Download Article
Learn how to safely get rid of an old laptop
Download Article
Whether you’re in need of an upgrade, your laptop has completely broken, or you have an old laptop gathering dust in a cupboard, you’ll need to get rid of your laptop at some point. If you’ve been using a laptop for a while, you'll likely have precious files on the hard drive that you want to keep, or keep other people from using. By wiping your hard drive and knowing a few different ways to safely get rid of it, you can dispose of your laptop without having anything to worry about.
Things You Should Know
- Get rid of your old laptop by trading it in, selling it, dropping it off at a recycling center, or donating it.
- Before you get rid of your laptop, make sure that you take any necessary preparation steps, like backing up data.
- You can create backups using a physical hard drive that you plug in via USB or you can use cloud storage, like Google Drive.
Steps
Community Q&A
Search
-
QuestionCan you drop a cinder block on the computer to break it?Liu WoodsCommunity AnswerA cinder block will totally destroy the motherboard. Refer to the wikiHow article "How to Destroy an Old Computer" for more help on destroying your computer completely.
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
Advertisement
Tips
Submit a Tip
All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
Name
Please provide your name and last initial
Thanks for submitting a tip for review!
Warnings
- Always wear safety goggles when drilling into electronics, as small and sharp fragments may fly off while you work.Thanks
Advertisement
References
- ↑ https://www.consumerreports.org/laptop-computers/what-to-do-with-your-old-laptop/
- ↑ https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/get-rid-of-old-laptop-2
- ↑ https://www.consumerreports.org/laptop-computers/what-to-do-with-your-old-laptop/
- ↑ https://www.consumerreports.org/recycling/how-to-recycle-electronics/
- ↑ https://www.consumerreports.org/recycling/how-to-recycle-electronics/
- ↑ https://www.techlicious.com/how-to/how-to-safely-get-rid-of-an-old-computer/
- ↑ https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/get-rid-of-old-laptop-2
- ↑ https://www.techlicious.com/how-to/how-to-safely-get-rid-of-an-old-computer/
- ↑ https://www.techlicious.com/how-to/how-to-safely-get-rid-of-an-old-computer/
- ↑ https://www.techlicious.com/how-to/how-to-safely-get-rid-of-an-old-computer/
- ↑ https://www.techlicious.com/how-to/how-to-safely-get-rid-of-an-old-computer/
- ↑ https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0010-disposing-old-computers
- ↑ https://youtu.be/dYcPT-xrLBM?t=91
- ↑ https://youtu.be/dYcPT-xrLBM?t=82
- ↑ https://youtu.be/dYcPT-xrLBM?t=104
About This Article
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 273,806 times.
Advertisement