Hey everyone! I'm a 16-year-old girl and I made some choices that I regret. I created this account to talk about my situation. So, my dad recently mentioned taking my phone to retrieve all the data on it to see what I've done. I'm really worried because I need to erase everything—every conversation and piece of data that could expose me—completely and make it untraceable. How can I permanently delete all my data from my phone? Any tips would be really appreciated!
5 Answers
Factory reset will wipe your phone, but don’t forget, a lot of your data might still exist in your accounts in the cloud. You’ll have to manually delete anything stored there as well, like Facebook or Instagram uploads.
And if you want to be super secure, consider creating a new user account for anything you might want to keep that isn’t incriminating.
If you're really scared, consider getting a new phone. But if you want to keep this one, you can 'lose' it or say it was stolen. That way, your dad won't have any reason to dig through your data.
Just be careful, losing it might raise more questions. But if he thinks it's broken, it could buy you some time.
The quickest way to ensure all your data is wiped is to do a factory reset. Modern phones are encrypted, so when you reset, it clears the key that would allow recovery of data. But make sure you also delete anything stored online, like messages or posts from accounts you’ve used.
Don't forget, if you use cloud services, like Google Drive, you need to delete those files manually too. Sometimes a factory reset won’t clear out files synced to the cloud.
Also, if your phone is over 7 years old, it might be smart to encrypt it first before the reset for extra safety!
If possible, also consider using a service or app designed for shredding files from your phone before the reset. It might help with security.
That's a good idea! Just be cautious and know that nothing can be guaranteed once it's out there.
And always make sure you have nothing sensitive if you're tossing the phone.
You should really do a factory reset, but also be aware that deleted data can sometimes be recovered. To be extra safe, upload some large junk files to take up space before resetting to prevent recovery, then wipe it clean again after.
Yes! And if your dad asks why it’s so empty, a simple ‘I reset it because it was running slow,’ should suffice.
Also, remember to delete any history or cookies if you log in to apps after resetting!
Exactly! Each app handles account deletion differently, so check the settings or help pages for each app.