The Hand-Me-Down Phone That Will Not Switch On

A phone handed on without being signed out will not finish setting up, and the person holding it cannot fix that. Apple’s Activation Lock switches on by itself the moment Find My is enabled, and Google’s equivalent will not let a reset Android device be used at all without the previous account.

Both are working exactly as designed. They exist so a stolen phone is worthless, and the side effect is that a generous one can be too.

If you are giving a device away

Four steps, in this order, before it leaves your hands.

1. Sign out of iCloud, or remove the Google Account. On an iPhone that is Settings, your name, scroll down, Sign Out.
2. Turn off Find My. Apple states that doing this removes Activation Lock automatically. On Android, removing the Google Account is what turns off the protection.
3. Erase all content and settings. On an iPhone this is under Transfer or Reset. Erasing also turns off Find My and Activation Lock, so it covers step two if you do it properly.
4. Then hand it over, and not before.

The order matters. Wiping a device without signing out first is the specific mistake that creates the problem, because the lock survives the wipe and the account it points at is no longer on the phone to be removed.

If you are receiving one

Power it on before you wrap it. The whole failure is invisible until setup runs, which by default is Christmas morning in front of the person who gave it to you.

If the setup screen asks for an Apple Account or Google Account that is not yours, stop. Apple’s own guidance is blunt about this: “Don’t take ownership of any used iPhone or iPad if it’s protected by Activation Lock.” Google’s is blunter about the consequence, saying you will not be able to use the device at all.

There is no workaround, and services offering one are either selling you nothing or selling you something worse. The lock is the product.

The good news, if it has already gone wrong

The previous owner can clear it remotely, after the fact. Apple states that if you forgot to turn off Find My before giving a device away, Activation Lock can be removed through Find Devices on iCloud.com, and that it is removed immediately.

So the recovery is a phone call rather than a repair. That is worth knowing before anyone spends money on a shop that claims it can unlock the device, because the person who can actually do it is the one who gave it to you.

What to actually do

• Do the four steps a week early, not on the day. Every one of them needs the account password, and the account password is exactly what nobody can find under time pressure.
• Boot the device once before wrapping it. Thirty seconds of setup screen tells you whether the four steps worked.
• Never accept a locked device from a stranger. Apple says not to, and a second-hand phone that cannot be cleared cannot be made to work.
• A second-hand gaming PC can carry a different lock. Riot and Activision ban hardware as well as accounts, so a used machine can arrive with a game ban its last owner earned.
• Check for a carrier lock separately. It is a different mechanism with a different remedy, and a device can pass one check and fail the other.
• If it goes wrong, ask the giver, not a shop. Only their account can release it, and they can do it from a browser in about a minute.