Erase device remotely iPhone xs

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Level 1

8 points

Erase device remotely iPhone xs

Hello I recently sold my iPhone as spares as it was severely water damaged. I removed it from my iCloud on my new phone. It did not turn on so I could not wipe it. Buyer has contacted me asking for password and passcode as he has it working again.

he advised I remove it using iCloud .com find my phone. I can see the device but if find my phone was never switched on am I right in thinking I can’t remotely erase it? And if I remove it I will not be able to access it to factory reset it my self if he sends it back to me?

I obviously don’t want to give him my password and hope he sends it back to me to erase. He has suggested that he will try and reset through iTunes.... how can this be done if he cannot already access my phone?

any help much appreciated!

Posted on Jul 29, 2021 7:35 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 29, 2021 7:43 AM in response to Roll-

Anyone can erase an iPhone by putting it in recovery mode and restoring it “as new” in iTunes or finder. He doesn’t need any input from you to erase it.

But, if that device is still listed under your trusted devices at https://appleid.apple.com/ he will encounter activation lock after erasing it. You need to delete the device there as well I order to disable activation lock.

And if you can see the device under Find My at https:www.iCloud.com/find then yes, Find My is indeed enabled on that device.

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Answer 2

Roll- Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 29, 2021 10:57 AM in response to Michael Black

Thanks very much for your response so the phone is no longer one of my trusted devices so access lock is disabled.

should I worry he can access any of my data on the phone? I may be worried about nothing but if I delete the device on find my phone could he be left with useful data on my old phone? Should I change my current Apple ID?

thank you

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Answer 3

Jul 29, 2021 11:18 AM in response to Roll-

If the device has a screen lock passcode on (and assuming it is not easily guessed) he won’t be able to unlock it and access your data. And after 8 tries he’ll just disable the device.

Since it is no longer activation lock, he can just restore as new in iTunes or finder and it will be blank, and will boot back into the welcome and setup menu.

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Answer 4

Roll- Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 29, 2021 12:26 PM in response to Michael Black

Thank you, that’s reassuring. Lesson learnt on selling what I thought was a dead phone.

thanks again 😊

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Erase device remotely iPhone xs

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