No idea on how to reset your iPhone to its factory settings without knowing your passcode? Apple has made it a little easier since iOS 15.2, and you have other reliable options to factory reset it.
Doing a factory resetting on an iPhone will wipe your iPhone completely and reinstall a clean version of iOS.
As with any Android phones, sometimes your iPhone goes wrong and you will want to try a factory reset. This can clear software glitch and give the device a fresh start. It will also reset the iPhone to factory settings, wipe all your data completely, and reinstall a clean version of iOS. Doing a factory reset on iPhone can also be a safe way to protect your privacy before deciding to sell or trade your device.
Another reason why you need to factory reset an iPhone is you forgot the lock screen passcode. There is no way to unlock a security lockout iPhone without erasing data and resetting the iPhone completely. The reset process has been the same for years — via iTunes or iCloud. With the release of iOS 15.2, Apple introduces the "Erase iPhone" or "Forgot Passcode" (iOS 17 or later) option to erase all content and settings on the iPhone for a full factory reset without passcode and computer.
So, in this article, we'll show you how to factory reset an iPhone without password. By the way, our tips work for iPad models. If you're looking for a quick way to unlock your iPhone when forgetting the passcode, consider iPhone Unlocker.
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If you know the passcode, before you start the iPhone factory reset process, spending a couple of minutes making backup is a small price to pay to ensure you don't lose any important data.
Backing up to iCloud
The simplest backup option is Apple's iCloud service, which is built into iOS.
1. Open Settings app. Make sure your iPhone is connecting to a Wi-Fi network.
2. Tap your name at the top.
3. Tap "iCloud" and then "iCloud Backup."
4. Turn on the "iCloud Backup" toggle switch.
5. Tap "Back Up Now" to initiate the backup process. The backup process can take awhile to complete if you haven't backed up before.
Backing up to your computer
1. Plug your iPhone into your Mac or PC with a USB cable.
2. Launch iTunes (or Finder in macOS) on your computer.
3. When you see the device icon appear in the top left corner of the window, click it.
4. Look for an option that says "Back Up Now" under the "Manually Back Up and Restore" section, select it.
5. Wait for iTunes to back up your iPhone on computer.
Once you have a backup of your iPhone that you can recover everything later, you're ready to perform a factory reset, which erases your personal information, data, apps, and preferences, and restores the device to factory settings. Make sure your Wi-Fi connection is working properly. Here's how to reset iPhone in Settings app.
1. Open Settings app.
2. Go to General, then select Transfer or Reset iPhone.
3. Enter your passcode or Apple ID password when prompted.
4. Tap Continue to confirm.
5. Tap Erase iPhone. wait a few minutes for it to fully wipe.
If you don't plan on keeping your iPhone, you can stop here. Otherwise, your next step should be to go through the setup assistant to re-set up the iPhone, reinstall iOS. You can now restore your data when you reach App & Data as part of the setup process.
Also see: How to unlock iPad without password
Newer iPhones running iOS 15.2 and later have an "Forgot Passcode" or an "Erase iPhone" tool for factory resetting iPhone when you forgot your passcode.
Preparation
Steps to reset iPhone without a passcode
Step 1. To reset the iPhone to factory settings, keep entering any random passcode several times to the lock screen until iPhone displays iPhone Unavailable error. It should appear at 6th attempt. Haven't seen it yet? Try the next method.
Step 2. Tap Forgot Passcode? option at the bottom right corner. It will be shown as Erase iPhone in iOS 15.2 up to iOS 16.
Step 3. In the iPhone Reser screen, tap Start iPhone Reset.
Step 4. Enter your Apple ID password to sign out of your account. This will disable location services, remove Apple Wallet items and delete Face ID biometric recognition.
Step 5. Choose Erase iPhone, then let the erase process finish. Your iPhone will eventually be returned to original settings, along with your personal data, apps, media, and all settings will be wiped completely.
After the factory reset, your iPhone should reboot and ask you to go through the setup process. Don't forget to use your earlier backup to restore data to your iPhone.
In case you haven't updated your iPhone to iOS 15.2 or later, or the built-in Forgot Passcode option doesn't respond, you can use the dedicated third-party app to factory reset your iPhone once you have forgotten your password, even if the phone is disabled permanently.
iPhone Unlocker is our favorite due to its simplicity and efficiency. It keeps the whole experience simple; opening up the app gives you quick actions you can use to get rid of different types of password/ -code related problems for your iPhone and iPad. To factory reset an iPhone you don't have the passcode, simply select "Wipe Passcode," let it download appropriate firmware for you, click "Unlock" and you're off.
