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Remove your personal data before recycling or giving away a device

Angus
Updated

What happens to all your personal data once your device when you recycle your PC or give it away? For your privacy and security, securely wipe the device.

Choose your device:

Remove personal data on an Apple macOS computer

Follow this checklist to remove your personal information from a Mac. 

Remove personal data on an Apple iPhone, iPad or iPod touch 

Remove your personal information from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, even if you don't have it anymore. 

Remove personal data on a Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 PC

If you want to recycle your PC, give it away, or start over with it, you can reset it completely. These instructions are for Windows 10.
 

Create a backup

Be sure you have an up-to-date backup of your important files and data. Learn how to back up your data in Windows. Do this before you reset the PC. Personal All apps that you installed will be removed. Only apps that came with your PC will be reinstalled. 

 

To reset your PC

There are three options that allow you to reset your PC. If you’ve tried just about everything else and your PC still isn't running well, resetting it might fix the problem.

  • Select Start  > Settings > Update & Security > Recovery. Under Reset this PC, select Get started. Open Recovery settings.
  • When asked about erasing files, choose option to “Fully clean the drive”.

 

Remove personal data on an Android device

You can remove data from your Android phone or tablet by resetting it to factory settings. Resetting this way is also called "formatting," or a "hard reset." 

Remove personal data on a Chromebook

You can remove data from your Chromebook by doing a factory reset.

Remove corporate or all data on a G Suite managed mobile device

Mobile devices store important information and can give access to a user’s corporate account. If a device goes missing or a user leaves your organisation, you can still wipe corporate apps and data from the device. You can wipe a user’s corporate account, their work profile, or all data from the device.

Whichever method you choose, the corporate data is still available when users sign in with their computer, a web browser, or another authorised mobile device. 

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