What to do before you donating your device

Before donating your devices

Before you donate your device to Every Child Online, you should first transfer information to your new device, then, if applicable, remove your personal information from your old device.

You shouldn’t manually delete your contacts, calendars, reminders, documents, photos or any other iCloud information while you’re signed in to iCloud with your Apple ID. This would delete your content from the iCloud servers and any of your devices signed in to iCloud.

Before donating your old iPhone or iPad

If you’re trading in your iPhone at an Apple Store, you may need your Apple ID password. To save time, make sure you know your password (or reset it to a password you know) before you come to the store.

If you have enabled Stolen Device Protection on your iPhone, changing your password at the store is likely to have a one-hour security delay.

Follow these steps to transfer information to your new device and, if applicable, remove your personal information from your old device.

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Transfer information to your new device

If you have a new iPhone or iPad, you can use Quick Start to automatically transfer information from your old device to your new device if you’re using iOS 11 or later. Use iCloud, iTunes or the Finder to transfer information to your new device if you’re using iOS 10 or earlier.

If your phone number will change with your new device, add additional trusted phone numbers to your account to ensure you don’t lose access. If you no longer have access to your old phone number, you can generate a two-factor authentication code on your old device if needed.

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If applicable, remove your personal information from your old device.

1. If you paired an Apple Watch with your iPhone, unpair your Apple Watch.
2. Back up your device.
3. If you’ve purchased an AppleCare plan for your device, cancel your AppleCare plan.
4. Sign out of iCloud and the iTunes & App Store.
   
   • If you’re using iOS 10.3 or later, tap Settings > [your name]. Scroll down and tap Sign Out. Enter your Apple ID password and tap Turn Off.
   • If you’re using iOS 10.2 or earlier, tap Settings > iCloud > Sign Out. Tap Sign Out again, then tap Delete from My [device] and enter your Apple ID password. Then go to Settings > iTunes & App Store > Apple ID > Sign Out.
5. If you’re switching to a non-Apple phone, deregister iMessage.
6. If in-store trade-in is available in your country or region and you’re trading in at an Apple Store, stop here, do not erase your device and visit your nearest Apple Store to pick up your new device. After a Specialist has completed your trade-in, they’ll work through the remaining steps with you in the store. If you’re completing your trade-in online, continue to step 7.
7. Go back to Settings and tap General > Transfer or Reset [device] > Erase All Content and Settings. If you’ve turned on Find My [device], you may need to enter your Apple ID and password. If your device uses eSIM, choose the option to erase your device and the eSIM profile when asked.
8. If asked for your device passcode or Restrictions passcode, enter it. Then tap Erase [device].
9. Contact your network provider for help transferring service to a new owner. If you’re not using a SIM card with your device, you can contact them to get help transferring service to the new owner.
10. Remove your old device from your list of trusted devices.

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When you erase your iPhone or iPad, Find My [device] and Activation Lock are turned off.

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Forgotten your Apple ID or your Apple ID password?

If you no longer have your iPhone or iPad

If the steps above weren’t completed and you no longer have your device, follow these steps:

1. Ask the new owner to erase all content and settings using the above steps.
2. If you’re using iCloud and Find My [device] on the device, sign in to iCloud.com/find or the Find My app on another device, select the device and click Erase. After the device has been erased, click Remove from Account.
3. If you can’t follow either of the above steps, change your Apple ID password. This won’t remove personal information that’s stored on your old device, but it prevents the new owner from deleting your information from iCloud.
4. If you’re switching to a non-Apple phone, deregister iMessage.
5. If you’re using Apple Pay, you can remove your credit or debit cards at iCloud.com. Choose Account Settings to see which devices are using Apple Pay, then click the device. Next to Apple Pay, click Remove.
6. Remove your old device from your list of trusted devices.
7. If you’ve purchased an AppleCare plan for your device, cancel your AppleCare plan.

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If you’re donating in an Android device to Every Child Online

Before donate in an Android device to Every Child Online, make sure you do the following:

• Back up your data.
• Erase the device.
• Remove any SIM cards, memory cards, cases and screen protectors.

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Contact your device’s manufacturer if you need help.

Before donating your old Mac

Reset your Mac to factory settings to prepare it for a new owner.

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Before you begin

• If your Mac is covered by an AppleCare plan, you can cancel your AppleCare plan or transfer your AppleCare plan to a new owner
• If your Mac won’t turn on or start up, find out what to do if your Mac won’t start up all the way.

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If your Mac has Erase All Content and Settings

Your Mac will only have the Erase All Content and Settings feature if it meets these requirements:

• It’s a Mac with Apple silicon or a Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip.
• And it’s using macOS Monterey or later.

If your Mac meets these requirements, follow the steps to erase your Mac and reset it to factory settings.

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If your Mac doesn’t have Erase All Content and Settings

If the Erase All Content and Settings feature isn’t available on your Mac, follow these steps instead. Before you begin, it helps to know which macOS your Mac is using.

1. Back up or transfer your files

If you don’t have a current backup, you can back up your files to an external storage device or transfer your files to a new Mac.

2. Sign out of iTunes

If you’re using macOS Catalina or later, you can skip this step.

1. From the menu bar in iTunes, choose Account > Authorisations > Deauthorise This Computer.
2. Enter your Apple ID and password and click Deauthorise. Find out more about deauthorising.

3. Sign out of iCloud

When you follow these steps to sign out of iCloud, you’ll be asked whether to keep a copy of your iCloud data on this Mac. It’s faster to just keep a copy, because you will erase your Mac later.

macOS Ventura or later:

1. Choose Apple menu  > System Settings.
2. Click your name (Apple ID) in the sidebar.
3. On the right, scroll down and click Sign Out.

macOS Monterey, macOS Big Sur or macOS Catalina:

1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences.
2. Click Apple ID.
3. Select Overview in the sidebar.
4. Click Sign Out.

Earlier versions of macOS:

1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences.
2. Click iCloud.
3. Click Sign Out.

Sign out of iMessage

1. Open the Messages app.
2. From the menu bar in Messages, choose Messages > Settings (or Preferences).
3. Click iMessage.
4. Click Sign Out.

Unpair Bluetooth devices (optional)

If your Mac has been paired with a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse or other device that you’re planning to keep, you can unpair it. This optional step prevents any accidental input when the Mac and device have separate owners but remain within Bluetooth range.

If you do this on a Mac that doesn’t have a built-in keyboard or trackpad, you will need to plug in a USB keyboard and mouse to complete the remaining steps.

1. Choose Apple menu  > System Settings (or System Preferences).
2. Click Bluetooth.
3. Move your pointer over the device that you want to unpair, then click the Disconnect button or remove button (x) next to the device name.

Erase your Mac

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Start up from macOS Recovery, then use Disk Utility to erase your Mac. For details, follow the steps to use Disk Utility to erase your Mac.
3. When you’ve finished, close Disk Utility but don’t restart your Mac.

Reinstall macOS

1. While still in macOS Recovery, choose Reinstall macOS, then follow the onscreen instructions. Find out more about reinstalling macOS from macOS Recovery.
2. After reinstalling macOS, your Mac will restart to a setup assistant. Press Command-Q to shut down instead of continuing the setup process.

Reset NVRAM

1. If you’re using an Intel-based Mac, follow the steps to reset NVRAM. This will clear user settings from the memory and restore certain security features that may have been altered previously.
2. After resetting NVRAM, your Mac will start up to the setup assistant again. To leave the Mac in an out-of-box state, press Command-Q to shut down instead of continuing setup.

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