You can also use it remove your forgotten Apple ID, reset Activation Lock, and even bypass screen time codes.
This method requires that you run the app on your computer and has a stable Wi-Fi or cellular network. Here's how to do it.
1. Open iPhone Unlocker app once it's installed on your computer. Then Select "Wipe Passcode" from its interface. It's capable of clearing any kind of lock screen codes, such as 4-digit, 6-digit codes, Face ID, and Touch ID.
Next, plug your iPhone into the machine and boot it into Recovery mode if not recognized. You may click the link onscreen to learn how to do. It's pretty easy and quick.
2. Check your phone information to continue.
3. Click "Start" button to let the app download the proper iOS software for your iPhone. It will be used to reinstall on your device later and return it factory settings.
4. Once downloaded, click "Unlock" button. When a dialog box opens, read the warning messages carefully, then type in 0000 to confirm.
5. Again, press the "Unlock" button.
After it finishes your iPhone factory reset without passcode, you will no longer see lock screen anymore. Follow the instructions to set up your phone as new or restore your data from a backup.
For many users, iTunes is still a solid way to share files between computer and iPhone. If you have ever synced iPhone to your computer with iTunes, you can factory reset your iPhone without knowing the passcode. This will remove your lock screen, and reset the iPhone to factory settings and wipe your phone clean of everything.
1. Connect your iPhone to your computer that you have ever synced and launch iTunes.
2. If there is a newer version of iTunes available to install, update it.
3. When iTunes detects the phone, click the phone icon in the upper left corner of the window.
4. Navigate to Summary section, click "Restore iPhone."
5. Click "Restore" to confirm that you want to factory reset the iPhone.
6. Wait for the factory reset to complete. After that, you can use the iPhone and restore all of your data from a backup.
Related: How to bypass iPhone passcode without iTunes
If iTunes doesn't recognize your iPhone for restore, never mind. You can also get the device into Recovery mode, which is an advanced mode available to use for installing updates and wiping data. How you do this depends on the phone model you have.
To use Recovery mode to factory reset iPhone when you forget the passcode, follow these steps:
1. Ensure that you have iTunes installed on your Windows computer. If you use a Mac, Finder app is already pre-installed.
2. Turn off your iPhone completely and then connect it to your computer.
3. You need to put iPhone into Recovery Mode by pressing the specific button.
Press and hold the corresponding button while connecting to the computer immediately. Keep holding the button until you see an image of a computer with a cable. Release the button and allow the iPhone to get into Recovery mode.
4. Open iTunes on your PC, or open Finder on your Mac.
5. A window will pop up, asking you to do an update or restore of your iPhone, click the Restore option.
6. Select the Restore and Update option to confirm that you want to reset your iPhone to factory settings without a passcode.
Done! After your iPhone is reset, you're ready for a fresh start. The Hello screen will walk you through the steps to set up the device again. While in the process, you can use your earlier backup to recover your data in App & Data screen.
To do a factory reset on iPhone, you will also want to use iCloud's Find My tool, which is automatically available for all iPhone and iPad devices — it's enabled by default. The Find My tool is useful if you can't get into the iPhone at all because you forgot your passcode.
Keep in mind that you will need to sign in with the same iCloud account. This is to locate your iPhone remotely and reset it without needing a password.
Here is how to use iCloud to reset your iPhone without password.
1. Use a computer or another phone to sign in icloud.com with the same Apple account used to set up the locked iPhone
2. Select Find My from the menu.
3. Select the iPhone to be reset by clicking "All Devices" at the top.
4. Click on "Erase iPhone" option on the next menu that appears.
5. Click the "Erase" option to confirm.
The only downside of using iCloud to reset an iPhone without a passcode is you need to enable Find My—which you probably did during the initial setup—and it needs to have a network connection to start the reset process remotely.
After your iPhone has been reset, the next step is how to deal with your device. If you plan to sell it, you can stop here and let the new owner set it up with personal preferences and reinstall new iOS. If you decide to restore your backup made before at this time, you can follow these steps:
That's it! Learn more about factory reset for iPhone from FAQs.
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