Are you thinking about selling your iPhone? Or did you get into some kind of trouble that required you to factory reset your iPhone? Factory resetting, also known as wiping, is an easy way to remove all of the data on your iPhone and restore it to its original state. Whether you’re selling your iPhone, having troubles with its performance, or just want to start fresh, follow this guide on how to factory reset your iPhone and wipe its data in just four steps. This will clear everything from text messages to photos to third-party apps, so make sure everything’s backed up first!
Before You Reset Your Phone
Just because you’ve found a buyer, or have another issue that may require you to erase the data on your phone, doesn’t mean you can afford for there to be anything stored on it. You should first follow these steps:
- Save any important information in a secure place outside of the phone before beginning the process. To do this, open Notes and type a brief description of each item that’s saved. Then copy each individual item by tapping on it and then going back into Notes. Tap Delete next to any items you want deleted from the note when wiping out the information on your phone, including pictures or video footage.
- Connect Apple Watch if it’s paired with iPhone (optional).
How to Factory Reset an iPhone
Begin by plugging in the phone with a cable, or inserting the device into its charging station. Once it’s fully charged, swipe the screen from left to right until you see a red exclamation point. Now press and hold down the home button (below) alongside sleep/wake button on top of the phone, until you get prompted with an option that says Slide to power off? Hit power off. Wait for the screen to go black before unplugging it. Next, hold down both home buttons at once. When you get confirmation of Do you want to erase all content, hit Erase All Content (which looks like an ‘x’) near the top-right corner of your screen.
When you’re finished using your phone, it’s a good idea to restore it to its original settings. Doing so will clear out anything that may have been left behind on your device after you’ve made changes, whether they were intentional or not. Restoring an iPhone means erasing its content and setting up as if it was new again. Resetting an iPad is similar, but is done differently depending on which version of iOS you’re running. Regardless of which device you have, there are two ways that can factory reset: 1) By holding down both home buttons at once or 2) by holding down just one home button while also plugging in your phone/device. Both methods should yield a black screen with options at the top-right corner.
What Happens After You Reset Your Phone?
Once you select the Erase All Content and Settings option, you’ll be asked if you want to back up anything from the phone first. The options are Keep Files, Don’t Keep Files, or cancel.
Once it’s finished restoring, you will have a fully reset phone with everything set up like new. If anything was backed up, those files will also be restored. However, if nothing was backed up before factory resetting, all of the photos, videos, messages etc will be deleted as well.
You can also enter DFU mode on your own, without using a computer. Press and hold down both power and home for 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, release power but continue holding home for another 10 seconds. Once you’re in DFU mode, iTunes will recognise that you have an iPhone connected in recovery mode and give you three options: Restore, Update or Restore then Update.
The Bottom Line
Factory resetting or restoring an iPhone means the following: erasing everything from the device and setting it up as a brand new phone. But with iOS, you may still be able to transfer all of your information if you’re taking it over to a new device. In order to do that, however, you’ll need to plug the old one into a computer running iTunes. With iTunes on your desktop or laptop computer, go ahead and select Summary for the old device in order to get into its summary settings. Now click on Restore Backup before confirming whether or not you want iTunes to back up onto this one’s iCloud account.