How to delete data on your phone. How to completely clean an Android device? Step-by-step instruction

A paradox is often discovered in Android phones Samsung Galaxy, Duos, Lenovo, LG, Nokia Lumia, Asus and others.

Some owners cannot recover deleted photos, while others cannot delete deleted photos - an interesting situation.

Everyone wants to completely and permanently delete photos and all personal data, for example, before selling an Android smartphone.

The trick is that even if you do a hard reset of the phone, it will not be enough, since all files can be recovered. How to get rid of them forever without the possibility of recovery?

By the way, there was a way to delete photos (and not only pictures) faster and more efficiently -

Why are deleted photos recovered on Android?

There are several reasons why deleted photos are restored on an Android phone, and not everyone knows that deleting from the gallery, and even restoring the phone to factory settings, does not actually permanently delete your data.

You can very easily recover all files deleted in this way using a file recovery program.

Moreover, Android has synchronization, for example, in the Google Photos application, where everything can be restored automatically.

The same applies to the onedrive cloud, backup auto, hangouts, picasa, hotmail or autobackup, but you can still permanently delete them.

The standard way to delete photos from an Android phone

Wherever your photos are, on the memory card, in the internal memory, they are displayed in the gallery.

You can remove photos from the gallery using Android tools. To do this, open the gallery and click on the option at the top right.

Then click on the “Edit” option.

Now, as soon as you check the boxes next to the files you want to delete, the “Delete” option will immediately become active.

Click on it. A confirmation request will appear - confirm everything.

How to completely permanently delete deleted photos from an Android phone without the possibility of recovery Android

Permanently deleting files is not the best option, you are better off using special applications that do a special process of overwriting the free space and thus, recovery will be prevented completely and forever, with the exception of synchronization.

In order to completely delete a photo, you must perform a standard deletion or restore your smartphone to factory default. This is always a good basis for deleting all personal data.

Then you can use the “iShreddera 5 Standard” app, otherwise your data can be easily recovered.

In fact, deleted photos are not deleted, but only information about them is erased, and they themselves are still in the internal memory and on the card.

IShreddera does not delete current data, but overwrites memory using special algorithms that will prevent the subsequent recovery of private information.

Using IShreddera is very easy. Just launch the application and click on the "Next" button. Then select the section and which algorithm to use.

The more repetitions, the higher the efficiency, but the longer it takes to rewrite. All available algorithms are popular and are used by government organizations and the military to get rid of data. Ideally, you should select 3x repeat and start re-recording.

There is another program called Secure Wipe that also performs similar operations on your phone.

This allows you to overwrite the free space on the memory card and internal memory of the smartphone. If you want to use emergency photo deletion, you can use both applications.

Attention! The process carried out by iShreddera and Secure Wipe can take several hours depending on how much memory you have on your phone. Therefore, it is recommended to connect it to charger for this time.

How to delete photos from Picasa gallery on Android

An Android phone can synchronize your photos with a gallery through Picas or Google Photos. These albums can be deleted, but next time they are synchronized they will be added again.

Luckily, there is a way to completely remove Picasa or Google Photos albums from your smartphone. This requires minor changes to the synchronization settings.

To do this, go to the settings of your smartphone or tablet and select Accounts -> Google.

Select a Gmail address. If your phone has more than one Gmail account, you'll need to repeat this process for each email.

After selecting your email, you will see your account sync options. Uncheck the option to sync Picasa albums.

Go back to Settings and select Settings > Applications > Gallery or Pictures. Click delete data. This process may take some time.

After deleting photos, they can literally appear again in an hour as if nothing had happened.

This happens through synchronization with Google services or through the cloud, for example, in Microsoft phones.

To check this, simply turn off the Internet. If your data stops appearing on its own, then it’s definitely a matter of synchronization with cloud storage.


If the problem occurs on the memory card, then simply try replacing it or formatting it on your computer.

