Our phone line is temporarily out of service. Book a repair through the form: we check every enquiry. Prefer to talk? Choose a phone call and we will ring you.

Phone line down - we check every form enquiry. Prefer to talk? Choose a phone call and we will ring you.

← All resources

Save this as a PDF, or print it and tick the boxes with a pen. Nothing here is gated, and it is free to use. On most devices the Print button opens a "Save as PDF" option too.

JorTech · a free first opinion · no fix, no fee on the repair, £50 call-out if we come out

Before it goes: wipe it properly

A laptop or phone remembers you: your photos, your email, your saved passwords and the accounts that still treat it as yours. Work through this in order, and none of it goes with the device.

First, keep what is yours

  • Backed up, and the backup opened. Photos, documents and anything else worth keeping are somewhere that is not this device, and a few of them open from the copy.
  • The new device set up first, if there is one, and lived with for a while before the old one is wiped.
  • Passwords to hand for the Apple Account, Google Account or Microsoft account on the device. You need them to sign out and to turn off the locks.
  • Sign-in codes moved. Codes that arrive by text, and anything you control from the phone, now work on another device.
  • BitLocker recovery key to hand for an encrypted Windows laptop. If it was set up with a Microsoft account, the key is at aka.ms/myrecoverykey.

Do not delete photos or contacts one by one first. Apple warns that while you are signed in to iCloud, deleting them by hand removes them from iCloud and from your other devices too. Sign out, then erase: erasing the device does not delete your iCloud content.

Then erase it

  • Windows: Settings, System, Recovery, Reset PC (on Windows 10: Update & Security, Recovery, Get started). Choose Remove everything and switch on Clean data. Afterwards, remove the PC at account.microsoft.com/devices.
  • Mac with Apple silicon or a T2 chip, on macOS Monterey or later: System Settings, General, Transfer or Reset, Erase All Content and Settings (on Monterey, it is in the System Preferences menu). When it restarts, hold the power button until it turns off. Older Macs: sign out of iCloud and Messages, erase with Disk Utility in macOS Recovery, then reinstall macOS.
  • iPhone or iPad: unpair your Apple Watch, then Settings, your name, Sign Out. Then Settings, General, Transfer or Reset, Erase All Content and Settings. Erase the eSIM as well if you are selling it.
  • Android: once the new phone has everything, remove your Google Account (Settings, Passwords and accounts) and, on a Samsung, your Samsung account. Then reset from Settings. Pixel: System, Reset options, Erase all data. Samsung: General management, Reset, Factory data reset.

Last of all

  • SIM card out, and any memory card, which you keep. On a Samsung, a factory reset does not wipe the memory card.
  • Watch unpaired in the phone's app. On an Apple Watch, unpairing is what removes Activation Lock.
  • Off your accounts: the PC removed from your Microsoft account, the iPhone or iPad signed out of your Apple Account, your Google Account removed from the Android phone.
  • Recycled properly: a shop's take-back when you buy new, a larger shop's small-item take-back, or your council's recycling centre. Never the household bin: lithium-ion batteries can catch fire.

Would you rather just ask a real person? Book a repair at jortech.co.uk/contact or email hello@jortech.co.uk: we read every one. We come to you across Leeds, West Yorkshire, Harrogate, Knaresborough and York, and a first opinion is free. A visit has a £50 call-out, the same wherever we come out to, agreed before we travel. It is the first £50 of your job, not an extra on top: if you go ahead, it is part of the price you pay, and if you do not, it is all you pay, because it covers the journey and the time spent finding the fault. You get a fixed quote before any work, and no fix, no fee on the repair, £50 call-out if we come out.

jortech.co.uk

Read the full guide, with each maker's own instructions linked: Selling, recycling or giving away a laptop or phone: how to wipe it properly. Moving to a new computer? Wiping the old one safely is part of new computer setup.

Search JorTech

Common problems and quick links Laptop will not turn on Cracked or black screen Cracked phone screen Files off a dead machine Virus, pop-ups, a scam What a repair costs Remote support, UK-wide Do you cover my area? Book a repair Enter opens the first result · Esc closes · Every page is on the sitemap