How do I delete all contacts?

[notaguru]

I'm giving this lovely Eris to someone, and wish to preserve all the apps, etc.

How do I delete the contacts and the google affiliation? I thought about creating a spurious gmail account, but how do I switch?

Thanks,

Notaguru
....off to the Incredible

 

[dockmaster]

It would seem to me that you need to delete the email accounts from the phone instead of the contacts...kill two birds with one stone. The new owner can set up there own email.
Arn't contacts synced thru a Google account?

 

[doogald]

If you are not rooted, do a factory reset (settings->privacy, I think.)

If you are rooted, install Flashback21 to unroot the phone, then do a factory reset. If you want to give it to somebody you know who wants to keep it rooted, just a wipe data/factory reset will return it to a state with no private data. Of course, you should also format the SD card, or have them buy their own.

 

[notaguru]

It turns out that the only 100% answer is:

Set up a spurious Gmail account, populate with a Contact or two, and...

1. Format the SD card
2. Boot into recovery (this unit is rooted)
3. Wipe data, Dalvik
4. Flash ROM and GAPPS
5. Link to the new Gmail account
6. Install [free] apps as appropriate

Done.

And if on a plan that limits or charges for data, be sure to set up wifi asap and turn off mobile data.

 

[doogald]

It turns out that the only 100% answer is:

Set up a spurious Gmail account, populate with a Contact or two, and...

1. Format the SD card
2. Boot into recovery (this unit is rooted)
3. Wipe data, Dalvik
4. Flash ROM and GAPPS
5. Link to the new Gmail account
6. Install [free] apps as appropriate

Done.

And if on a plan that limits or charges for data, be sure to set up wifi asap and turn off mobile data.

You may have wanted to use something like appbak to backup the list of installed apps and then restore after a factory reset.

By the way, I don't think that you necessarily need a gmail account - I think a Google account is good enough. A Google account can be any email address. See this: What's the Difference Between Google Accounts, Google Apps, and Google Docs?

That said, it's probably wise to use a gmail account anyway.