Before you sell your phone in the UAE: UAE Pass, bank apps and your eSIM
A factory reset handles your photos and messages. It does not move UAE Pass, your bank's app or your eSIM — and those are the ones that lock you out if you get the order wrong.
Most of what is on a phone moves on its own: photos to the cloud, messages through a backup, apps from the store. A handful of things in the UAE do not, because they are tied to the device itself — and if the old phone is reset before they are moved, getting them back means a call, a branch visit or a long wait. Do these first, in this order.
1. Set up the new phone and keep the old one alive
Get the new phone working before you touch the old one. Several of the steps below send a code or a confirmation to the old phone, so it needs to stay switched on, signed in and connected until the end.
2. UAE Pass
UAE Pass is your login for most government services, and it is registered to one device. Install it on the new phone and go through activation there; the app walks you through verifying it is you. Check you can sign in to a government service with the new phone before you go further. Once that works, the old phone's copy can go with the reset.
3. Your banking apps
Most UAE banks bind their app to a single device, and registering a new one usually means a one-time code sent by SMS to the mobile number the bank holds. So:
- register the app on the new phone while the old one still works, bank by bank;
- make sure the number the bank has is the one in your phone — if it is old, update it with the bank first;
- do the same for any card-provider or payment app you use.
4. Your eSIM
If your line is an eSIM with du or e&, it has to be moved to the new phone through your operator — their app, a store, or customer service. Do not delete the eSIM from the old phone first: until the operator has the new phone connected, the old phone is the only thing carrying your number. When you factory reset a phone, it asks whether to keep or erase the eSIM; erase it only once the new phone has signal. More on keeping your number when you change phones.
5. Government, utility and transport apps
Apps such as your emirate's police, utility, transport or parking apps are tied to an account, not the phone — sign in on the new phone and they come back. The thing to check is that you still know each password, or that the reset link goes to an email you can open.
6. WhatsApp, two-factor codes and the rest
Move WhatsApp properly so your chats come with you (here is how), and move any authenticator app — its codes do not come back from a normal backup on every phone.
7. Then the usual
Back up (iPhone, Android), sign out of iCloud or your Google account so the phone is not activation-locked, and take out a physical SIM. The factory reset itself happens in front of you at the door — this is what it covers.
Get a price for your device
A price in about a minute, free doorstep pickup in a two-hour slot, and paid — cash or bank transfer — before our agent leaves.
Questions people ask
- Will a factory reset remove UAE Pass from my old phone?
- Yes, the reset removes the app and its data from that phone. The point is to have UAE Pass working on your new phone first, so you are not left without it.
- What happens to my eSIM when the phone is reset?
- It depends on what you choose during the reset — a phone can keep or erase its eSIM. Get the new phone connected through your operator first, and only then let the old phone erase it.
- Does TurnCash reset the phone for me?
- Yes. The phone is factory reset in front of you at the door, before the sale is complete. Moving your accounts to the new phone is the part only you can do.