Prepare Your Phone

How to prepare your iPhone for sale

Ten minutes of prep at home means you walk out of iGeek with cash in minutes. Two things need to happen: Find My iPhone goes off, and the phone gets erased. Here’s exactly how, screen by screen.

Selling a Samsung or Pixel instead? Android guide here.

Before anything: back up

Settings → your name → iCloud → iCloud Backup → Back Up Now (or plug into a computer and use Finder). Everything below erases the phone — make sure your photos, contacts, and messages are safe first.

Step 1

Turn off Find My iPhone

This removes Activation Lock. We can’t buy a phone that’s still tied to your Apple account — it’s the #1 thing that slows people down at the counter.

  1. 1Open Settings and tap your name at the very top.
  2. 2Tap "Find My".
  3. 3Tap "Find My iPhone".
  4. 4Flip the switch off — you'll be asked for your Apple ID password.

Toggle greyed out? That’s Stolen Device Protection.

  1. Go to Settings → Face ID & Passcode and enter your passcode.
  2. Scroll to "Stolen Device Protection" and turn it off.
  3. Apple starts a one-hour security delay before it fully disables — grab a coffee.
  4. Once the hour is up, go back to Find My and switch it off with your Apple ID password.

Step 2

Factory reset your iPhone

This wipes your personal data for good. Follow the highlighted rows — your screen will look exactly like these.

3:12

Settings

Airplane Mode
Wi-FiiGeekGuest
BluetoothOn
Cellular
Personal HotspotOff
Notifications
Sounds & Haptics
Focus
Screen Time
Scroll down
General
Control Center
Display & Brightness
Home Screen & App Library
Accessibility

1. Open Settings, scroll to General

It's in the third group of options, below Screen Time.

3:12
SettingsGeneral
iPhone Storage
Background App Refresh
Date & Time
Keyboard
Fonts
Language & Region
Dictionary
VPN & Device Management
Scroll down
Legal & Regulatory
Transfer or Reset iPhone
Shut Down

2. Scroll to the bottom of General

"Transfer or Reset iPhone" is the second-to-last row, just above Shut Down.

12:10
BackTransfer or Reset iPhone

Prepare for New iPhone

Make sure everything’s ready to transfer to a new iPhone, even if you don’t currently have enough iCloud storage to back up.

Get Started
Reset
Erase All Content and Settings

3. Tap "Erase All Content and Settings"

Enter your passcode and Apple ID password, then confirm. The phone restarts to the welcome screen in a minute or two — that's a complete reset.

Not sure your backup worked? Skip the reset and come in anyway — we’ll help you do it safely at the counter.

Phone’s ready. Let’s talk money.

Get your instant quote, then bring your iPhone, photo ID, and charger to iGeek in Elk Grove. Cash on the spot.

Get my quote

Financed, blacklisted, or iCloud locked? We buy those too.