Turn off Find My and Activation Lock before selling

If you sell an Apple device without turning off Find My, the next person can't use it, and the sale can't go ahead. Fixing it takes only a couple of minutes while the device is still in your hands, and much longer once it isn't.

The steps below follow Apple's own support pages, which we link to. Menu names change a little between software versions, so if a step looks different on your device, look for the closest match or check Apple's page.

What Activation Lock is

Activation Lock is part of Find My. According to Apple's page Activation Lock for iPhone and iPad, it turns on automatically when you set up Find My, and Apple links the device to your Apple Account (Apple ID) on its activation servers. From then on, your Apple Account password is needed to turn off Find My, erase the device or activate it again.

That protects you if your phone is stolen. But it also means a device you sell while still signed in is useless to the buyer, and it can't be bought by a buyback service either. At Changekro, the executive checks that the device is signed out before paying you.

iPhone and iPad: the quick way

Apple's checklist What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad comes down to these steps:

1. Back up your iPhone or iPad (iCloud backup, or a computer).
2. Unpair your Apple Watch if you have one (see below).
3. Sign out of your Apple Account: open Settings, tap your name at the top, scroll down and tap Sign Out. Enter your Apple Account password when asked.
4. Erase the device: Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone (or iPad) → Erase All Content and Settings. Apple notes that erasing this way also turns off Find My and Activation Lock. If you use an eSIM, choose to erase it too, after moving your number to your new phone.
5. Take out your SIM card.

If your iPhone asks you to wait

Newer iPhones have a setting called Stolen Device Protection. When it is on and you are away from a familiar place such as your home, the iPhone may ask for Face ID or Touch ID and make you wait before it lets you change important Apple Account settings, such as signing out. If that happens, do these steps at home a day before your pickup, not at the door.

Mac

• Open System Settings, click your name, then iCloud, and turn off Find My Mac. Enter your Apple Account password when asked.
• Then sign out of your Apple Account from the same screen.
• On newer Macs you can then use System Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Erase All Content and Settings. Older Macs are erased from macOS Recovery; Apple's support site has the steps for each model.

Apple Watch

Unpair the watch from your iPhone: open the Watch app on the iPhone, go to My Watch → All Watches, tap the info button next to the watch and choose Unpair Apple Watch. Unpairing removes Activation Lock from the watch. If you no longer have the iPhone, you can erase the watch from its own settings, but you then need to remove it from Find My as described below.

AirPods

Open the Find My app, go to Devices, select your AirPods and choose Remove This Device. Then reset them by holding the setup button on the case (the exact way differs between models).

If you no longer have the device

Maybe you already reset the phone, or the screen is broken. You can still remove it from your account in a browser. Apple's page How to remove Activation Lock explains: go to icloud.com/find, sign in with your Apple Account, select the device and choose Remove This Device. Apple's iCloud guide adds that you should erase the device first if it isn't erased yet.

If you have forgotten your Apple Account password, reset it with Apple first. If you can't remove the lock at all, Apple says you can start an Activation Lock support request if you have the proof of purchase. A business or school device has to be released by its IT team.

How this works when you sell to Changekro

Check your price on our iPhone sell page or for an iPad first, and book a free pickup. Before the executive arrives, sign out and turn off Find My as above. At your door the executive checks the device, including that it is signed out, and you are paid by UPI, bank transfer or cash before you hand it over. If you're not comfortable resetting it yourself, the executive can factory-reset the phone in front of you once you have signed out.

For iPhones we also ask for the battery health, so check Settings → Battery → Battery Health while you are there. Our guide on finding your IMEI and battery health shows where it is.