Secure Erase Samsung Galaxy S7

[Ian]

I'm going to be trading in my old Samsung Galaxy S7 phone in the coming days, as I no longer need it.

Previously when I've sold phones, I've given them a wipe by encrypting them and then doing a factory reset. However, the S7 doesn't give much in the way of encryption options, as I think it came out at a time when Android enforce encrypted handsets.

Am I correct in thinking that there's nothing more I need to do to wipe the phone than give it a factory reset, as the data was previously encrypted (with a login password)?

 

[V_R]

I've only ever just signed out and disconnected any accounts from the device - Google etc. then wiped it to factory.

I think maybe you have to tell it to erase the user partition too IIRC.

 

[Ian]

Thanks @V_R - any ideas on how I do that last part? I had a quick Google, but can't find much on it.

 

[V_R]

Is there an option, a tick box or something, its within the factory reset options? I may be getting confused with another phone manufacturer though, just seem to remember I had to do it with my old S7.

If there isn't don't worry, I might be wrong.

 

[Ian]

There's nothing additional that I can see, so think it'll be ok . Cheers for the advice!

 

[Abraham Andres Luna]

I think there is an app that will shred all the old files once you've done a factory reset.

 

[Ian]

I think there is an app that will shred all the old files once you've done a factory reset.

Too late for me now, as I've already traded it in . Thank you though

 

[Abraham Andres Luna]

Once I realized that a factory reset doesn't clear my personal data off the internal storage I decided to never sell or trade my old electronics until I figure out how to shred those old files.

 

[Ian]

Yeah, I'm always pretty careful about that too - thankfully I think modern Apple and Android phones will securely erase data (although ones 5+ years old might not).