There are a few steps involved whether you’re giving your old Android smartphone to a friend, selling it on OLX, or exchanging it for a newer phone. This is so you can back up all of your data on the phone, wipe it clean, and then give it away.
Let’s go over the steps:
Backing up your apps
There are numerous methods for backing up your data, as well as tools that automate a large portion of the process. However, we’ll show you how to do it quickly and easily between any two Android phones, regardless of brand.
Begin by syncing all of your Google accounts. Navigate to Settings/ Accounts/ your Gmail email ID/ Account Sync to accomplish this. Here, select sync now’ from the three-dot menu at the top. This ensures that data from Google apps such as Keep, Calendar, Contacts, and others are synchronised.
After that, you’ll want to back up data for each app that supports it. All of your chats and other data are stored in the cloud for apps like Facebook and Instagram, so you’re good to go. You’ll have to take manual backups of end-to-end encrypted platforms like WhatsApp, which will be stored on the cloud.
You can do this in WhatsApp by going to Settings/ Chats/ Chat Backup, for example. Make sure that the ‘Backup to Google Drive’ dropdown is not set to ‘Never.’ You can also just hit the main Backup button and select the second option, ‘Only when I tap Back Up.’ This will begin backing up all of your WhatsApp photos, chats, and groups to Gdrive, where you can later import them.
Check to see if there is a setting for backing up files offline or online in games and other apps. Otherwise, you’ll have to reinstall these apps on your next phone.
After you’ve completed all of this, it’s time to back up your files.
Creating a file backup
Connecting your Android phone to a PC, selecting File Transfer USB mode, and copy all contents from the Internal Storage folder to a new folder on your PC is the simplest way to do this. Folders such as DCIM, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, Pictures, and so on will be included.
These can then be transferred to your new phone and merged with existing folders when you set it up.
Restarting your phone
To reset your phone, go to Settings and type “reset” into the search bar at the top. Select the option that says “reset” or “factory reset” as a result. This should bring you directly to the page where you can reset your phone.
If you see options or a dropdown that asks if you want to keep files or reset everything, choose to reset/ delete everything. Remember that after this step, your phone will be handed over to someone else, and any data left on it could be misused if it falls into the wrong hands. As a result, make sure you select the option to delete everything.
After the reset, your phone will restart and take you to the setup screen, where you’ll most likely be asked to select a language. Rather than continuing with the setup, turn off your phone and remove your SIM card(s) and MicroSD card (if applicable). It’s now safe to use your old Android phone.
