New year, new tech; what better way to celebrate spring than with the new Samsung Galaxy S21® phone? The new Samsung Galaxy® device touts awesome new features such as 5G capabilities, 8K video recording & a 64MP Camera, so tons of die-hard Samsung fans are planning to get their hands on one… But that leaves us wondering what to do with our current Galaxy or other old phone.
Whether you choose to recycle, trade-in, or even gift your old device- you should ALWAYS perform a wipe. Many people do a quick once-over to delete their superficial data like photos and accounts, but by doing a complete wipe of your Samsung Galaxy, or any device, you can be sure no one will be able to gain access to any of your sensitive information.
Not sure how to wipe your Samsung Galaxy? Don’t worry! uBreakiFix® electronic repair experts have your back. We’ve created a quick guide below on how to perform a factory reset on your Samsung Galaxy (also known as a “wipe”) so you can safely pass your phone along.
How to Wipe Your Samsung Galaxy Phone:
- Back Up Your Phone
First things first, please make sure to back up your device! We don’t want you to lose any important data that needs to be transferred to your new phone. You can use Samsung Cloud, Google, or a MicroSD card to perform your backup. Remember, once you have wiped your phone this information & data will be lost – so you definitely don’t want to skip this step!
- Initiate Factory Reset
To do this first, open your “Settings Menu,” scroll until you see “Factory Data Reset,” then select it. A prompt should appear, once you are ready to start the reset select “Reset” & “Delete All.” Your phone should power down and then restart. Once it does, it should be completely reset!
And that’s all there is to it! Surprisingly very simple, but you’d be surprised how many people do not take this very important step. We hope that this article has helped you learn how to wipe your Samsung Galaxy before selling it or recycling it.
With efforts to “go green” becoming more and more mainstream, we’ve been seeing people choosing to make sure that their previous device doesn’t just become another piece of e-waste.
So if you want to get rid of your phone, but don’t think it’s worth selling, here’s something to consider before you chuck it into the kitchen trash can: the Environmental Protection Agency considers electronic waste (or “e-waste”) is the “fastest-growing municipal waste stream in America”– and only 12.5% of e-waste is currently recycled.
That’s why uBreakiFix and Samsung have partnered up to introduce our “e-cycling” initiative. We think everyone should have access to e-cycling locations, and we know that by expanding access to programs like these– and raising awareness about e-waste and its impact on our environment– we can help decrease e-waste around the world!
Next time you’re looking to upgrade your old Samsung Galaxy, feel free to drop off your out-of-date electronics at a local uBreakiFix. View our page here to learn more, and find a drop-off location near you.*
And be sure to check out the uBreakiFix blog regularly for more tech-focused tips and tricks!