That's all. In the near future I will write how to delete a photo from a Facebook contact, in Contact, via a computer, from Instagram, on Mamba, from Viber, from WhatsApp, from ICloud, from Badu, from Avito Photo, all, in Ask, from WhatsApp, duplicates and all straightaway. Good luck.

Problems related to smartphone performance are very relevant these days, and any owner of a modern device would not want to face them. But, unfortunately, even any top-end flagship will start to fail after months of use. We want to make you happy, because this problem has a solution. This article will help you get rid of lags on your phone. Let's look specifically at ways to completely clean an Android phone if you plan to continue using it yourself, or decide to sell your gadget.

Step-by-step instructions for cleaning an Android device

Have your eye on a brand new smartphone, but want to sell your old one before buying? Have you given your phone a proper presentation, but can’t return it to its former functionality? You need to prepare your phone for sale. How to clean your phone completely?

All current mobile devices running operating system android are tied to an individual mailing address. Therefore, when selling, the presence of viruses, or simply cleaning, you need to quickly clean the phone “to zero.” This goal can be achieved in several ways:

  1. Restore factory settings.
  2. Hard reset.

Reset to factory settings

How to completely erase a Samsung phone to factory settings? The method is very simple, so we recommend it first:

  1. Go to “Settings”, find the “Backup and reset” item and select it.
  2. In the menu that opens, select “Reset settings”.
  3. The system will notify you one last time that all data and profiles will disappear from the device.

After the phone restarts, you will see pure Android.

Hard reset

Important! It is necessary to fully charge your smartphone before this procedure.

Turn off your phone. Now you need a combination of control keys. There are several most common variations:

  • Volume up or down key + power key.
  • Both volume keys + power key.
  • Volume up or down key + home key + power key.

Important! The combination should bring up the Recovery menu, controlled by the volume keys, and selected by the power button.

You need to find the factory reset item and select it. We agree with the choice and wait for the smartphone cleaning procedure to start.

There is an opinion that standard device cleaning tools are not as effective as data removal tools offered by different companies. How to completely clean your phone in other ways?

  • Encryption. Encryption will help you preserve your personal data even when all personal data is not erased. You can encrypt your device in the settings, in the “security” section.
  • If you lose your device, you can remotely delete all data using Google services. Log in to the account that is linked to your smartphone and use the “delete data” button.
  • Cleaning the device not only allows you to clean the phone before selling it, but can also solve various problems with the operation of the smartphone.
  • You can always create backup copy your device if for some reason you do not want to lose your personal data. To do this, go to “personal data” and select “Backup and reset”, in that menu you can enable the data backup option.

Important! All instructions given above are relevant for new versions of Android and may differ slightly on different devices.

If you need a “clean” phone for sale, then in order to speed up the performance of the device, you don’t always need to tear everything down. There are many programs that can keep your system clean.

Programs for android

You can get rid of lags and freezes. What is needed for this? Most often, it is enough to install special applications that will help clean and speed up the system.

There is a list of tips that will help you get rid of the “brakes”:

  • Clear your cache regularly.
  • Don't be afraid to do a hard reset.
  • Keep the firmware up to date and update the software as needed.
  • Don't clutter your phone's internal memory.
  • Do not enable synchronization of services you do not need.
  1. Clean master. It has many functions and is ideal for clearing accumulated “garbage”. Equipped with its own antivirus (works online).
  2. 360 security. It has similar functionality, but is famous for its energy saving.
  3. DU speed booster. Ideal for “speeding up” work.
  4. Power Clean. Equipped with an excellent task manager.
  5. CM security. Keeps up with other applications and has a special antivirus with multi-level protection.

Getting rid of “garbage”

You won’t have to set up your phone as often as you will have to get rid of junk on it. Cache from surfing the Internet, the consequences of background running of applications - these are only a small part of the sources of so-called “pollution”. Let's try to analyze the cleaning process in more detail using the example of using the Clean Master program.

