How to Prepare an iPhone for Selling: 2026 Checklist

To prepare an iPhone for selling, do six things in this order: back up and move your data, unpair your Apple Watch, move your number or eSIM to the new phone, sign out of your Apple Account (which turns off Find My and Activation Lock), erase all content and settings including the eSIM, then take out any SIM card. The order matters, because each step depends on the one before it.

This checklist follows Apple's own guidance, What to do before you sell, give away or trade in your iPhone, and adds the practical details that trip sellers up: Stolen Device Protection, eSIM plans, and phones that are already in the post. It works for any buyer. If you are selling to us, the same steps are what let us buy your iPhone for cash and pay you without delay.

Why does the order matter?

Each step removes something the next one needs. Erase the phone before your backup finishes and your photos are gone. Delete the eSIM before your new phone has service and you can lose your number for a day or two while your network sorts it out. Sign out before you unpair your Apple Watch and the Watch loses its link to your account in a messy way. Work down the list and none of that happens.

Step 1: How do you back up an iPhone before selling it?

The simplest route is iCloud. Go to Settings › your name › iCloud › iCloud Backup and tap Back Up Now, and wait until it confirms the time of the last backup. If your iCloud storage is full, back up to a Mac with Finder or to a Windows PC with the Apple Devices app instead.

If your new iPhone is already in front of you, Quick Start can move everything directly from the old phone to the new one during setup. Either way, open your new phone and check that your photos, messages and authenticator apps are all there before you go further. Authenticator apps and banking apps are the ones people forget: some do not carry their codes across in a backup, so sign in to each one on the new phone first.

Step 2: Should you unpair your Apple Watch?

Yes, if you have one. Open the Watch app on the old iPhone, tap All Watches, tap the info button next to your Watch and choose Unpair Apple Watch. Unpairing creates a backup of the Watch on the phone, which then travels to your new iPhone with your iPhone backup.

Step 3: How do you move your eSIM or number?

If your network supports eSIM transfer, your new iPhone can take over the eSIM during setup, or later from Settings › Mobile Service, by transferring it from the old phone nearby. If it does not, your network can issue a new eSIM or a physical SIM for the new phone. Whatever route you take, make a call and send a text from the new phone before you touch the old one again.

Two things are worth knowing. Deleting an eSIM from the old phone does not cancel your plan: the contract, and the bill, carry on until you tell your network. And the iPhone Air has no SIM tray at all, because it is eSIM-only in every country, so for Air owners this step is the whole SIM question.

Step 4: How do you turn off Find My and sign out?

Go to Settings › your name and scroll to Sign Out. Enter your Apple Account password when asked, choose whether to keep a copy of any data on the phone (it is about to be erased anyway), and confirm. Signing out turns off Find My, and with it Activation Lock, the feature that stops anyone else setting the phone up.

This is the step that decides whether a phone can be sold at all. Apple describes Activation Lock as designed to prevent anyone else from using your iPhone if it is lost or stolen, and a buyer cannot tell the difference between a stolen phone and one whose owner forgot to sign out. We can only pay once an iPhone is signed out of iCloud.

What about Stolen Device Protection?

If you turned on Stolen Device Protection, signing out of your Apple Account needs Face ID and, away from familiar locations such as your home or workplace, a one-hour security delay. Apple explains this on its Stolen Device Protection page. The fix is simple: do this step at home, or start it and come back an hour later. Do not turn the protection off just to save time on a phone you still carry around.

Step 5: How do you erase an iPhone completely?

Go to Settings › General › Transfer or Reset iPhone and tap Erase All Content and Settings. When the phone asks about the eSIM, choose to erase it as well. The iPhone restarts to the Hello screen, which is exactly how a buyer should receive it.

Erasing from the phone's own settings is enough. Every iPhone in the 15, 16 and 17 families encrypts its storage, and erasing removes the keys, so there is nothing to recover afterwards. There is no need for extra wiping apps, and there is no benefit in doing it twice.

Step 6: What should come out of the box before you post it?

• Your SIM card, if your model has a tray. Use the SIM tool or a straightened paper clip.
• The case and any wallet or MagSafe accessory. Buyers do not pay for cases, and you will want it for your next phone if it fits.
• The screen protector, only if it is loose or scratched. A protector hides nothing at inspection, and a clean one does no harm.

Anything you told the buyer you would include, such as the original box or a genuine Apple charger, goes in. Our form asks about both, so pack whatever you ticked. If you are sending the phone to us, pack it in a small padded box; the Royal Mail QR code, printed label or doorstep collection is free.

Step 7: Is there anything to tidy up in your Apple Account?

Two small things. Sign in at account.apple.com, open Devices, and remove the old iPhone if it still appears; that stops it counting as a trusted device for two-factor codes. And if you have AppleCare on the phone, check whether you want to transfer or cancel it, which Apple covers in the same support article.

What if you have already sent the phone, or it will not turn on?

You can do the important steps from a browser. Sign in at iCloud.com, open Find Devices, select the iPhone, erase it, then remove it from your account. This is also the route for a phone with a dead screen or no power: it cannot be signed out on the handset, but it can be removed from your account remotely. Our page on selling a broken or cracked iPhone explains how we handle phones that will not switch on.

Apple's advice, if you no longer have the phone, is also to change your Apple Account password and remove any Apple Pay cards. Neither takes long, and both close the door completely.

How can you tell the iPhone is really ready?

Switch it on. A properly prepared iPhone shows the Hello screen in a list of languages. If you set it up as far as the network screen and it asks for the previous owner's Apple Account, Activation Lock is still on and step 4 did not finish: sign in at iCloud.com and remove it from Find Devices.

Which buyer should you prepare it for?

The steps are the same for any buyer, which is useful if you are still choosing between routes. If you are deciding between Apple's credit and a cash sale, our comparison of Apple Trade In and selling your iPhone for cash sets them side by side. Whichever you choose, a phone that arrives signed out, erased and honestly described is the one that gets paid first. You can see exactly what happens after it leaves your hands on our how it works page.