10 Tips for Packing Electronics

Gather together all your user manuals: If you don’t have them, download them from the manufacturer’s website.
Insure your electronics: Consider getting temporary insurance to cover your move, packing, and unpacking.
Add tracks to your mobile phones and electronics: Add tracker apps and chips like Tile and TrackR to your electronics so if a phone gets misplaced, it’s easier to find.

Take batteries out of all electronics and remotes so they don’t overheat and leak, and keep them together in one place.
Charge up all your rechargeable batteries a couple of days before you move.
Eject CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays from your various devices and tape the drives shut.
Remove toner cartridges from laser printers and secure them in a plastic, dust-proof bag.
Eject other printer cartridges from non-laser printers and secure the printhead in place.

Get some small colored stickers (about 8 different colors should be fine), slightly larger white stickers, and fine-tipped pens.
Before you pull out any cables (e.g., power, video, audio, etc.), put a colored sticker on each end of the cable that goes into your devices.
Put the same colored sticker next to the cable sockets on each device.
Wrap a white sticker around the cable and write the two devices it connects to it (e.g. Blu-ray player/cable box).
If it’s a power supply or power cord, write the item it powers on a sticker on the power supply.
Remove the cable, coil it, put an elastic band around it, and put it in a sandwich bag with a label.
After you’ve put several cables in each bag, secure them to one of the items they belong with.

Back up your important information and data: Before you pack your computer, back up all of your important information onto an external drive or, even better, into the cloud.
Make sure your computer passwords are hard to guess: In the (very) unlikely event your tablet or laptop gets stolen when you move, it’s vital to protect your personal data. You can use password managers like LastPass to create random passwords for every website and account, so if someone gets into one, they won’t be able to use the same password to get into everything else.
Vacuum and pack the inside of your computer: If like me, you have a desktop PC, you know how dusty they can get. Before you pack, use a vacuum cleaner extension to remove any dust. This will stop dust from moving around and getting trapped when the computer is in transit. You might also want to remove any cards from the motherboard (as long as you know what you’re doing). Make sure everything inside the computer case is secure by tightening all screws.
Pack your computer: Use the same method for packing your computer as your other electronic items, but don’t use packing chips (use packing paper instead). Packing chips can cause static electricity to build up, which is very bad for sensitive computer hardware and could stop your computer from working altogether. Remove any dongles, cables, and other items from your computer before you pack it.

Cushion the top and bottom of the box with towels or bubble wrap and pack everything inside securely so it doesn’t move, and fill in any void spaces with bubble wrap or other packing materials.
Wrap large items in bubble wrap. If it has a screen, protect it with a towel and another layer of bubble wrap. Place cardboard around the item. Cover everything with plastic sheeting or plastic wrap.
Never use newspaper to pack screens. Newsprint can get onto the screen and newspapers can easily scratch screens.