About Factory Reset Protection (FRP)

Factory Reset Protection (FRP) is a security method designed to ensure that in the event of a lost or stolen phone, someone cannot simply wipe the phone and perform a factory reset.

Starting with Android Lollipop, FRP is "standard" in Vanilla Android, and most of the companies that make our phones have implemented it in their own models.

That's good - a stolen phone is harder to use, so it's less attractive to thieves, and anything that can protect our data on a lost phone is welcome.

How does it work

However, a problem can occur if you sell, trade or even distribute the phone without performing a factory reset. How it works explains why.

To perform a factory reset, you must be logged in to the phone's "owner" account (which you used to configure it). This means that if you give me your phone, I can not reset it without logging in.

There are random solutions on the internet, but they are usually fixed as soon as they are discovered. Before you can reset your phone and create a new owner account, you must know the credentials for the last account.

Switch off properly

Disabling Factory Reset Protection (FRP) is easy. For most phones, this happens automatically when you use the phone settings to reset the data.

If your phone has a different level of manufacturer reset protection or has a manufacturer's Find My Phone application, you will need to manually disable it first.

Some devices that require a little more practical work can still be used. If your phone is very old, you may need to manually delete logged in accounts:

• Open the device settings and remove any security measures on the lock screen. Not all phones need this step, but some would love it, so here they are.
• Next, remove all Google Accounts from your phone or tablet. This is also done in Settings - find the section labeled Accounts. Once the account is selected, look for deletion or deletion, usually hidden behind the three small dots in the top corner of the screen.
• Once you've made sure all Google Accounts have been removed, you can use the device settings on your phone or tablet to perform a factory reset.

On modern Android phones, you shouldn't have any issues if you factory reset the phone through the settings.

This will automatically delete all linked accounts in a way that "frees" the phone from the FRP. If you try to reset the phone using the bootloader, FRP will start and cannot be reset without the password of the previous account.

You can make sure that all reset protection is removed from the phone that you are trying to find a new owner for.

Try to log in again after a reset. If asked for a previous username and password, FRP is still enabled. If not, you can go: turn it off and put it in the box!

If you forget to turn off FRP

If you forgot to disable FRP and send your phone to someone else, you probably need to help them with the setup.

This means that you give him access to your Google Account password. The only other reasonable option is to send it back so you can do it yourself.

To share your Google login with anyone, do so when you call them. Tell them the password to your account and have them verify that it worked and they can continue with the installation process.

Then immediately change the password for your Google Account as well as other accounts that may have used the same password.

Do not forget to delete your Google Account from another phone for 72 hours after this! If you try, your account may be blocked and you will need to talk to someone on Google to resolve the issue.

Although we have not seen any headlines telling us that cell phone theft has dropped by a measurable percentage since FRP was allowed, it is still a good way to keep data safe. And it's pretty easy to disable if you want someone else to be able to use your old phone.