Clean Master is a very convenient, intuitive and functional application for cleaning the internal memory of your phone, which can also speed up and optimize the operation of Android devices. In order to carry out the procedure, you need to launch the application itself, select “Trash” and “Clean”.

Important! The app will prompt you to do an advanced cleanup and notify you that this partition may contain important data. Be careful!

Using the Clean Master program as an example, you got acquainted with maintaining cleanliness on mobile devices. Nobody prohibits the use of other software. The interface on such programs will not let you get confused and will help you complete the task.

This article should help you clean your Android device of unnecessary information and erase files you no longer need. We hope that now you can easily solve the problem of Samsung phone freezing or give it a factory “state” with characteristic performance. If this article did not help solve your problem and fix the operation of the device, we recommend that you contact your nearest service center or consult a qualified professional.

The gadgets like mobile phones and the tablets update themselves at an unimaginably high speed. People keep switching from one to another so that they can catch up to the currency. And by the way, I am one of them. A new gadget often offers functions and more advanced features. So what do you do with your old Android phone, when you switch to a new phone? I guess there are three choices: to put it into the drawer and never shoot a glance at it, to donate it to someone who may need it, or to sell it to a person or an organization. Anyway above, you need to pay serious attention to the personal data on the Android phone. It is better to wipe all of the personal data from your Android phone before you switch to another phone.

, in this article, I am going to tell you some good methods to deal with the personal data on your old Android phone, Thus in the hope that you will find one helpful for you.

Method 1. Wipe the files and apps by manual

There are many kinds of data on your Android phone, and you may also have an external flash card on it. You can go to the documents app on your Android phone, and check them one by one to find the files that you want. You can delete the contacts, messages, photos, audios, videos and so on. Of course, you can go to the relevant apps to delete the data respectively. And then, open the app which manages all the apps on your Android phone, and then choose the apps that you want to delete with the help of it.

Pros:

  • 1. It is easy to see which files you are going to delete.

Cons:

  • 1. It is a time-consuming process.
  • 2. The files deleted with this method can be easily recovered with some third party applications like the . By the way, this means that you can recover the files when you want with the help of the Android Data Recovery.

Method 2. Reset the Android phone with the factory function

Every Android phone offers a function call the “Factory reset”, with which you can remove all the files and apps from your Android phone with a few simple operations. The files you can remove include the contacts, messages, call logs, photos, audios, videos, texts, and other documents. Now you may think it is more convenient to use this method than Method 1. Well, it is not the case. Just like Method 1, the files removed with this method are still recoverable. And there are also some data that can not be removed.

But for those who want to give their Android phone a spring cleanup, this is a nice choice. And the recoverable data will gradually become unrecoverable during the time you use the phone. If you want to affect the factory function, you can go to the “ Settings” > “Reset” > “Factory data reset”” to start the process.

Pros:

  • 1. It is easy and simple.

Cons:

  • 1. Some data cannot be deleted by doing this.
  • 2. The removed files are still recoverable.

Method 3. Wipe Android phone with the dr.fone

Step 2. Connect your Android phone to your computer

Launch the dr.fone after the installation. And then with a USB cable, connect your Android phone to your computer, so that the dr.fone can detect your Android phone.

Step 3. Click the “Erase All Data” button

Now you can see a button named “ Erase All Data“. Simply click on it if you want to wipe your Android phone. And then, you may need to confirm the information on the Window and click on the “ Erase Now” button to start the deleting process.

Step 4. Wait for the deletion

After that, you need to wait for a while until the deletion finishes. And then, you will find that all the files disappeared from your Android phone including the photos, audios, videos, contacts, messages, call logs, apps and so on.

Pros:

  • 1. It is simple to use with many instructions on the interface.
  • 2. You can easily delete all the files that you don’t want permanently.

Cons:

  • 1. It is not free.

