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How to prepare your phone for trade-in

If you're ready to upgrade your smartphone, you should consider trading in your old one. Here's what you should do before you trade in an old smartphone.

You may want to trade in your smartphone or sell it when the time comes; either option can keep your device out of a landfill in addition to scoring you some extra cash. Most hardware manufacturers have an automatic cloud backup system, but you'll like your new phone a lot less if it doesn't have your full, up-to-date library of contacts, photos and other information. These steps might seem unnecessary when you'll end up wiping your device entirely, but you don't want to risk having your personal information accidentally made available to whoever might get your phone next.

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