Before you sell or gift your Xbox or Windows pc (2024)

FAQs

What to do before selling an Xbox? ›

Reset and remove everything.

This option resets the console to factory settings. All user data, including accounts, saved games, settings, home Xbox associations, and all installed content will be deleted. Use this option when selling or gifting the console, or as a last resort in some troubleshooting cases.

Go to “Start” and open the “Settings” app. In the “Update & security” section, choose “Recovery.” Click on “Get started” under “Reset this PC.” In the next window, you can choose either “Keep my files” or “Remove everything.”

Under Settings, select System and then select Console Info. Under Console Info, select, Reset Console. After selecting Reset Console you'll be presented with two options: Reset and remove everything and Reset and keep my games and apps.

It's important to clear all computer data before selling your system. It's not enough just to clean your cache and delete your files, however. Even a standard wipe of your hard drive may not be enough. Forensic software is getting better all the time and can recover data even on a computer that has been cleared.

For Windows 10, go to the Start Menu and click on Settings. Then navigate to Update & Security, and find the Recovery menu. Next, select Reset this PC and choose Get Started. Follow the instructions to revert your computer to when it was first unboxed.

Does Windows 11 factory reset delete everything? ›

How to factory reset a PC on Windows 11: Open 'Settings', then go to 'System' on the left and scroll down to 'Recovery'. Click on 'Reset PC'. A new popup box will appear and you can choose to keep your files or remove everything (choose this option if you're giving away, recycling, or selling your PC).

Will Upgrading Windows 10 to Windows 11 Erase All My Files? Upgrading your system from Windows 10 to Windows 11 will not erase all your files. After the update is completed, you should have access to all user files that were previously available in Windows 10.

To wipe your drive in Windows 10, go to Settings > Update & security > Recovery, and then click the Get Started button. When prompted, choose the option for Remove everything. You should then choose the Local reinstall option to reinstall Windows from your computer.

Yes, you can completely wipe a hard drive, but you'll need to do more than simply delete the files stored on it. Deleting files from a hard drive doesn't actually remove them — it just reassigns that space so new files can be added later on. To clean a drive completely, you need to actually erase the data.

Completely Wipe the Hard Disk Data

Opting for professional software to permanently wipe out your drive's data before selling is beneficial. Because it supports permanently wiping out the data from the hard drive, the data becomes inaccessible to any random person.

Create your backup

Press the Xbox button  to open the guide and go to Profile & system > Settings > System > Back up & transfer > Back up my settings, and then follow the on-screen instructions to save your backup to your storage device.

If you have registered it to your microsoft account, go to account management while logged into your account on microsoft's website and remove the device. Check that all features/ports are working. Check usb ports, check disc drive plays discs, check that it can connect to wifi and that the ethernet port is working.

Can't sign in? Follow these steps to reset your Microsoft account password. You can restart, perform a full power cycle, or physically disconnect your Xbox console to reboot it completely and fix many common issues. This process does not erase any of your games or data.