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Wipe & Restore Your Device

Written by Seth Smith

Wiping a phone erases everything on it and restores it to factory settings — useful before you sell, trade in, or give away a device, or as a last-resort troubleshooting step. Back up first, then find your device below.

Apple (iPhone)

Before you wipe: make sure everything is backed up — see Backing Up My Device — Apple. A factory reset erases photos, messages, and app data with no way to undo it.

Wiping (Erase All Content and Settings)

  1. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.

  2. Tap Erase All Content and Settings.

  3. Enter your passcode and Apple ID password when prompted, then confirm.

  4. The phone will erase and restart to the initial setup screen.

Restoring

  1. During setup, choose Restore from iCloud Backup (if connected to Wi‑Fi) and sign into your Apple ID, or connect the phone to a computer and restore from a Finder/iTunes backup.

  2. Give it time — a full restore, including re-downloading apps and photos, can take anywhere from several minutes to a few hours depending on backup size and connection speed.

If You're Giving the Phone Away, Selling It, or Trading It In

  • Before wiping, go to Settings > [your name] > Find My > Find My iPhone and turn it off (Erase All Content and Settings will normally prompt for this automatically, but it's worth checking beforehand). Skipping this leaves Activation Lock on, which will lock the next owner out of the phone entirely.

  • If the phone uses a Previ eSIM, wiping it removes the eSIM profile. If you're keeping your number and moving to a new phone, see Activation Issues — Apple to reactivate on the new device. If you're handing this phone off to someone else, make sure the eSIM is removed and your line is moved to your new device first so the previous owner can't use your service.

Samsung

Before you wipe: make sure everything is backed up — see Backing Up My Device — Samsung. A factory reset erases photos, messages, and app data with no way to undo it.

Wiping (Factory Data Reset)

  1. Go to Settings > General management > Reset > Factory data reset.

  2. Review what will be erased, then tap Reset and confirm with your PIN, pattern, or password.

  3. The phone will erase and restart to the initial setup screen.

Restoring

  1. During setup, sign into your Samsung account and/or Google account and choose to restore from Samsung Cloud or Google Backup.

  2. Give it time — a full restore, including re-downloading apps and photos, can take anywhere from several minutes to a few hours depending on backup size and connection speed.

If You're Giving the Phone Away, Selling It, or Trading It In

  • Before wiping, remove your Google account (Settings > Accounts and backup > Manage accounts) and your Samsung account. Skipping this can leave Factory Reset Protection (FRP) active, which will lock the next owner out unless they know your account credentials.

  • If the phone uses a Previ eSIM, wiping it removes the eSIM profile. If you're keeping your number and moving to a new phone, see Activation Issues — Android to reactivate on the new device. If you're handing this phone off to someone else, make sure the eSIM is removed and your line is moved to your new device first so the previous owner can't use your service.

Google

Before you wipe: make sure everything is backed up — see Backing Up My Device — Google. A factory reset erases photos, messages, and app data with no way to undo it.

Wiping (Factory Reset)

  1. Go to Settings > System > Reset options > Erase all data (factory reset).

  2. Review what will be erased, then tap Erase all data and confirm with your PIN, pattern, or password.

  3. The phone will erase and restart to the initial setup screen.

Restoring

  1. During setup, sign into your Google account and choose to restore from your Google backup.

  2. Give it time — a full restore, including re-downloading apps and photos, can take anywhere from several minutes to a few hours depending on backup size and connection speed.

If You're Giving the Phone Away, Selling It, or Trading It In

  • Before wiping, remove your Google account (Settings > Passwords & accounts, or Settings > Accounts). Skipping this can leave Factory Reset Protection (FRP) active, which will lock the next owner out unless they know your Google credentials.

  • If the phone uses a Previ eSIM, wiping it removes the eSIM profile. If you're keeping your number and moving to a new phone, see Activation Issues — Android to reactivate on the new device. If you're handing this phone off to someone else, make sure the eSIM is removed and your line is moved to your new device first so the previous owner can't use your service.

Motorola

Before you wipe: make sure everything is backed up — see Backing Up My Device — Motorola. A factory reset erases photos, messages, and app data with no way to undo it. Note that Motorola's Migrate app moves data to a new device but doesn't back up the old one, so use Google Backup for that.

Wiping (Factory Reset)

  1. Go to Settings > System > Reset options > Erase all data (factory reset).

  2. Review what will be erased, then tap Erase all data and confirm with your PIN, pattern, or password.

  3. The phone will erase and restart to the initial setup screen.

Restoring

  1. During setup, sign into your Google account and choose to restore from your Google backup.

  2. Give it time — a full restore, including re-downloading apps and photos, can take anywhere from several minutes to a few hours depending on backup size and connection speed.

If You're Giving the Phone Away, Selling It, or Trading It In

  • Before wiping, remove your Google account (Settings > Passwords & accounts, or Settings > Accounts). Skipping this can leave Factory Reset Protection (FRP) active, which will lock the next owner out unless they know your Google credentials.

  • If the phone uses a Previ eSIM, wiping it removes the eSIM profile. If you're keeping your number and moving to a new phone, see Activation Issues — Android to reactivate on the new device. If you're handing this phone off to someone else, make sure the eSIM is removed and your line is moved to your new device first so the previous owner can't use your service.

LG

Before you wipe: make sure everything is backed up — see Backing Up My Device — LG. A factory reset erases photos, messages, and app data with no way to undo it. LG exited the mobile phone business in 2021, so exact menu wording can vary more on LG phones since models range across several software versions.

Wiping (Factory Data Reset)

  1. Go to Settings > System > Reset options > Erase all data (factory reset) (on older LG software, try Settings > General > Backup & reset > Factory data reset).

  2. Review what will be erased, then confirm with your PIN, pattern, or password.

  3. The phone will erase and restart to the initial setup screen.

Restoring

  1. During setup, sign into your Google account and choose to restore from your Google backup.

  2. Give it time — a full restore, including re-downloading apps and photos, can take anywhere from several minutes to a few hours depending on backup size and connection speed.

If You're Giving the Phone Away, Selling It, or Trading It In

  • Before wiping, remove your Google account from the device. Skipping this can leave Factory Reset Protection (FRP) active, which will lock the next owner out unless they know your Google credentials.

  • If the phone uses a Previ eSIM, wiping it removes the eSIM profile. If you're keeping your number and moving to a new phone, see Activation Issues — Android to reactivate on the new device. If you're handing this phone off to someone else, make sure the eSIM is removed and your line is moved to your new device first so the previous owner can't use your service.

Still Stuck?

Message Previ Support right in the app, or call 801-437-0620.

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