Think back to the last time you upgraded your phone. You likely traded in your old clunker and got some money back to put towards your monthly bill.
But chances are you missed a crucial step before handing over the device to the sales rep: wiping your data.
Your cell phone stores everything from pictures, to social logins to financial information — personal info that you obviously don't want falling into the wrong hands.
So how do you keep your data safe? In the video above, Jeff Rossen, NBC News National Investigative Correspondent and host of Rossen Reports, shows us how to protect your data by wiping your iPhone or Android clean.
How to Wipe Your Cell Phone
iPhone
- On your home screen, go to "Settings"
- Click "General"
- Scroll all the way down to the bottom and click “Reset”
- Click “Erase All Content and Settings”
- Click “Erase iPhone”
Android
- Some models will want you to go into "Settings" and encrypt the data
- Then you want to do a factory reset by going into "Settings"
- Click “Backup and reset”
- Scroll all the way down and click “Factory data reset”
- Click “Reset device”
And — poof! — your information is gone!
For more tips like this, click here to pre-order Jeff's new book Rossen To The Rescue.