SITUATIONS · 3 NOVEMBER 2026

Before you sell or trade in your iPhone

Erasing an iPhone properly is easy. The mistake people make is erasing it before checking that everything private came along to the new phone, especially apps that are deliberately left out of backups.

1. Move your private data first

• Photos: check that iCloud Photos has finished syncing, or that your new phone has everything.
• Vault apps: many are excluded from iCloud backup on purpose. Vaultage is. Make an encrypted backup and restore it on the new device before you erase the old one. How to move your vault.
• Two-factor authentication apps: transfer them, or you may lose access to accounts.
• Messaging apps: follow each app's own transfer steps.

2. Check the new phone

Open your vault on the new phone and look at a few items before going further. After the old phone is erased, there is no second chance.

3. Erase the old iPhone

1. Unpair any Apple Watch.
2. Open Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone.
3. Tap Erase All Content and Settings and follow the steps. You will be asked for your Apple Account password to turn off Find My and Activation Lock.

Erasing removes the encryption keys for everything on the device, including every Vaultage vault. The data cannot be recovered afterwards.

4. Tidy up

• Remove the old phone from your Apple Account's device list if it still appears.
• Remove its SIM or eSIM.
• Delete any encrypted vault backup files you no longer need, or keep the latest somewhere safe.