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Common question · Data and security

Does removing SIM card from phone delete everything?

No. Removing the SIM card deletes nothing on the phone: your photos, messages, apps and accounts live in the phone’s storage and in your online accounts, not on the SIM. The SIM mostly identifies your phone line. To remove your data, sign out of your accounts and erase the phone, then keep the SIM.

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Answered by the SubSell team · Family-run · Québécois and Canadian shop · Montreal, since 2017 · Updated

What a SIM card holds, and what it does not

On the SIM cardNot on the SIM card
Your line’s identity: it is how your carrier knows it is youYour photos and videos
Sometimes a few old contacts or texts saved to the SIMYour iMessage, WhatsApp or RCS conversations
Your apps, passwords, accounts and banking apps

eSIM: nothing to pull out

Some recent iPhones are eSIM-only: there is no card to take out. Transfer your eSIM to your new phone, or erase it with the phone when the iPhone offers to.

What really erases your data

  1. Sign out of your Apple ID, or your Google and Samsung accounts.
  2. Erase the phone with its built-in reset: the step by step for iPhone, Samsung and Pixel.
  3. Take out the SIM card and the memory card, and keep them.

Keep your SIM, and your number

Your SIM card belongs to your line: keep it for your next phone, or ask your carrier for a new one. Selling your phone to SubSell changes nothing on your plan or your number. And before any resale, every phone we buy goes through professional data-erasure software: how we erase your data.

Before you come in

Related questions

Does taking out the SIM card delete my contacts?

Usually not: on a recent phone, contacts are kept in your iCloud or Google account and on the phone, not on the SIM. Only contacts you deliberately saved to the SIM leave with it.

Should I take out the SIM before selling my phone?

Yes, keep it, along with any memory card. Then sign out of your accounts and erase the phone.

Can someone get into my accounts with my old phone without the SIM?

Yes, if you are still signed in: apps, photos and accounts work over Wi-Fi with no SIM card. That is why you sign out and erase the phone before selling it.

Straight answers

Other questions people ask us

  • How do I remove everything from an old phone?

    Sign out of every account first, then erase the phone with its built-in reset (Erase All Content and Settings on an iPhone, factory data reset on Android), take out the SIM and memory card, and remove the phone from your Apple or Google account online. Your cloud copies stay safe. At SubSell, every phone is also wiped with professional erasure software before resale.

  • How to wipe a phone before selling?

    Back up, sign out of your accounts, then reset: on an iPhone, Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content and Settings; on a Samsung, remove your Google and Samsung accounts, then Settings → General management → Reset → Factory data reset. Take out the SIM. SubSell then wipes every phone a second time with professional software.

  • What should I do before selling my phone?

    Back up your data, unpair your Apple Watch, move your eSIM and two-factor codes, sign out of iCloud (Find My off) or your Google and Samsung accounts, then erase the phone and take out the SIM. Bring photo ID. At SubSell, every phone also goes through professional data-erasure software before it is ever resold.

  • Which is the most hacked phone?

    There is no official “most hacked phone” ranking. By volume, Android phones face far more malware, largely because of their numbers and apps installed from outside official stores; iPhones are targeted less often, and when they are, it is mostly by rare spyware aimed at specific people. The biggest risks are a phone that no longer gets updates, phishing, and an old phone sold without being erased.

  • What is the fastest way to sell a phone?

    The fastest way: prepare the phone in about ten minutes (back up, sign out of iCloud or Google, take out the SIM), then sell it to a buyback shop that pays on the spot. At SubSell in Montréal, the check takes about 5 minutes and you leave with cash, no appointment.

All our answers

A question?

Call or write: the shop answers within the hour, 9 AM to 9 PM, in French or English.

Your price in 5 minutes, paid in cash on the spot.

757 Rue Beaubien East, Montréal • Mon-Sun 9 AM-9 PM • Walk-ins welcome