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ContactHow to Factory Restore iPhone in Various Situations
Samuel Spenser Published on April 11, 2025Recover Data3-min reading
Factory reset erases all content and settings from the iOS devices. It is crucial to learn how to restore an iPhone to factory settings. In fact, there are a few ways to bring your iOS device to the factory status. However, you need to follow the requirements for each way to complete the process. Otherwise, the process may fail and lead to an irresponsible iPhone. This guide lists the premises and the workflow for each method.
In this article:
Part 1. When Do You Need to Factory an iPhone
As mentioned previously, factory restoring an iPhone means completely wiping a whole iOS device. Before the process, you’d better understand the scenes that you should perform factory restore:
1. When you want to sell or give away your old iPhone, you’d better factory restore your device to protect your information and files.
2. Fix software glitches. Serious software issues lead to an unresponsible iOS device. You have to perform a factory reset to get rid of the trouble.
3. You forgot your iPhone passcode and your device is disabled.
4. Your iPhone is lost or stolen. You can perform a factory reset to wipe your data remotely.
Part 2. How to Factory Restore iPhone
How to Factory Restore an iPhone in Settings App
The built-in Settings app comes with an option to factory restore an iPhone. This way does not require extra software or hardware. All you need is your accessible iPhone and your Apple ID credentials.
Run your Settings app, tap on your profile, choose iCloud, press Find My, and choose Find My iPhone.
Toggle off the Find My iPhone option, and enter your Apple ID password when prompted.
Back to the Settings app, choose the General tab, press Transfer or Reset iPhone on iOS 15 or above or Reset on iOS 14 or earlier, and tap Erase All Content and Settings.
Read the alert, and tap Continue. Next, input your iPhone passcode to confirm the action. It takes a while to completely wipe an entire iOS device.
When it is done, your iPhone should restart and display the Hello screen.
How to Restore an iPhone to Factory Settings Remotely
If you lost your device or it was stolen, you still can restore your iPhone to factory settings on iCloud remotely. This way requires an accessible computer or mobile device. Moreover, Find My iPhone must be enabled on your iPhone.
Visit www.icloud.com/find in a web browser, and sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID and password. If 2AF is enabled, enter your verification code.
Pull down the All Devices list on the top of the screen, and choose your iPhone name.
Next, you should see your iPhone location on the map if it is online. Click the Erase This Device button on the pop-up dialog, and hit Erase on the confirmation box.
If prompted, enter your Apple ID password or iPhone passcode. You may have to enter the verification code that received on the trusted Apple device or your phone number.
If your iPhone is in Lost Mode, input your phone number after the factory reset. Someone who finds your device can see the number and call you on it.
At last, input a message following the on-screen instructions, and hit Done to complete the process.
How to Factory Restore iPhone Using Another Apple Device
Find My is a feature to remotely track an iPhone on another Apple device. Plus, it enables you to restore your iPhone to factory settings. This way requires you to turn on Find My on your iOS device and another Apple product, like a MacBook or an iPhone. It requires iCloud login. If you forget your iCloud password, you may have to reset it first.
On Another iPhone/iPad
Run the Find My app on another iOS device.
Go to the Devices tab from the bottom, and select your iPhone name on the list. If you cannot find it, tap the + button, and add your iPhone by inputting the associated Apple ID and password.
Swipe upward from the bottom to expand the toolbox, and tap Erase This Device. Press Continue to move on.
Enter your phone number, and tap the Erase button at the top right corner. Then input your Apple ID password, and hit Erase to confirm the action.
On Mac
Open the Find My app on a MacBook.
Head to the Devices tab, and choose your iPhone on the list.
Then tap Erase This Device and follow the on-screen instructions to confirm it.
Part 3. How to Reset a Locked iPhone Without Passcode
How to Reset a Locked iPhone Running iOS 15 and above
Since iOS 15.2, Apple has added a feature called Security Lockout on iPhone. With a few wrong passcode attempts, the Security Lockout screen will pop up. It comes with two options, Emergency and Erase iPhone. So that you can restore the locked iPhone to factory settings without the passcode.
The prerequisites include your iPhone running iOS 15.2 or later, your device connecting to an internet connection, and you still remember your Apple ID credentials.
Enter the wrong passcode several times in a row until your iPhone is disabled.
Tap the Erase iPhone button at the bottom right corner. Then hit Erase iPhone again to continue.
Next, enter your Apple ID password to sign out your account on your device.
