We’re willing to bet that you’ve got at least one (and probably more) old laptop, desktop or printer taking up valuable space in your home. Whether it’s in your office, junk room or closet, spring cleaning should be on your mind, and here’s a tech tip for you: There are easy and sustainable options for disposing of these old pieces of tech. Some stores will even give you credit for offloading your old devices, as weirdly hard as it is to let go of them.

Throwing away your old devices is actually illegal, and can draw large fines in some states. Recycling is a necessary habit to get into — according to a UN report last year, people worldwide are throwing away about five times more gadgets than are being recycled.

And recycling computers and printers can be as easy as bringing them to major retailers like Best Buy, Office Depot and Staples. Here’s what you need to know about recycling your old tech — and read here for how to recycle your old phones.

Before you recycle your old tech

Wherever you choose to take or mail in your items to be recycled, you’ll want to protect your data by removing it as best you can. One way to do this is to perform a factory reset on your computer. Our guide walks you through the process.

How to recycle computers and printers

Some retail stores will accept computers and printers for recycling, but it’s not always a free service. Policies vary by company.

Apple Store

You can recycle your old Apple computers, monitors and peripherals, such as printers, for free at an Apple store, but there’s a costly catch. According to the Apple Free Recycling program, you must also purchase a qualifying Apple computer or monitor to receive this service. 

Need another option? A third-party company called Gazelle buys old MacBooks to recycle them. After accepting Gazelle’s offer, you print a prepaid label or request a prepaid box and ship the machine to them.

Read more: Phone and Laptop Repair Is Going Mainstream, With a Big Push From iFixit

Best Buy Stores

Best Buy generally accepts up to three household items per household per day to be recycled for free, including desktop computers and printers, as well as other items ranging from e-readers to vacuum cleaners. While three is the limit for most items, there’s a higher standard for laptops — Best Buy will take five of those per household per day. Note that rules for dropping off monitors vary by state, and it’s not always free to do so.

Best Buy also offers a mail-in recycling service for select items, but that’s also not free. A small box that holds up to 6 pounds costs $23, while a large box (up to 15 pounds) costs $30.

OfficeMax and Office Depot 

Office Depot and OfficeMax merged in 2013. The retailers offer a tech trade-in program both in-store and online where you may be able to get a store gift card in exchange for your old computers and printers. If the device has no trade-in value, the company will recycle it for free.

Office Depot also sells its own tech recycling boxes that you can fill with electronics to be recycled and then drop off at the stores, but they aren’t free. The small boxes cost $8.39 and hold up to 20 pounds; the medium ones cost $18.29 and hold up to 40 pounds; and the large cost $28 and hold up to 60 pounds.

Staples Stores

You can bring your old desktop computers, laptops, printers and more to the Staples checkout counter to be recycled for free, even if they weren’t purchased there. The retailer also has a free at-home battery recycling box which, according to a rep, has led customers to recycle thousands of batteries per week, up from an earlier average of 50 per week. 

Here’s a list of everything that can be recycled at Staples.

Read more: How to Factory Reset a MacBook, Windows Laptop or Chromebook

How to find centers for recycling tech

If you don’t live near a major retailer or would rather take your computers and printers to a recycling center, you can locate places close to you by using search tools provided by Earth911 and the Consumer Technology Association.

Earth911 recycling centers

Use the recycling center search function on Earth911 to find recycling centers near your ZIP code that accept laptops, desktops and printers. Note that the results may also turn up places that accept mobile phones and not computers or printers, so you may have to do a little filtering.

Greener Gadgets recycling centers

Consult the Consumer Technology Association’s Greener Gadgets Recycle Locator to find local recycling centers in your area that will take old items. The search function also allows you to filter the results to separately hunt for places that take computers versus printers.

A frozen phone is a common phenomenon, but thankfully, there are ways to bring your device back to life. If your iPhone isn’t responding and you’re not able to power it off and then on again, you can force restart it to hopefully fix the issue. 

Forcing a restart is different than a normal restart. Though that’s the first thing you should try in this situation, it may not be an option with an unresponsive phone. And as iPhone designs have changed over the years, so have the buttons and commands, which is why the steps for forcing a restart vary depending on the phone you have. 

So, here’s how to force a restart on any iPhone, from the latest iPhone 16 to older models like the iPhone 6S.

Read more: iPhone 16E vs. iPhone 16: What the $200 Price Gap Means for You

Force a restart on newer iPhones (8 and up)

If you’ve got an iPhone that supports iOS 16 or later (iPhone 8 and up, iPhone SE 2nd or 3rd generation and iPhone 16E), then you’ll want to follow these steps:

1. Quickly press and let go of the volume up button.
2. Quickly press and let go of the volume down button.
3. Press and hold the side button, until the Apple logo appears on the screen. Then let go.

Read more: You Can Turn Off Your iPhone’s Always-On Display. Here’s How

Force a restart on the iPhone 7

The steps for what to do on an iPhone 7 are a little different. Instead:

1. Press and hold the volume down button and sleep/wake button at the same time.
2. Let go of both buttons when the Apple logo appears on screen. 

Force a restart on older iPhones

If you have an older phone, like the iPhone 6 or the first-generation iPhone SE, the steps will look a little different. Here’s what to do:

1. Press and hold the sleep/wake button and home button at the same time.
2. Let go of both once the Apple logo appears on screen.

Also, good to know: How to Use the Action Button on the iPhone 16 Series and iPhone 15 Pro

Force restart FAQ

What’s the difference between force restart and regular restart?

A regular restart is a more straightforward and standard way to turn your iPhone on and off again. You’ll want to try doing this first by holding down one of the volume buttons and the side button, and dragging the power off slider. To turn your iPhone back on, hold down the side button again until the Apple logo appears. (If you have an iPhone 8 or older, just hold down the side or top button, then drag the power off slider.) If your iPhone isn’t responding to that, then you’ll want to force a restart.

Restarting versus resetting an iPhone

Resetting an iPhone is a more drastic measure that’ll wipe your device. You’ll want to do this before selling your iPhone or trading it in. Restarting it will just give it a refresh while keeping all your data.

Why does it differ based on iPhone model?

As Apple has changed the design of its iPhones over the years, it’s also moved around some buttons and commands. Thankfully, we’ve made it easy here by listing all the different ways to force a restart on your phone.

Is there another way to restart an iPhone?

Yes, you can actually set up your iPhone to restart with your voice; here’s how.