Method 4. Wipe data from your Android phone by remote operation

This is often used when your phone is stolen by someone others, and you find it hard to get it back. There are many tools online that can help you in this way. Among the applications, the Android Device Manager is the most widely welcomed. The Android Device Manager is a nice tool created by the Google so that it is a reliable one. Besides the function of deleting the files by the remote operation, the Android Device Manager can also help its users to locate the lost phone, call it and even lock it with ease.

Pros:

  • 1. It is a versatile tool.

Cons:

  • 1. The data wiped can be easily recovered by the recovery tools.

A complete wipe of your Android phone is rarely required. Typically, such a need arises before selling the device or in the event of some software failures, for example, after.

A complete wipe of your phone is done using a feature built into Android called Factory Reset. This function is available in the Settings application; it deletes all user data from the phone's internal memory, thus returning the device to the state in which it left the factory.

In this article, we will demonstrate how to access the Factory Reset function using the example of several Android devices. Also note that this procedure deletes data only from the built-in memory of the Android phone, while the memory card remains untouched, and if you want to clear it, you will need to do this separately using the “Format” function. The exception is encrypted memory cards; after resetting the device, their contents become inaccessible.

Complete phone cleaning using Android 5.1.1 as an example

First, we'll show you how to completely clean a phone running the Android 5.1.1 operating system. To do this, you need to open the “Settings” application, scroll down the list of settings and go to the “Backup and reset” section, which is located in the “Personal data” block.

As a result, a screen will appear with information about what data will be deleted as a result of wiping the phone. If you agree to the removal of this data, then click on the “Reset settings” button.

After this, your phone will begin a complete memory clearing procedure, which will take a few minutes. Once completed, the phone will reboot and be completely clean, just like it was from the factory.

Complete phone cleaning using Android 8.1.0 as an example

In Android 8.1.0, completely wiping your phone is done a little differently. In this version, you need to go to the “Settings” application and go to the “System” section.

And select the option “Delete all data (reset to factory settings)”.

After this, you need to confirm the action by clicking on the “Reset settings” button.

As a result, Android will begin the procedure of completely clearing the phone's memory. Once completed, the phone will reboot and become completely clean, just like it was from the factory.

Complete phone cleaning using the example of Samsung Galaxy S4 mini

Many phone manufacturers use their own shell instead of the standard Android interface. For example, the Android phone Samsung Galaxy S4 mini uses an interface called TouchWiz. Here, in order to completely clean the phone, you need to open the “Accounts” tab and go to the “Backup and reset” section.

After this, you need to open the “Data reset” section and confirm resetting the phone.

As a result, a complete clearing of the phone’s memory will begin. After completing this procedure, the phone will reboot and become completely clean, as it was from the factory.

These tips will be useful for those who are planning to get rid of their Android phone or tablet. On modern smartphone you can find a bunch of personal information - from passwords social networks and mail to bank card PIN codes and private photos.

It would seem that, delete personal data simply - via a button "Delete". Advanced users will also recommend doing factory reset. But this is not enough, it’s easy to restore simply deleted data, and after resetting to factory settings, files may remain on the memory card and, especially after custom firmware, even in the system memory.

Step-by-step instructions for deleting personal data from an Android device

First of all, copy all important information to another device.

The next step is for the paranoid. Find the section in your smartphone settings “Accounts” and delete each account manually.

It is not necessary to delete each account individually, except for personal peace of mind. You can start from the next step.

Go to the section "Memory" and see what memory is the default. If MicroSD, then switch the memory to internal and restart the phone.

Then format the memory card.

After that, go to the section “Restore and reset” and do a factory reset: “Reset DRM” And "Reset".

Restoring to factory settings will delete all data from the device and return it to its original state.

Formatting the memory card and resetting to factory settings should be done a couple of times in different sequences: first formatting and resetting, then vice versa. Then find in the information how to enter recovery on your phone, and do a full reset from recovery via “hard reset” or "factory reset"(can be called either this or that).

That's it, now there's no more on your Android smartphone or tablet. no personal information.

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