Galaxy and Pixel
Clearing an Android phone for its next owner
A wiped Galaxy or Pixel is no use to whoever buys it if factory reset protection is still armed. The setup wizard asks for the password of whichever Google account was last signed in on that handset, and it will not move past that screen. Take the accounts off while the phone is still yours and unlocked, and there is nothing left for it to check. Samsung menus are covered first below; the same job on a Pixel is further down the page.
Apple hardware instead? Read the iPhone version.
A reset takes internal storage back to nothing
Whatever lives only on this phone goes with it: camera roll, contacts, message threads, signed-in apps. Run the backup before anything else. Galaxy: Settings → Accounts and backup → Back up data. Pixel: Settings → System → Backup. Let it report that it has finished, and while the phone is in your hand, pop the SIM tray open and pull any microSD card. Neither of those goes with the phone.
Samsung Galaxy
A Galaxy answers to Google and to Samsung
Two systems are watching here. Factory reset protection belongs to Google; Samsung adds a reactivation lock tied to the Samsung account, and a Galaxy can be held by whichever of the two got left behind. Clear the whole account list, then go looking for the reset menu.
1. Accounts and backup, in the Settings list
Identifying it is easy enough: blue circular-arrows icon, with Manage accounts and Smart Switch written underneath the label. Ignore the Google row below it, which holds services rather than accounts.
Google Drive
Smart Switch
Looking for something else?
Reset
2. Manage accounts is the first card
Back up data and the Smart Switch block underneath it are about moving data, not about signing out. Tap Manage accounts and keep going.
PersonalWork
3. Work down the list one entry at a time
One UI offers no way to clear them all in one go. Watch for the Samsung account, drawn with an avatar rather than a logo; it reads like a profile card, which is why it gets skipped.
4. The Remove account button, then the prompt
Say yes to the confirmation that follows. Then it is back to Manage accounts and the same again, until nothing is left signed in.
Work profile keyboards and tools
Looking for something else?
Navigation barPasswords, passkeys, and autofill
5. General management holds the reset
Settings → General management → Reset → Factory data reset is the full path. Confirming starts it. The phone handles the rest on its own and comes back at the first-run welcome screen.
Google Pixel
The Pixel's account list is not where you would look
Same two jobs as on the Galaxy, different labels. Google files account removal in with the password manager and autofill under Passwords, passkeys and accounts, and keeps the erase behind Reset options at the foot of the System menu. Neither one is signposted as what it is.
Search Settings
Languages, gestures, time, backup
1. Passwords, passkeys & accounts, down the Settings list
Nothing in the subtitle, Suggestions for sign-in & autofill, hints at accounts, which is why eyes slide over the row. It sits between Location and Digital Wellbeing.
Passwords, passkeys & accounts
Choose your preferred service to save data for sign-in and autofill suggestions. Turn on additional services if you'd like them to provide suggestions too.
Preferred service
ChangeOpen
Accounts for You
2. Accounts for You is the part that matters
Preferred service at the top is autofill housekeeping and can stay as it is. Under it comes the heading Accounts for You, with the signed-in Google accounts listed beneath. Tap one to open it.
Accounts
Remove account
3. Straight to Remove account
The sync toggle and the Google Account link above it need no attention, since both are properties of the account and leave with it. The blue button at the bottom is the whole of this step.
Accounts
Remove account?
Removing this account will delete all of its messages, contacts, and other data from the phone!
CancelRemove account
4. Say yes to the warning
It reads worse than it is. The mail and contacts being deleted are the copies held on this handset; the account keeps its own on Google's side. If another address is still listed, return to step 2 and run it again.
System
5. System, at the bottom of Settings
Settings → System → Reset options. You will be scrolling System all the way down for it, past Repair mode.
Reset options
6. The bottom entry, not the five above it
Mobile network settings, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, app preferences, eSIMs, private space: each of those resets one narrow thing. Erase all data (factory reset) is the only one that empties internal storage.
This will erase all data from your phone's internal storage, including:
- Your Google Account
- System and app data and settings
- Downloaded apps
- Music
- Photos
- Other user data
You are currently signed into the following accounts:
7. Read the account list before you tap
Below the bullets, Android names every account still attached to the phone. A Google address showing up there is the last warning you get: back out, take it off, come back. With that list clear of Google, Erase all data is safe to press, and the phone returns to first-time setup.
Motorola, OnePlus, Xiaomi and the rest
Every manufacturer rearranges Settings, so the paths above will not match yours exactly. The search box at the top of Settings does not care. Type accounts, clear out every Google entry it finds, then type factory reset and run what comes up. The order is what matters, not the menu names. Not keen on doing it yourself? Bring the phone to the Elk Grove shop and we will sit down and clear it with you.
Cleared, erased, and ready to hand over
Ownership and status verification may be required. Activation locks must be removed before purchase. Pick your model on the sell page, then bring the handset over to Elk Grove with its charger if you still have one. Offers depend on model, storage, carrier and condition; get a quote in store.