Before an old phone leaves your hands, confirm your photos are safely backed up elsewhere and then factory reset the phone, so the next owner can’t see your photos and you don’t lose them.
What you need
- The old phone, still working and signed in
- Access to whatever account it’s currently backing up to
- A little time to double-check the backup before resetting
Two goals that pull in opposite directions
The two goals here are opposites and both matter: make absolutely sure your photos exist safely somewhere else, and make absolutely sure they’re gone from the phone itself before someone else has it.
How to hand the phone on safely
- Confirm backup is actually complete, not just turned on. Open Google Photos (or your phone’s equivalent) and check it says Backup complete, not still uploading. See the Android backup guide if you’re not sure it’s current.
- Spot-check a few photos from the backup on a different device or through a browser. Sign into your account on a computer or another device and confirm you can see and open recent photos from the phone, not just older ones.
- Remove accounts and sign out of everything. In Settings, go to Accounts, and remove your Google or Apple account (and any others) from the device.
- Factory reset the phone. In Settings, find Reset options or System > Reset, and choose a full factory reset (sometimes called Erase all data). This wipes the phone’s storage, including local photos.
- Remove the SIM card and any memory card. A factory reset doesn’t always clear a removable SD card — take it out and keep it, or wipe it separately, if the phone has one.
Check backup is complete and the phone is wiped
After resetting, the phone should boot to its original setup screen as if brand new, with no accounts, apps, or photos on it. Signing into your account on another device should still show your full photo library, unaffected by the reset.
If you’re not sure backup finished
If a factory reset won’t complete, or the phone is stuck in a setup loop, check the manufacturer’s support pages for that specific model — the exact menu names vary between Android phone brands and between Android and iPhone.
Next step
If the old phone won’t turn on at all and you can’t get to Settings, the situation is different — see Recover photos from a phone that won’t turn on.
Sources and date checked
Based on Google’s and Apple’s own published device reset and account-removal documentation; exact menu wording varies by phone brand and Android version. Checked 22 September 2026.