Thoroughly deleting photos from phone (Nokia, computers, microsoft, capable)

[snowmountains]

In the case of computers, even after you deleted the files they can still be recovered. What about cell phones? I may give away my old Nokia phone (lumia 635 which is a windows phone), but want to make sure no one can recover any pictures I may have in it even though I've deleted them. Also the contacts, are they deleted irreversibly?

How to make sure all files (contacts, photos, videos...) have been permanently deleted and are unrecoverable?

[everwinter]

This is what I did before I sold my Windows Phones on Ebay. Also, don't forget to get any pictures you want off of it before doing this.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...reset-my-phone


Reset your phone
1. On Start , swipe over to the All apps list, then select Settings .

2. Select System > About > Reset your phone.

3. You'll receive two warnings. If you're absolutely sure you want to restore your phone to its factory settings, select Yes, and then select Yes again. It might take a little while for the process to complete.

[snowmountains]

Originally Posted by everwinter

This is what I did before I sold my Windows Phones on Ebay. Also, don't forget to get any pictures you want off of it before doing this.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...reset-my-phone


Reset your phone
1. On Start , swipe over to the All apps list, then select Settings .

2. Select System > About > Reset your phone.

3. You'll receive two warnings. If you're absolutely sure you want to restore your phone to its factory settings, select Yes, and then select Yes again. It might take a little while for the process to complete.

Thanks for the quick and very helpful reply! I just did it, now it's back to factory settings.

ETA: Should I take out the SIM card or not? Obviously it's useless now? But does it include any data/information?

[everwinter]

I always take my SIM card out when selling or giving a phone away. You can put it in your next phone to use.

[snowmountains]

Originally Posted by everwinter

I always take my SIM card out when selling or giving a phone away. You can put it in your next phone to use.

Thanks!

[vision33r]

Originally Posted by everwinter

This is what I did before I sold my Windows Phones on Ebay. Also, don't forget to get any pictures you want off of it before doing this.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...reset-my-phone


Reset your phone
1. On Start , swipe over to the All apps list, then select Settings .

2. Select System > About > Reset your phone.

3. You'll receive two warnings. If you're absolutely sure you want to restore your phone to its factory settings, select Yes, and then select Yes again. It might take a little while for the process to complete.

That actually doesn't delete data on the phone. Someone who is capable of connecting the phone to a PC can extract the data.

The only way to delete it is to Reset the phone and select wipe all data. This can take a long time depending on the size of the storage. Because it has to zero out every storage bit.

A general factory reset simply removes the user acount and settings from the phone but the data is still there unless you do a full factory erase.

[Mr. Boring]

Another thing to consider is cloud like google photos. Every photo I take with my phone is automatically uploaded to Google Photos. Probably not a concern if you're selling your phone but just because a photo is deleted off the phone, doesn't necessarily mean it's deleted from the universe.

[everwinter]

Originally Posted by vision33r

That actually doesn't delete data on the phone. Someone who is capable of connecting the phone to a PC can extract the data.

The only way to delete it is to Reset the phone and select wipe all data.

That's what this (the instructions above) does.

From the article -

"All of your personal content will be erased, and the phone will be restored to its factory settings.
Resetting your phone will erase all content stored on your phone, including apps and games (along with app data and game progress), text messages, call history, music, photos, and more."

[Peregrine]

Here we go again.
You do not need to zero out the phone.

That actually doesn't delete data on the phone. Someone who is capable of connecting the phone to a PC can extract the data.

It's not that easy. Generic off the shelf software like what most people are going to use is not going to be very effective at all of getting photos after a wipe. If you believe this ISN'T true, you haven't done it. I have. Many times. The success rate is pretty low even trying to recover something recently deleted.

Bottom line is reset your phone and move on. The odds of someone getting your phone after you and trying to get your photos off of it are minuscule.

[snowmountains]

Thanks for the new comments.