Trading in an old iPhone is one of the easiest ways to knock money off a new one, but I see people rush it and ship a phone that is still signed into their account, still full of photos, and still locked. That is how you end up with a trade-in that gets rejected or, worse, your personal data sitting on a device you no longer control.
So before that phone goes in the box, there are a few things you really want to handle first. None of it is hard. It is mostly about doing the steps in the right order so you do not lock yourself out or lose anything you care about.
In the video above I walk through the process on a real phone. Below is the same process as a numbered checklist, so you can tick the steps off while you do it. Every step was checked against Apple's own support pages on October 2, 2026, and the checklist adds the steps the video skips, like the backup, the Apple Watch, and the SIM. The Apple pages are linked at the bottom.
The trade-in checklist
Do these in order. Each step is explained below.
- Check for an unfinished repair.
- Back up the iPhone.
- Move everything to the new iPhone and check that it works.
- Unpair your Apple Watch, if you have one.
- Turn off Stolen Device Protection. Away from home this means a one hour wait.
- Sign out of your Apple Account so Find My is off.
- Erase All Content and Settings.
- Take out the SIM card, or sort out the eSIM.
- Remove the old iPhone from your Apple Account.
- Pack only the phone, drop it off, and keep the receipt.
Step 1: Check for an unfinished repair
Open Settings, tap General, then tap About. If the phone has ever been repaired, you will see a section called Parts and Service History. If any part says Finish Repair next to it, Apple will not take the phone as a trade-in until that repair is finished.
Most phones show nothing here, and that is fine. I check it first because I would rather find out now than after the phone is wiped.
Step 2: Back up the iPhone
The first rule is simple: back up the phone before you wipe it. Once you factory reset, that data is gone, so you want a clean copy somewhere safe first. You have two main ways to do it.
- iCloud backup: connect to Wi-Fi, open Settings, tap your name, tap iCloud, tap iCloud Backup, then tap Back Up Now. Stay on Wi-Fi until it finishes.
- Computer backup: plug the phone into a Mac or PC and back it up through Finder or the Apple Devices app. This is handy if you have more photos and files than your iCloud storage can hold.
A computer backup is the faster route when the phone is packed with footage, because you are not waiting on cloud space. Either way, confirm the backup actually completed before you move on. Under Back Up Now, the phone shows the date and time of the last backup. A backup that stalled at fifty percent is not a backup.
Step 3: Move everything to the new iPhone
If the new iPhone is already in your hands, set it up before you wipe the old one. Turn the new phone on, put it next to the old one, and Quick Start offers to copy everything across. Keep both phones close together and plugged in until it is done.
Then check the new phone before you go any further:
- Your photos, messages, and apps are really there.
- Your phone number works. Make a call and send a text.
- Sign-in codes for your Apple Account arrive on the new phone.
If your phone number is changing with the new phone, add the new number as a trusted phone number on your Apple Account first. Apple warns about this one, because it is an easy way to lock yourself out.
Step 4: Unpair your Apple Watch
If an Apple Watch is paired with the old iPhone, unpair it before you erase the phone. Keep the watch and the phone close together. On the iPhone, open the Apple Watch app, go to the My Watch tab, tap All Watches, tap the info button next to your watch, and tap Unpair Apple Watch. You will type your Apple Account password to turn off Activation Lock on the watch.
If your watch has a cellular plan and you are keeping the watch, choose to keep the plan. After that you can pair the watch with the new iPhone. No Apple Watch? Skip this step.
Step 5: Turn off Stolen Device Protection
This is the step that catches people, and it is the first thing I turn off in the video. Stolen Device Protection is the feature that stops a thief who knows your passcode from changing your account. While it is on, you cannot turn off Find My. Apple says to turn it off before you sell, give away, or trade in an iPhone.
Open Settings, tap Face ID & Passcode, type your passcode, tap Stolen Device Protection, and turn it off.
Do this at home if you can. In a familiar place like home or work, it turns off right away. Anywhere else, or if you set it to Always, the phone starts a security delay of about one hour. When the hour is up, you confirm with Face ID or Touch ID again, and only then does it turn off. So do not leave this for the parking lot of the Apple Store.
Step 6: Sign out of your Apple Account
This is the step people forget, and it is the one that gets trade-ins bounced. If Find My is still on, the phone is tied to your account through Activation Lock, and the next owner would be staring at a locked device.
Open Settings, tap your name, scroll to the bottom, and tap Sign Out. What happens next depends on your iOS version:
- iOS 26 or later: the phone asks whether to erase this iPhone or sign out without erasing. If you are ready, choosing to erase takes you straight into step 7.
- iOS 18 or earlier: type your Apple Account password and tap Turn Off.
Either way, have your Apple Account password ready. In the video I turn Find My off by hand first, under Settings, my name, Find My. That works too. What matters is that Find My is off before the phone leaves your hands.
