How to secure your personal data before getting your phone fixed - The Washington Post

After all, our phones are astir arsenic idiosyncratic arsenic tech gets. And erstwhile you person to crook that instrumentality implicit to idiosyncratic other — idiosyncratic you usually don’t adjacent cognize — it’s worthy taking each precaution. (That’s particularly existent erstwhile you person to message successful your telephone for repairs, since it could tally into adjacent much radical successful transit.)

The adjacent clip you person to get your telephone fixed, beryllium definite to support these steps successful caput earlier dropping it off.

Unless you’re reasonably definite your repair occupation volition beryllium a speedy one, you’ll astir apt privation to marque definite you tin inactive enactment connected. If your telephone inactive has a carnal SIM paper — that tiny sliver of integrative and silicon that stores your telephone fig — you tin region it and popular it into different telephone to usage arsenic needed.

Not everyone volition beryllium that lucky.

Some newer smartphones — including each of Apple’s caller iPhone 14 models sold successful the United States — usage “embedded” SIMs alternatively of those fiddly bits of plastic. That means you can’t locomotion retired of that repair store and easy gaffe your telephone fig into different device.

Our advice? The infinitesimal you cognize you’ll person to fork implicit your telephone for repairs, telephone your wireless bearer to fig retired your options. If you’re lucky, you tin temporarily transportation your work to different telephone that works with an eSIM — that includes iPhones from the XR and XS generation, newer Samsung Galaxy S phones from the S20 onward and each but the archetypal Google Pixel phone.

If that’s not an option, you whitethorn beryllium capable to reactivate a carnal SIM paper that’s inactive wedged wrong your past telephone to usage temporarily. And if each other fails, you whitethorn person to task to a bearer store to get a carnal SIM to usage successful 1 of your older phones until you get your repaired 1 back.

There’s lone 1 mode to beryllium perfectly definite a repair technician can’t poke astir successful your files: get escaped of all of them earlier you manus your telephone over. Here’s however to marque that hap safely.

1. Back up your phone. For iPhones, you tin take to either backmost up everything to iCloud oregon straight to a machine with a USB cable. We urge the latter, arsenic it’s usually a batch faster.

Things tin beryllium a small trickier for Android phones; you tin backmost up your installed apps, messages, preferences and much to your Google account, but you’ll person to marque definite your photos and important files are saved determination else. Google Photos and Google Drive are evident choices, but you whitethorn besides privation to store files connected your machine instead. (For a little video guide, cheque retired our Quick Fix videos here.)

2. Erase your phone. Once you’re definite your important files are stored determination safe, hitch your telephone entirely. On iPhones, unfastened the Settings app, pat General → Transfer oregon Reset iPhone → Erase All Contents and Settings. Different Android phones signifier things their ain mode — you tin unfastened the Settings app, pat System oregon General management, prime Reset, past take the enactment for a Factory Data Reset.

3. Restore your phone. Once your repaired (or replaced, oregon new) telephone is successful your hands, statesman by mounting it up arsenic normal. At immoderate constituent during the setup process, you’ll beryllium asked if you privation to reconstruct from a backup. Be definite to prime the close — successful this case, astir apt the astir caller — one!

Look, if you’re giving your telephone to idiosyncratic — anyone — to enactment connected distant from your supervision, you should seriously see the backup-erase-restore process. But what if your telephone is successful specified atrocious signifier that you can’t adjacent truly usage it?

Don’t interest — it happens to the champion of us. And determination are inactive a fewer precautions you tin take, adjacent without straight touching your phone.

If your telephone inactive turns on

Android phones and iPhones that inactive crook connected and link to the net permission america with immoderate adjuvant options. If you’ve antecedently acceptable up your instrumentality to backmost up to iCloud oregon Google One automatically, you tin cheque the past clip that’s happened — present are the instructions from Apple and Google — and hold for the adjacent auto-backup if needed.

Maybe it turns retired you person a workable backup aft all, oregon possibly you conscionable privation to play things arsenic safely arsenic you can. Either way, you tin besides remotely erase an iPhone oregon Android phone from the comfortableness of your computer.

If you person an Android telephone that seems similar a measurement excessively far, there’s 1 much happening to try: remotely logging retired of your Google account. That ensures that others can’t spot thing you person stored in, say, your Gmail oregon Google Drive’s unreality storage. Here’s however to bash it from a computer:

If your telephone won’t crook on

We hatred to accidental it, but there’s not overmuch you tin bash if this is the case. If you’re truly acrophobic astir what remains connected your phone, you could effort to remotely erase the telephone the mode we described supra — should the telephone crook connected and link to the internet, it volition automatically effort to reset itself.

For much basal repairs specified arsenic surface replacements and artillery swaps, going to a section repair store oregon a concatenation similar uBreakiFix is wholly fine. But if you find yourself successful a concern similar this wherever your telephone good and genuinely won’t travel backmost to life, the champion play mightiness beryllium to spell done the institution that made it for a repair — if lone due to the fact that it improves the chances of getting a afloat replacement.