In this guide, we will show you how to safely wipe and reset your Galaxy S6 before selling it. You’ll also want to follow these steps if you’re trading on the Galaxy S6 for a new phone like the Galaxy S9. These are important steps like clearing any personal data and wiping the phone. That way, the new owner won’t be able to access any of your information. Every step also applies to the Galaxy S6 Edge.
There are a few different steps you should take, but one of the most important is a factory data reset. This will delete everything on your device. Of course, not before backing up pictures and messages.
Our smartphones hold a lot of sensitive information that we don’t want to fall into the wrong hands. Think about it. Everything from banking logins to your Google account. Backing up your data and wiping the Galaxy S6 is easier than you think. It only takes a few minutes to use our instructions below.
How to Prepare Your Galaxy S6 for Sale
Backup your Galaxy S6
For starters, you’ll want to back up anything and everything that matters. We’ve prepared a quick guide to help you back up your phone. Then, if you already have your new phone, this process is even easier. Especially if you have a new Galaxy, Samsung’s SmartSwitch app does it all for you. Get it from our links below. Use SmartSwitch to transfer everything. When you’re done, you can wipe your entire phone in less than 5 minutes and trade it or put it up for sale.
With SmartSwitch, you basically open Samsung’s app on both phones, connect the two with a USB cable as shown in the onscreen commands, and activate them. It literally does everything for you with easy-to-follow instructions.
If you don’t have a new phone yet but want to be prepared, you can do that too. Use the PC or Mac version of SmartSwitch to back up your Galaxy S6 to a computer. So everything is ready for later. We’ve prepared a guide on backing up your information and erasing your old Galaxy phone in our link above. Click this and follow the instructions.
If you want, you can open important apps like Lastpass or your banking app to sign out of everything, but you really don’t need it. This is because a factory data reset (our next instructions) wipes everything and anything. So logging out is not necessary.
After backing up everything and signing out of any apps, you can wipe the entire phone. You can wipe every aspect of your Galaxy S6 with just one tap, it’s really easy. In settings, every phone has a feature known as “Factory Data Reset”.
This next step deletes it and restores it to its original factory state. Basically, whatever the day you get it. No apps, games, accounts or anything. A clean and blank phone ready to sell.
You can find this under Settings > Backup & reset > Erase, depending on the Android version you have.
You will now see a list of every app, service or account active on the device. Scroll down and tap the blue button and you’re done. The Galaxy S6 will shut down, enter maintenance mode and wipe everything, then restart after a minute or two. Ignore the weird texts and things you see on the screen and let the process finish.
We’re all done and your Galaxy S6 is empty and like new. At least on the software side of things. You should see the setup screen just like the day you bought the phone. Now it’s ready for its new owner and you don’t need to do anything else.
Remove Your SIM Card
Remove your SIM card before trading or selling the phone. This little chip is what you use to connect to Verizon or T-Mobile, and without it you can’t make calls or send messages. The SIM card is how your phone number is linked to your phone.
Use the out-of-box SIM card eject tool or a pin (needle) and push it into the hole on the right side of your Galaxy S6. A tray slides out with your SIM card. Take it out, put the tray back and turn off your phone. Note, the SIM slot is on the top if you have a Galaxy S6 Edge. Now we are 100% done and you can sell your phone.
You have successfully backed up your information and securely erased your Galaxy S6. Now it’s back to stock firmware, cleaned of everything and ready for the new owner to enjoy. Go ahead and trade it or sell it to save for the Galaxy S8 or the new Galaxy S9.
If you have any questions regarding this process, let us know in the comment section below.
