The Apps You Need to Deauthorize Before Selling Your Devices

Selling a computer, smartphone, or tablet should be as
easy as wiping all your personal data off of it and
handing it over to the buyer, but sometimes there are
little hidden authentication things you might forget
about. From iTunes to the Kindle app, here's everything
you need to deauthenticate before you sell your device.
We've walked you through how to securely wipe your
phone and computer before, but some apps also
authenticate DRM and serial numbers with your
computer directly. If you don't deauthenticate,
sometimes you either lose access to the app, or more
annoying, the buyer can't set up their own account.
Of course, this isn't only applicable to selling your
device. Even if you're just reinstalling the OS, you'll
want to deactivate this software before you do.
Otherwise, you might be stuck trying to dig up old
serial numbers and calling customer support just to
access the software you own.

How Do I Securely Erase My
Phone Before I Sell It?
Ableton: You can't deauthenticate Ableton, but when
you delete the software, you're also losing access to the
license you used before. You'll need to email their tech
support to get a new authorization number .
Adobe Creative Suite: If you still have the Creative
Suite installed and you have access to your computer,
you just need to open up each app and select Help >
Deactivate. This will unlink your Adobe account from
your computer so you can reinstall it on a new one.
Amazon Music: To unlink your Amazon Music account
from your device, head to the Amazon Music Settings ,
click on the "Manage Your Devices" section, and
deauthorize your old device.
Audible: Audible is a little trickier than most because
it can be authorized in all sorts of different places. In
iTunes, just click Store > Deauthorize Computer and
select "Deauthorize Audible." Elsewhere, you'll have to
follow the directions here.
Corona: Just head into File > Preferences and click the
deauthorize button. If you don't have the computer
anymore, you'll have to email tech support and ask
them to do it from their end.
Dashlane: Being a password manager, Dashlane is
pretty particular about which devices get access to your
account. Head to the My Devices tab and disable the
device you're selling.
Dropbox: If you've securely wiped your hard drive,
there's no reason why anyone should be able to access
your Dropbox account, but it's better to be safe than
sorry. So, before you sell it, unlink your computer so it
doesn't have access anymore.
Google Play Music: Google Play Music lets you listen to
music on 10 different devices, which seems like plenty,
but if still good to deauthorize your devices when you
sell them. The whole process for each device is pretty
easy.
Google App-Specific Passwords: If you're using
Google's two-factor authentication ( and you should be ),
then you're probably already familiar with application
specific passwords. These passwords are specific to a
single application on a single device. There's no reason
why someone should have access to these after you sell
a device, but it's still good to clean things up. Just head
to your App Passwords page and click the "Revoke"
button for any apps on your old hardware.
iTunes: iTunes only lets you play music and videos on
up to five devices, so it's good to deauthorize your
computer before you sell it. Just open up iTunes, click
Store > Deauthorize Computer, and select "Deauthorize
Computer for Apple Account."
Kindle App: The Kindle app is linked to your device,
which means it's linked to your computer, iPad, iPhone,
Android phone, or wherever else you have it installed.
You can always add new devices, but the person who
buys your old device can't add their own until you
deregister the Kindle app. Head to the Manage Your
Content and Devices section on Amazon, and click the
"Deregister" button on your old device before you sell
it (the same goes for Kindle hardware).
Microsoft Office: You can install Office on five
different devices, so it's a good idea to deactivate any
devices you sell. Just head to your account page , click
"Install Information" and select "Deactivate Install."
Origin Games: Games you purchase from Origin have
an activation limit, so make sure you go through and
deauthorize your computer before you sell it so you
can still play games.
Netflix: While signing out of Netflix on a computer is
easy enough, it likes to stick around as long as possible
everywhere. So, before you sell your device, make sure
you sign out of Netflix so someone doesn't get access to
your queue.
Playstation 3: Okay, the PS3 is its own thing, but it's
still worth mentioning here. Every purchase you make
from PSN is tied to both your PSN account and your
specific device, so if you sell yours, it breaks, or
whatever else, you need to go in and deauthorize the
old system so you can download those games onto a
new one.
Reason: Reason is very particular about where you can
install it. In fact, if you just change a few hardware
components, it might mess up your software
installation. So, make sure you deauthorize your
computer before you sell it. Log into your account ,
click "Authorize computers and Keys" and select the
deauthorize button.
Steam: If you want to deauthorize any computer
except the one you're logged into, head into Steam >
Settings > Manage Steam Guard Account Security and
select deauthorize.