Wipe a PC safely before returning or selling it

A PC that's returned to the leasing company, sold or thrown away can still hold company data, passwords and personal data, even if you've signed out and deleted the files. Ordinary deleting isn't enough, and under the GDPR your company is responsible for making sure the data doesn't end up in the wrong hands.

Step 1: Keep what you need

Before you start, make sure everything you want to keep is in OneDrive, SharePoint or on an external drive: documents, photos, downloads and browser favorites.

Step 2: Check BitLocker

Many business PCs are encrypted with BitLocker. That's good, because it already makes the data hard to get at. Search for “BitLocker” in the Start menu and open Manage BitLocker. If it's on, note down the recovery key somewhere safe before you continue.

Step 3: Disconnect the PC from your company

Go to Settings, Accounts, Access work or school and disconnect. The PC is then no longer registered with your company in Microsoft Entra ID. If the work account is the only account on the PC, you need a local administrator account first, or you'll lock yourself out. Give us a call, and we'll do it together. If the PC is managed through Intune, we'll remove it there for you.

Step 4: Reset the PC

1. Open Settings, System and Recovery.
2. Click Reset PC.
3. Choose Remove everything, not “Keep my files”.
4. Choose Local reinstall. It's the fastest.
5. Click Change settings and turn on Clean data. This overwrites the drive and makes it very hard to recover anything.
6. Click Reset. It takes one to three hours.

Checklist

• Files saved.
• Signed out of the company account.
• “Remove everything” and “Clean data” selected.
• The PC is ready to be returned, sold or disposed of.