How to factory reset an Android phone before selling it

The sequence that works

1. Back up: Settings › Google › Backup, and confirm Google Photos has finished syncing.
2. Back up WhatsApp inside the app, and move any authenticator codes to the new phone.
3. Remove the manufacturer account — Samsung, Mi, OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo, whichever applies.
4. Remove the Google account: Settings › Passwords & accounts › the account › Remove.
5. Turn off Find My Device.
6. Remove the screen lock (PIN, pattern, fingerprint, face).
7. Now reset: Settings › System › Reset options › Erase all data (factory reset).

Why the order matters

Android's Factory Reset Protection exists to make a stolen phone useless. When a phone is reset while a Google account is signed in, the setup wizard demands those exact credentials before the phone can be used again.

That is excellent security and a disaster at resale. Remove the account first and FRP has nothing to enforce, so the phone comes up as a clean device the next owner can set up normally.

Manufacturer accounts people forget

After the reset — check it worked

Boot the phone and walk two screens into setup. If it asks for a Google account, an Mi account or an unlock pattern, something did not clear and you need to sign in, remove the account properly and reset again.

Do this while the phone is still with you. Once it is collected, fixing a lock means the phone coming back to you, and in the meantime the sale is not complete.

Physical last steps

• Eject the SIM tray and keep the SIM.
• Remove the microSD card if the model has a slot.
• Delete any eSIM profile you are not transferring.
• Wipe the body and take out the case — a case is not part of the quote unless it was agreed.

Resetting a phone you cannot unlock

Occasionally the phone that needs selling is one nobody can get into — an inherited handset, a forgotten pattern, a device that boots but will not accept a PIN.

A hardware reset through recovery mode will wipe it, but it will not clear Factory Reset Protection, so the phone will demand the last Google account at setup. That makes it unsellable through any legitimate route.

1. Try the account recovery route first: Google account recovery on a computer, which can restore access and let you sign out properly.
2. If the phone belonged to a family member, their credentials are the fastest path — ask before assuming they are lost.
3. If the account genuinely cannot be recovered, the handset is worth what a parts buyer will pay, and it should be declared as FRP-locked when quoting.
4. Do not use bypass tools. They rarely survive an update, and a phone sold in that state is a dispute waiting to happen.