How to Properly Dispose of an Old Smartphone

No matter the age of your smartphone, you should always make sure that your device is working smoothly. Use DFNDR’s Quick Cleanup feature to remove junk files, cache, trash, and temporary files from your device. These files can really add up on your device and take up unnecessary storage space. This will free up your phone’s internal memory and SD card space, as well, meaning that you’ll have more room for new photos, videos, apps, and more. Click here to quickly remove useless files from your device:

How you get rid of your old smartphone largely depends on the state it’s in (i.e., if it’s broken or still in working condition). The model of the phone matters as well: if it’s a very outdated model, then you’ll probably have to recycle or donate it, but if it’s a more recent model, then you’ll also have the options of selling it or trading it in. You can research all of your options online. If you’re interested in selling your phone, research the exact model or similar models online to find a target price range. If you’re interested in donating or recycling your phone, there are a lot of great options. Some of these options include Best Buy, Costco, or your mobile carrier.

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No matter what you decide to do, you should always properly dispose of your smartphone: you should never throw your phone in the garbage, regardless of your phone’s condition or age. Proper disposal also means that you should wipe all of your data off of the device, and return the device back to its factory settings. You don’t want to risk someone else getting access to your personal information!

How to Prepare Your Phone for Disposal

The first step you should take, before you dispose of your device, is to back up any information from your device that you want to keep. Once you’ve backed up your information, you can now remove all data from your device. Here’s how to do this:

1. Go to your phone’s “Settings.”
2. Go to “Personal,” followed by “Backup & reset.” Enter your password if prompted to do so.
3. Click “Personal data,” and then “Factory data reset.” Click “Reset phone.”
4. Enter your password and then click “Erase everything.” This will delete all data from your phone’s internal storage.
5. Lastly, you’ll also want to remove your SD card from your device, if you have one, and your SIM card if you have AT&T or T-Mobile as your cellular provider.