The best way to Erase your iPhone data.
Are you planning to sell your iPhone, give it as a gift or exchange it for a new model? First, you should erase your iPhone to make it easier to switch to a new device. Similarly, disconnect your Apple account from the iPhone so that the new user can activate the device without any problems. This guide shows you how to properly erase your iPhone before selling or giving it away.
Before You Erase Your iPhone
Here are three important things you should do before you erase your old iPhone.
If you have an Apple Watch, turn off a couple of watches before resetting your iPhone or watch. This will disable Activation Lock and unlock your Apple Watch for use on another iPhone.
Launch the Watch app on iPhone and tap All Watches in the upper right corner of the My Watch tab. Tap the information icon next to Apple Watch.
Click “Unpair Apple Watch” and select “Unpair [name] Apple Watch” in the window that appears.Enter your Apple ID password and click “Unpair” in the upper right corner.
This will unlink the watch from your account, disable Activation Lock, and remove Find My Watch.
2. Unregister iMessage and FaceTime
If you’re switching to a non-Apple device, deactivate iMessage before wiping your old iPhone. Otherwise, your new phone (Android) may not accept SMS/MMS sent through the Messages app on iOS devices.
Before proceeding, make sure the SIM associated with your iMessage phone number is in your iPhone. Then connect your iPhone to a cellular network,
go to Settings > Messaging, and turn off iMessage.
Go back to the Settings menu, select FaceTime and turn off FaceTime.
If you no longer have access to your iPhone, you can deactivate iMessage and FaceTime online.
Visit this Apple self-service solution portal on your mobile device or PC web browser. Select your country code and enter the iMessage/FaceTime phone number you want to unregister in the dialog box. Select Submit code to continue.
Enter the 6-digit verification code sent to your phone number via SMS and select Send. If the information provided is verified, Apple will remotely disconnect your phone from iMessage.
3. Turn off Find My iPhone and Activation Lock
Turning off Activation Lock is the most important thing you need to do before you erase your iPhone for a trade. This disconnects the iPhone from your Apple ID so that anyone who buys it can use the device without problems.
Open the Settings app, tap your Apple ID name, select Find My, and turn off Find My. Then enter your Apple ID password and click Turn Off.
1. Factory Reset iPhone from iOS Settings
If you manually reset your iPhone to factory settings, you may miss certain steps. The iOS 15 factory reset tool will guide you through the entire process so you don’t miss anything. The tool will disable Activation Lock, disable your Apple ID account, and back up your data before resetting iPhone.
If your iPhone is running iOS 15 or later, here’s how to perform a factory reset safely:
Open the Settings app, tap General, and select Transfer or reset iPhone.Tap Erase all content and settings.
The tool will display a summary of the apps, personal data, accounts, and services that will be removed from your iPhone.
Click Continue and enter your iPhone passcode to continue.Connect your iPhone to a Wi-Fi network and wait while the tool creates an iCloud backup. Otherwise, click “Skip Backup” to erase your iPhone data without uploading it to iCloud.Enter your Apple ID password, click “Power Off” and follow the instructions on the next page.
Reset iPhone without iOS 15
To reset an iPhone running iOS 14 or earlier, go to Settings > General > Reset. Enter your iPhone password, Apple ID password and click “Erase All Content and Settings”.
2. Erase Your iPhone from a Computer
If you can’t factory reset your iPhone directly from the Settings app, use your Mac or Windows computer instead. Your Mac must have at least macOS Catalina 10.15 installed. If you’re using a Windows device, make sure your iTunes is up to date.
Reset iPhone to Factory Settings on Mac
Connect your iPhone to your laptop or desktop Mac using a USB cable. Unlock your iPhone and, if prompted, give your computer access to your data and settings.Open Finder and select your iPhone in the sidebar.
Back up your apps and personal data on your computer so you can restore them to your new iPhone. Continue to the next step to back up your old iPhone. Skip to step 6 if you don’t want to back up your iPhone.
Click the General tab, select Back up all data on your iPhone, and select Back up now.
Choose whether you want to encrypt the backup with a security password.
If you choose to encrypt your backup, enter your password on the next page and select Set Password.
Enter your iPhone passcode (on your iPhone) to start the backup.When the backup is complete, scroll to the Software section and select Restore iPhone.
Select “Backup” to create a copy of your iPhone’s settings on your computer. Select “Don’t back up” to continue without backing up your settings.
Restoring iPhone to factory settings in Windows
Connect your iPhone to your Windows PC, open iTunes and select the iPhone icon in the top left corner.
If you want to back up your iPhone before you erase it, select “Summary” in the sidebar and then select “Back Up Now”.
Select “Restore iPhone” to restore iPhone to factory settings.
Optionally, choose whether you want to back up your iPhone settings to iTunes before restoring iPhone.
3. Erase iPhone via Recovery Mode
If you can’t remember your iPhone passcode, enter recovery mode and then erase your device from your Mac or Windows computer. Recovery mode is also a great way to erase an iPhone that won’t boot up properly.
Connect iPhone to your computer, open Finder or iTunes, and follow these steps to enter Recovery Mode:
iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2nd generation), and other iPhone models with Face ID: Press and release the volume up button . . After that, press and release the volume down button. Finally, press and hold the side button until the phone boots into recovery mode.
iPhone 7 and iPod touch (7th generation) models: Press and hold the Side (or Top) and Volume Down buttons until the recovery mode screen appears.Older iPhone and iPod touch models: Press and hold the ” Home” and the side button (or at the top) until your device loads the recovery mode screen.
When your device boots into recovery mode, Finder or iTunes should display a pop-up about a problem with your iPhone. Select Restore to continue.
If your computer is connected to the Internet, Finder or iTunes will install the latest version of iOS on your iPhone after a factory reset. Select Restore and Update to continue.
Ready to Be Sold
We do not recommend remotely wiping the iPhone you want to turn in. Apple will erase the iPhone but leave Activation Lock on because it assumes your device is lost or stolen. Always factory reset your iPhone from the settings menu or use a computer. After that, use the “Find” service to confirm the status of iPhone Activation Lock.
If Activation Lock is still active after factory resetting iPhone, contact Apple Support to request Activation Lock support.
The best way to Erase your iPhone data
The best way to Erase your iPhone data