Whether it is because you want to sell your iPhone, or because you are going to leave it to someone else and you do not want them to have your own data, knowing how to factory reset the iPhone is knowledge that you must take into account.
It not only helps you to have greater security of your data, but also to leave the phone as empty as possible (and quickly), especially if it has been failing you lately. But how would it be done?
Why factory reset iPhone
Normally, you think about restoring an iPhone (or any other phone) when it is no longer going to be in our hands. That is, when the phone is going to be sold, when you decide to give it to someone else or when you have to deliver it to the technical service. In this way your data and information will be safe and no one will be able to access it.
But, factory resetting the iPhone does not mean that you will lose your data. In fact, when doing so, it allows you to choose whether to save your content and settings or directly delete everything.
Although the best thing you can (and should) do is a backup before.
How to create a backup before factory reset an iPhone
You have decided to delete all your data from the iPhone, either because you are going to sell it, give it away or whatever you want. But that doesn't mean you have to say goodbye to all the data you had on it. Actually, you can always keep a backup copy and if, at some point, you have it again, you can recover everything.
To make the backup of an iPhone you must go to Settings on your mobile. Then go to iCloud.
There you will have an option that is Backup in iCloud. You will only have to put it to make the backup copy at that moment and you will have everything that that phone had safe.
Now, it may happen that you do not have enough storage to save everything. In that case you may need to free up space first.
Another option, perhaps more important than the previous one, is to save all the images, photos, videos, audios, etc. on your computer. that has that mobile and that you want to keep, since that way you will not depend only on iCloud to have them (and restore them).
In fact, we recommend that you do both. It is much better and safer to have two copies of what you want to keep.
Steps to factory reset iPhone
Once you have made the backup copies, the next step you must take is, now yes, to restore completely.
It's actually quite simple, although you have two options: delete all content or not.
In both cases you have to take your mobile and go to Settings - General - Transfer or reset iPhone - Transfer.
From here you have two options:
- Reset: in this case, what it does is delete the settings and returns the mobile to the default option. That is, network settings, keyboard dictionary, location, privacy, and Apple Play cards will be gone. But neither your content nor your data will.
- Erase contents and settings: this option is the one that will completely clean the iPhone because you are going to erase everything you have. To do this, once you give it, it will tell you that it is going to close the Apple ID session and it will delete all the personal data that is in apps and data, wallet, etc. If you click on continue, it will ask you for an iPhone unlock code and it will begin the process to delete everything on the phone.
Factory reset iPhone from iCloud
Another of the options that you have to restore the iPhone to the factory is through iCloud, since you can do it from a distance and you do not need to have the mobile by your side. In fact, it is what they recommend if it is lost or stolen, to prevent them from having personal data that is important to you.
To use it, you first have to have the "find my iPhone" option activated on your mobile, because if you didn't have it, you won't be able to do it.
The steps to do it through iCloud are simple since you only have to enter with your username and password and you will have a tab to reset the phone (without having to have it in your hand).
Reset iPhone with a Mac
Another of the options to restore the iPhone to the factory is through Mac. By simply connecting the iPhone to the Mac by cable, you will be able to enter its settings and you will only have to:
- Open Finder. In the left bar, just under Locations, you will have the name of your iPhone. Click on it.
- Now several tabs related to the iPhone will appear on the right. In General you will have the option to “Restore iPhone”.
- It will ask you to disable "Search" and you can continue the process until it is finished.
- Once it does, don't panic if it reboots.
Reset iPhone with buttons
If you go from following steps and want something much faster and that does not take time, you should know that, if you have an iPhone model 6 or higher, you can do a reset with keys.
To do this, you must take into account the following:
- iPhone 6, 6s Plus, SE: Press and hold the power button and the home button at the same time for 10 seconds. The Apple logo will appear and once it restarts it will be restored.
- iPhone 7, 7 Plus: Press the volume down button and the button to turn on the mobile screen at the same time. Let it restart and when it shows the Apple logo stop pressing. This will have restored to factory settings.
- iPhone 8, 8+, XR, XS, XS Max, 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, SE second generation: Make sure it is fully charged and, with the phone turned on, press and release the volume up button. Do the same with the volume down button and then hold down the side button until the phone restarts and the Apple logo appears. At that time it should already reset to factory settings.
Do you know more ways to factory reset iPhone? Tell us about them.