone or not, it's always a good idea to have a backup. A backup saves all your data outside your iPhone — either to iCloud or to a computer. If you lose your phone, your data stays safe. Plus, you can easily restore the backup onto a new device, so your files are always at hand.
Creating a backup is simple and also applies to iPad and iPod touch. You have two options: back up to iCloud, or to a computer (Mac or PC).
How to create a backup via iCloud
Make sure your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi.
Open Settings, tap your name, then tap iCloud.
Choose iCloud Backup.
Tap Back Up Now and make sure Wi-Fi stays connected throughout the process. You'll also see the date of the last backup.
Watch the progress and check when the backup has finished.
How to create a backup on a computer
Connect your iPhone to your computer. If you have macOS Catalina 10.15, open Finder. If you're using macOS Mojave 10.14 or a PC, open iTunes.
Note: If you see the message Trust This Computer?, confirm it. In iTunes or Finder, choose the backup option — you can save it either to your computer or to iCloud. You'll also see information about the last backup.
More information about backing up your iPhone
- How to manage iCloud storage and delete old backups
- What is and isn't stored in an iPhone backup
- How security and data protection in iCloud works
- Forgot your Apple ID or password? Find help here: Apple Support
How to erase data and prepare your iPhone for sale
If you want to remove your personal data from your iPhone, you need to restore it to factory settings.
Note: Before restoring factory settings, make sure you create a backup! Otherwise you'll lose all your data. We don't recommend deleting contacts or photos manually — that would also delete them from iCloud, and the phone would stay linked to your Apple ID.
Steps to prepare your iPhone for sale:
Create a data backup (instructions above).
Sign out of iCloud and iTunes & App Store:
Do you have iOS 10.3 or later? In Settings, tap your name, scroll down and choose Sign Out. Enter your password and confirm.
Using iOS 10.2 or earlier? In Settings, choose iCloud, tap Sign Out, then tap Delete from [Device]. Then sign out of iTunes & App Store.
Go back to Settings, choose General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.
Note, from iOS 17 onward you can only erase your iPhone at home or in verified locations, otherwise you need to wait an hour for confirmation of the erase.
If you no longer have the iPhone, you can erase it remotely following this guide.