If your iPhone is struggling, unavailable with a lock passcode, or you're looking to sell, it could be time to reset iPhone to give it a fresh restart. Here's all you need to know for how to reset an iPhone.
You can easily reset your iPhone by doing a hard reset, factory reset with or without passcode, or settings reset.
If your iPhone is acting weird, there are several options available before you do anything nuclear. You can restart your phone - aka soft reset, force restart the device - aka hard reset, or reset iPhone's settings to their defaults, to get iPhone back up and running.
Still, should none of these resetting methods work, or if you're planning to sell or give away your iPhone, or dealing with a locked iPhone with forgotten passcode or stuck iPhone Unavailable or Security Lockout screen, a factory reset can be an effective solution to restore functionality. The process can erase all content on the iPhone and restore the device to factory settings.
In this guide, we'll take you through the steps to reset the iPhone in various ways. You'll also learn how to reset iPhone without passcode.
Tip: Don't remember the iPhone passcode and get locked out of the device? Erase and reset your iPhone instantly. The solutions include iPhone Unlocker software, recovery mode, in-built Forgot Passcode option (or Erase iPhone option), and Find My iPhone.
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The good thing is that regardless of your iPhone model and iOS version, the steps on how to reset an iPhone should be similar.
Performing a hard reset on iPhone is a way to force the phone to restart using the hardware buttons. You may need to force restart your iPhone when it's unresponsive or a simple turning off and on isn't working. This is a milder level of iPhone reset when compared with a factory reset, and will not wipe your data off the phone.
Do the following to do a hard reset to force iPhone to restart without losing everything. The hardware keys you're using for the reset is varied from one phone model to another.
If your iPhone supports iOS 16, iOS 17 or newer version of iOS, the reset process requires volume up button, volume down button and the side button.
Your iPhone will restart if the reset works successfully.
Press and hold on to the volume down button along with the Sleep/Wake button. Do not loosen your fingers until the Apple logo pops up. Wait for the iPhone to restart.
Press and keep holding the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button together to trigger the hard reset. Once the Apple logo appears, release the buttons. Now, iPhone is restarting on its own and becomes responsive.
Another iPhone reset is called factory reset. A factory reset is the process of restoring iPhone to its original factory settings, which is always the final tool after you've exhausted all other troubleshooting options. This procedure can erase all data, settings and applications stored on the iPhone, returning the device to a completely clean state.
Factory resets are often implemented to troubleshoot issues with the device, delete all personal data prior to selling or giving away, restore iPhone when locked, or wipe lost or stolen iPhone. So, it's obvious to know that you will lose anything if you reset your iPhone to factory settings. Make sure you back up your data first before initiating a factory reset on your iPhone device.
If your phone works fine and you have access to Settings app, simply read on to learn how to factory reset an iPhone without you losing data.
Any data will get deleted after the reset is done, so it's important to back up your iPhone to iCloud over the air. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud, tap iCloud Backup, then tap Back Up Now to kick off a backup.
You can also turn on Back Up This iPhone toggle so your device backs up itself automatically to ensure you won't lose data in the resetting process.
Now that iPhone is resetting, any information could be wiped. There's nothing to do but to wait for the process to be completed. The process could take up a few minutes.
Once the reset comes to an end, iPhone will restart and from here it should be reverted to the state in which it was brand new. Now you can set your device up from the scratch and restore it from a backup if you have one.
If your iPhone isn't responding or fails to restart after a hard reset, you can use recovery mode and restore with computer. Remember to back up your important data before proceeding with the reset. Here's how to reset iPhone with buttons:
1. Plug your phone to your computer through a USB cable.
2. Open the latest version of iTunes on your computer. If you're using a Mac with macOS 15.2 or later, open Finder.
3. Use appropriate physical buttons to boot iPhone into recovery mode.
4. When iTunes or Finder detects your device entering recovery mode, a message pops up letting you to update or restore iPhone.
Chances are you've forgotten restrictions passcode and been locked out of iPhone, or you've entered the passcode wrong too many times and ended up with iPhone Unavailable or Security Lockout due to iOS security feature. It's possible and easy to reset the iPhone without password and regain access. The difference is that it's too late to back up your phone when it's locked, so you'll be lost all data during the restore process.
iPhone Unlocker is a spectacular application with amazing benefits to passcode problems like lock screen passcode, Screen Time passcode, Apple ID and password. It does good at erasing an iPhone without passcode so you can unlock your disabled or unavailable iPhone quickly.
Download the software for your computer and go ahead to reset your locked iPhone without lock passcode.
Step 1. Launch iPhone Unlocker on your PC or Mac.
Step 2. Click Wipe Passcode mode and hit Start button next.
Step 3. Connect your iPhone to the computer with lightning cable.
Step 4. Confirm device info and hit Start to download iOS software for your phone.
Step 5. Fill in the blank with "0000" as required, and click Unlock button to let iPhone reset.
Step 6. Open your iPhone without a passcode. Set it up as new or restore data from an available backup.
You can also put your iPhone to recovery mode and then use iTunes or Finder to erase and restore it without password.
1. Turn off your iPhone.
2. Press and hold the proper button (varies by device) while connecting it to computer. On iPhone 8 or later use the Side button, on iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, use the volume down button, and on iPhone 6 or earlier, use the Home button.
3. Keep holding the button until a cable pointing to a computer appears on the screen. This means that your iPhone goes into recovery mode.
4. Open iTunes or Finder and you should be prompted to Update or Restore your iPhone.
5. Select Restore to begin the factory reset without password.
6. When iPhone restarts, it should reset successfully with no data left. Follow the instructions to set up iPhone and if you have a backup made previously via iCloud or iTunes, restore your data.
iOS security measure gives you a reset option to erase the iPhone without passcode when forgotten or without a computer. This is feasible only if you have iOS 15.2 or above, you are connected to a cellular data or Wi-Fi network connection, as well as you know your Apple ID & password.
1. From the locked screen, keep entering the passcode until you see "iPhone Unavailable try again in [number] minutes", together with Forgot Passcode? option at the lower right position (or Erase iPhone in iOS 15.2 or iOS 16.)
2. Tap on Forgot Passcode? option.
3. On the security lockout screen, tap Start iPhone Reset.
4. Input your Apple ID password to sign out your Apple account on the iPhone.
5. iPhone is now wiping anything and resetting itself to factory condition without lock screen passcode.
Give it a while for your iPhone to finish the whole reset process. When it's done, you will be welcomed by the Hello screen and able to access the device with no sign-in passcode required. Set up the device and add a new passcode. Note that you will lose anything if you didn't back up your iPhone before.
In case you have enabled Find My iPhone on the device, you can use the feature for factory resetting iPhone without the passcode, which is originally used for locating or wiping a lost or stolen iOS device. Here's how.
Once the reset is over, you can get into your iPhone without passcode.
iPhone also has various recovery option to reset the settings to factory condition without affecting your personal data.
1. Open Settings.
2. Tap on General.
3. Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
4. Tap Reset, and choose the iPhone reset option:
