Selling your old tech can put cash in your pocket, but don’t forget your devices store sensitive data that you don’t want a stranger to access.
Your smart speaker, for example, knows your location and may even store your voice recordings locally. Tap or click here for steps to wipe and deregister your Amazon Echo before selling it.
Now, think about what your phone knows. No wonder you get that horrible sinking feeling when you can’t find it. Here’s how to find a lost phone, even when the battery is dead.
But what if your phone, tablet, or laptop is lost for good? Don’t let everything stored there fall into the wrong hands. Here’s how to wipe all that personal info from anywhere.
Remember, you need to set this up ahead of time
Imagine traveling, and your phone or computer is nowhere to be found. If your passcode is easy to guess — or worse, you never set one up — you’re potentially handing over everything from your bank login to your social media accounts to who knows who.
Being able to wipe your devices remotely is incredibly useful. But you do need to set up the capability ahead of time. If you wait until you need this function, it’s too late. Take some time now to set it up following the steps below.
If you lose your Android phone, you can find, lock, or erase it remotely. You’ll need to have Find My Device enabled before using these features. Here’s how.
Follow these steps to erase your phone remotely
Apple’s Find My app lets you remotely erase an iPhone, iPad, or Mac from afar. As with Android, make sure you have Find My enabled ahead of time.
Enable Find My for iPhone and iPad:
To turn on Find My for your Mac:
Now, let’s say your iPhone, iPad or Mac goes missing. Here’s how to wipe all the data stored on it remotely.
If your device is online, the remote erase begins after following the on-screen instructions. If your device is offline, the remote erase starts the next time it’s online.
MORE TECH SMARTS: Every iPhone and Android user should know these genius commands
You can remotely wipe your Windows laptop, too. Make sure you have the Find my device feature enabled before this happens:
Next, you need to enroll your computer with Microsoft Intune, a cloud-based service that lets you remotely manage devices and applications. Install the app from the Microsoft Store or Sign on to the Company Portal website.
Now, if your laptop goes missing, you can remotely erase it.
While you’re on a roll, take another smart privacy step. Here’s my latest guide on erasing yourself from the internet. It’s nearly impossible to delete yourself from the web entirely, but you can wipe out quite a bit if you know where to start.
Want to erase yourself from the internet? Here’s how. I’ll also tell you how to predict traffic conditions months in advance. You’ll learn about some YouTube keyboard shortcuts you’ll always use and Netflix changes that may come later this year. Also, a piece of history died in a ransomware attack. Here’s what you need to know.
Check out my podcast “Kim Komando Today” on Apple, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player.
Listen to the podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for my last name, “Komando.”
What digital lifestyle questions do you have? Call Kim’s national radio show and tap or click here to find it on your local radio station. You can listen to or watch The Kim Komando Show on your phone, tablet, television or computer. Or tap or click here for Kim’s free podcasts.
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