One more thing. If you are leaving iPhone for an Android phone, deregister iMessage too, so texts from iPhone friends keep reaching you.
Step 7: Erase All Content and Settings
Now you erase the phone. Go to Settings, then General, then Transfer or Reset iPhone, and tap Erase All Content and Settings. Tap Continue. The phone asks for your passcode and your Apple Account password to confirm.
If the phone uses an eSIM, it asks whether to keep it or delete it. For a trade-in, Apple says to erase the eSIM along with the phone. Only do that once your number is working on the new iPhone, because after an eSIM is erased you need your carrier to get that line going again.
Here is the part worth understanding. On modern iPhones, Erase All Content and Settings is a secure wipe, not just a quick delete. The phone's storage is encrypted, and the erase removes the encryption key, which makes the existing data unreadable. So you do not need some special app to scrub it. The built-in option does the secure part for you.
When it finishes, the phone reboots to the Hello setup screen, like it just came out of the box. That is exactly what you want to hand off. Do not set it up again or sign back in. Erasing also turns off Find My and Activation Lock. Power the phone off and leave it that way.
Step 8: SIM card and eSIM
- Physical SIM card: take it out of the old phone before you pack it. Apple's trade-in page says to remove it.
- eSIM: if you deleted it in step 7 and your number works on the new iPhone, the phone side is done. Apple's trade-in page also says to contact your carrier to suspend service on an eSIM phone you are sending in. If your number has not moved to the new phone yet, or you are not sure, call your carrier before you ship.
Step 9: Remove the old iPhone from your Apple Account
On your new iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, and scroll down to the list of devices. Tap the old iPhone, then tap Remove from Account. You can do the same thing on the web at account.apple.com under Devices.
Apple calls this the list of trusted devices. A phone on that list can receive your sign-in codes, so the old one should not stay there. If the old phone is still signed in, it can show up on the list again the next time it goes online. That is why signing out and erasing come first.
If you pay for an AppleCare plan on the old phone, this is also the time to cancel the AppleCare plan so you are not paying for a phone you no longer have.
Step 10: Pack it and ship it
Apple either mails you a trade-in kit or emails you drop-off instructions. The kit has everything you need: a small shipping box or a folding cardboard mailer, plus the return label. Use it. It is sized for the phone.
- Take the case off. Put only the phone in the kit. Apple says not to add a case, charger, cables, or anything else, because extras are not returned to you.
- Peel off the screen protector too, so the screen can be judged as it is.
- With the box, lift the cardboard insert, set the phone in it with the screen facing up, press down lightly, close the box, and seal it with tape. With the mailer, put the phone between the padded flaps and fold it shut the way the kit shows.
- Trading in more than one device? One device per kit. Check that the Quote ID on the label matches the Quote ID in the confirmation email for that device.
- Stick the label on and take it to the courier named on the label. Ask for a receipt. I have heard from people who dropped a phone off without one, and later the drop-off point said it never received anything. The receipt is your proof.
- Do not sit on it. Apple needs to receive the phone within 14 days of the day your new device arrived. After that, the trade-in estimate is no longer guaranteed.
If your old phone is an iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple has extra shipping rules for that model because of its bigger battery. Read that page before you pack it.
Trading in at an Apple Store instead? The steps are the same, minus the box. Apple says you might need your Apple Account password in the store, so make sure you know it before you go. And turn off Stolen Device Protection at home, so you are not stuck waiting an hour at the counter.
What happens after you ship
Apple checks that the phone matches the condition you described. If it does, the credit goes back to your payment method or comes off your monthly payments. If it does not, they send you a revised value. Apple says the whole thing generally takes two to three weeks.
The Takeaway
The order is what keeps you out of trouble. Back up first so you lose nothing. Get the new phone working. Turn off Stolen Device Protection, then sign out so Find My and Activation Lock do not block the trade-in. Then erase all content and settings, which doubles as a secure wipe. Finally, pack only the phone, and keep the receipt.
Do those things in that sequence and your trade-in should go through without a hitch, with your data safely off the device. Spend a few extra minutes here and you protect both your privacy and your trade-in credit.
If you want to see the gear I actually use day to day, check out my gear page, or head over to the blog for more walkthroughs like this one.
Apple's pages I checked
These are the official Apple pages this checklist was checked against on October 2, 2026. Apple updates them, so if a menu on your phone looks different, trust Apple's page.
- What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad
- Prepare your iPhone, Apple Watch, or Android device for trade in
- About Stolen Device Protection for iPhone
- Unpair and erase your Apple Watch
- How to factory reset your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
- Review devices signed in to your Apple Account
- iPhone Parts and Service History
- How to back up your iPhone or iPad with iCloud
- Use Quick Start to transfer data to a new iPhone or iPad
- Data Protection in Apple devices (why the erase is a secure wipe)
- Apple Trade In
