How to wipe your laptop before you sell it
A few minutes of prep, then a reset. For Windows 10 and 11 laptops and Microsoft Surface.
Back up what you want to keep
A reset erases everything, and once the laptop ships we can't pause the process for you to retrieve files. Copy your documents, photos and anything on the desktop to an external drive or to cloud storage such as OneDrive, then open a few files from the backup to make sure they really copied.
Don't forget browser bookmarks and saved passwords, and any license keys for paid software you'll want to reinstall on your next machine.
Sign out of everything
Sign out of your email, cloud storage, browsers, password manager and apps. Deauthorize anything tied to a device count, such as music, video and game stores.
Turn off Find My Device
On Windows 11: Settings › Privacy & security › Find my device, then switch it off. On Windows 10: Settings › Update & Security › Find my device.
Deal with BitLocker or device encryption
Many laptops encrypt the drive automatically. That's good for your privacy, but a reset can stop and ask for the recovery key. Before you reset, either:
- save your recovery key — it's listed at account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey if you sign in with a Microsoft account; or
- turn encryption off: Control Panel › BitLocker Drive Encryption › Turn off BitLocker, or on Windows 11 Home Settings › Privacy & security › Device encryption. Decrypting can take a while; leave the laptop plugged in.
Remove it from work or school management
If the laptop was ever set up for a job or school, go to Settings › Accounts › Access work or school, select the account and choose Disconnect.
If an employer or school owns or enrolled the device, ask their IT team to release it from their device management first. A laptop that is still enrolled can lock itself back to the organization after a reset, and a managed or locked device can't be resold. The same goes for a BIOS or firmware password: remove it before you ship.
Reset this PC — remove everything and clean the drive
On Windows 11: Settings › System › Recovery › Reset this PC. On Windows 10: Settings › Update & Security › Recovery › Reset this PC › Get started.
- Choose Remove everything.
- Pick Cloud download or Local reinstall — either works.
- Under Change settings, turn on Clean data (Windows 10 calls it Clean the drive). This overwrites the drive instead of only deleting files, so it takes longer — often an hour or more.
- Keep the laptop plugged in until it restarts to the first setup screen. Stop there and shut it down; don't sign back in.
Remove it from your Microsoft account
Sign in at account.microsoft.com/devices from any other device, find the laptop and choose Remove device. That unlinks it from your account and its Find My Device history.
Selling a Microsoft Surface?
Everything above applies. Also:
- Remove it from your Microsoft account at account.microsoft.com/devices — Surface devices are usually registered there for warranty.
- If you set a Surface UEFI password, remove it in the Surface UEFI settings.
- If Reset this PC won't finish, Microsoft publishes a Surface recovery image you can reinstall from a USB drive.
Pack the charger, take out your media
Include the charger if your quote says one is included — the condition questions ask about it, and your offer already accounts for your answer. Take out any SD card, USB drive or disc, and peel off stickers with personal information.
What we do when it arrives
We wipe every device again to industry standard as part of refurbishment, even if you forget to. That's a backstop, not a substitute: wiping it yourself first is the only way to be sure nothing of yours is on it while it's in transit. See our data FAQ and Privacy Policy.