How to Do a Factory Reset iPhone

Are you about to factory reset your iPhone?

You’ve probably exhausted all software-related options of trying to fix your iPhone. In that case, you might be left with this option.

Apple’s new iOS 14 is not a stranger to bugs. In fact, it’s friends with a lot of them. A lot of complications with your iOS can be attributed to a faulty transfer. Apple allowed its users to keep their settings and preferences from iOS 13 to iOS 14. However, the transition between operating systems can get buggy and cause corrupted files.

In this article, we’ll guide through the steps of factory resetting your iPhone. Alongside that, we’ll also explain to you why this is beneficial to your system.

Let’s get started!

• 1. Why Should I Factory Reset My iPhone?
• 2. How to Factory Reset Your iPhone: Step-by-Step
• 3. FAQ: Help! Factory Resetting Didn’t Fix My iPhone Issues
• 4. FAQ: What About Using DFU Mode?

Why Should I Factory Reset My iPhone?

Whenever your iPhone has a corrupted file sector or iOS, bugs and glitches can frequently happen. A factory reset will completely nuke your operating system along with your personal files. This will reinstall a clean and authentic version of Apple’s latest iOS to your iPhone. But don’t worry! We’ll be backing up your files so you can restore them later.

Furthermore, any software-related issues with your iPhone should be completely erased. Once you’re done, your iPhone will function like the first time you took it out of the box. Hence why it’s called a ‘factory’ reset.

This process will iron out any bugs or software issues in your operating system itself. At the same time, if you installed any problematic apps, these will all be deleted as well. All of this while preserving your personal files.

A factory reset is healthy for your iPhone, although it isn’t something you should do every month. A good tip that tech-inclined individuals practice is factory resetting their devices once a year. Doing so ensures that your operating system is always in pristine quality. This works by avoiding a build-up of problematic little bugs which could eventually cause a big issue on your iPhone.

Now that you’ve read through what a factory reset does to your iPhone, you might reconsider if you actually need to do it. We understand if you’re looking for another push to factory reset your iPhone. Performing a factory reset is perfectly safe for your device and personal files. Furthermore, here are the usual signs of an iPhone that needs to be reset:

1. Malfunctioning features.
2. iPhone feels considerably laggier.
3. Crashing applications.

Since all your files will be deleted when you factory reset your device, we’ll have to back them up for safekeeping. A factory reset should take around 10-20 minutes, but this depends on the speed of your internet and hardware.

How to Factory Reset Your iPhone: Step-by-Step

This method will be separated into two parts,1) the first one for backing up your files and 2) the second for restoring them.

We recommend that you transfer your personal files to your Google Drive or computer. This way, you’ll have a plan B that we might use later on.

Moving on, let’s start backing up your files through iTunes or Finder. You’ll need a computer with the latest version of iTunes/Finder and a stable Wi-Fi connection. Additionally, try to have your iPhone fully charged before starting.

Step 1: Backing Up Your iPhone.

1. Hop on your computer and open up iTunes or Finder. Once you’re there, navigate to Edit for PC and iTunes/Finder for Mac.
2. Now, move your mouse down and click on Preferences.

3. Then, open up the Devices tab and turn off Automatic device synchronization.
4. Quickly plug in your iPhone to your computer with a USB cable. Your iPhone should appear on the left-side panel. Click on your iPhone.
5. Finally, on the Summary tab, look for and click on Backup Now. This should be in the Manually Backup and Restore section.

Your phone should start backing up your files. We’ll be using this backup file to restore your personal data later on. Now, we’ll be reinstalling a brand new iOS operating system on your phone as well as restoring your files.

Step 2: Restoring Your iPhone.

1. Start by connecting your iPhone to your computer. This should still be connected from the previous step.
2. Once you’re done with that, turn off your iPhone. Press and hold down the power button and drag the slider to power off.
3. After 10-20 seconds, press and hold the power button again. Count for 3 seconds and hold the volume down button simultaneously with the power button.
4. Hold down both buttons until a pop-up appears on your PC saying your iPhone is in Recovery mode.

5. Finally, click on Restore iPhone… and pick the restore date. This should be the file you just backed up.

Voila! Your iPhone Has Been Factory Reset.

After these steps, open up your iPhone and see if it’s working normally. Congratulations! You just successfully performed a factory reset on your iPhone. All your files should also be present.

Remember the plan B back up on your Google Drive or PC? Continually test your iPhone for further issues. If your issue has recurred within a couple of days, there might be a different problem.

FAQ: Help! Factory Resetting Didn’t Fix My iPhone Issues

There are three possibilities as to why your iPhone is still experiencing issues.

1. A hardware component may be damaged, like your camera. This is hard to troubleshoot on your own; hence we recommend seeing an electrician for this.
2. Your personal files are corrupted. If your personal files are causing your iPhone to malfunction, try factory resetting your iPhone again. However, don’t restore your files through iTunes. Download your files from your Google Drive or transfer them from the computer after a virus scan.

3. Lastly, the problem is in iOS 14. Apple’s new operating system has a lot of bugs. Because of this, a lot of future iOS updates will be dedicated to bug fixes. As of October 4, 2020, the latest iOS version release is 14.0.1. Try to browse through the forums for other users who are experiencing your problem. You may have to wait for the next patch to fix your device.

FAQ: What About Using DFU Mode?

Wondering why we didn’t include anything about DFU mode?

Well, that’s because the DFU mode is completely unnecessary. Contrary to a lot of misleading and popular articles, DFU mode is not the ‘Holy Grail’ of resetting your device.

This is commonly portrayed as a better way to factory reset your device. But, that is simply not the case. DFU mode was added by Apple for iPhone devices that had a hard time booting into recovery mode the conventional way.

Whenever you enter into recovery mode, iTunes/Finder runs their version of Apple’s latest iOS through your phone. This is how they access your files and communicate with your device. A corrupted or old phone may have a hard time launching recovery mode.

This is when the DFU mode is useful. DFU mode will bypass the iTunes/Finder iOS process and immediately put your phone into recovery mode. This is how users jailbreak their phones and install older iOS versions.

So you see, the only time going into DFU mode is an option is when your phone has a hard time getting into Recovery mode the conventional way.  Other than that, the moment you get into Recovery mode, everything is the same.

Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, hopefully, we’ve helped you do a factory reset on your iPhone. If you have any questions regarding the article, feel free to leave them down below!

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