Finally, press Erase iPhone to begin factory resetting your device immediately.
How to Factory Restore iPhone through Computer
iTunes or Finder offers a way to factory restore an iPhone through a computer. The premises include Find My is disabled on your iPhone, a computer with the latest version of iTunes or Finder, and a compatible cable.
Connect your iPhone to your computer with a USB cable.
Open iTunes on Windows and macOS Mojave or older. For macOS Catalina or newer, run Finder instead.
In iTunes, click your Phone button at the upper left side after your device is detected. Go to the Summary tab, and click the Restore iPhone button.
In Finder, click your iPhone name, head to the General tab, and hit Restore iPhone.
Follow the on-screen instructions to begin factory restoring your device immediately.
Note:
If iTunes or Finder cannot detect your iPhone, you need to put your device into Recovery Mode with the right button combination depending on your device model.
Part 4. Back up Your iPhone Data Before Resetting
Factory setting on an iPhone will wipe all data and settings on your device. To avoid data loss, you’d better back up your device before restoring it. There are a few options to back up your iPhone data:
How to Back Up iPhone with iCloud
Turn on your iPhone, and connect to the internet.
Tap on your profile, choose iCloud, and tap iCloud Backup.
Press the Back Up Now button to make a backup for the entire iPhone.
How to Back Up iPhone Using iTunes
Hook up your iPhone to a computer with a compatible cable.
Run iTunes or Finder according to your operating system. Click the Phone button or your iPhone name.
Go to the Summary tab in iTunes, select This Computer under the Backups section, and hit Back Up Now.
Head to the General tab, select Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac and click Back Up Now. You can also set an iTunes Backup password.
How to Back up iPhone by iOS Data Backup & Restore
Or you can back up your iPhone using a third-party backup tool, such as Apeaksoft iOS Data Backup & Restore. It enables you to back up specific data categories on your iPhone to a computer.
Launch the best iPhone backup software after installing it on your computer. Next, plug your iPhone into your computer with a Lightning cable.
Choose iOS Data Backup, select Standard backup or Encrypted backup and enter a password, and hit the Start button to move on.
Next, select the desired data types, and click the Next button. Then set an output folder, and initiate backing up your device. During the process, make sure to keep your device connected to your computer.
Part 5. Recover Your Data After Factory Resetting
Even if you did not back up your device before restoring your iPhone to factory settings, it is possible to get back your data. imyPass iPhone Data Recovery, for instance, is one of the most powerful data recovery software for iOS devices. It can restore lost data from an iPhone or iPad effectively.
4,000,000+ Downloads
Retrieve lost data from an iPhone or iPad after a factory reset.
Extract deleted data from iOS or iCloud/iTunes backup.
Support a wide range of data, like photos, contacts, call logs, etc.
Preview lost data for selective recovery.
Compatible with the latest versions of iPhone and iPad.
How to Recover Data from iPhone after Factory Reset
Connect to your iPhone
Launch the best iPhone data recovery software once you install it on your PC. There is another version for Mac users. Next, connect your iPhone to your PC with a Lightning cable.If you do not have a backup, choose Recover from iOS Device on the left sidebar. Tap Trust on your screen the first time to link the two devices. Click the Start Scan button to move on.
To restore your iPhone with an iTunes backup, choose Recover from iTunes Backup File, pick a proper backup file, and hit Start.
To restore your iPhone with an iCloud backup, choose Recover from iCloud Backup File. Sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID and password, choose iCloud Backup, click Start, and hit Download next to the right backup file. Then select the desired data types, and hit Next.
Preview lost data
When the preview window pops up, check the data types that you want to recover, such as Camera Roll, Messages, Contacts, etc. If you just want to filter the lost data, pick Show Deleted Only from the drop-down option at the top of the window.
Restore data on the iPhone
Select the desired files and entries and click the Recover button. Next, set an output folder and hit Recover again to restore iPhone data after factory resetting.
Conclusion
This guide talked about how to restore iPhone to factory settings. No matter you intend to sell your old device or encounter software problems, factory restoring is an essential step. You can pick an appropriate way and follow our guide to do the job quickly. Plus, imyPass iPhone Data Recovery can help you get back your data after factory restoring. More questions? Please write them down below this post.
Samuel Spenser, a senior editor from imyPass, is an expert on password unlocking and recovery. He has more than 3-year experience in writing tutorials about password recovery for Windows.
