How to Restore an iPhone to Factory Settings (Every Method, Step by Step)

A factory reset does three things simultaneously: it erases all your personal data, removes every app and setting you've configured, and unpairs the device from your Apple ID. The result is a phone that greets the next person with the 'Hello' setup screen, just like it did the day it left the box.

This is different from a simple restart or even a 'Reset All Settings' operation. Resetting all settings clears things like Wi-Fi passwords and display preferences, but it leaves your photos, contacts, and apps untouched. A full factory restore removes everything. There's no partial middle ground.

One thing worth knowing up front: Activation Lock. If you erase an iPhone without first signing out of iCloud, anyone who picks up that phone will be asked for the original Apple ID password before they can use it. That includes you. Always sign out of iCloud first, or at minimum be prepared to enter your Apple ID credentials at the end of the process.

Once you confirm the reset, your data is gone. Apple does not keep a copy of it on their servers unless you've turned on iCloud Backup or synced to a computer. So before you do anything else, back up.

iCloud Backup Go to Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, then iCloud Backup, and tap Back Up Now. Keep the screen on and stay on Wi-Fi until it finishes. You'll see a timestamp confirming the last successful backup when it's done.

Mac (macOS Catalina or later) Connect your iPhone with a cable, open Finder, select your iPhone in the sidebar, and click Back Up Now. If you want an encrypted backup that includes saved passwords and Health data, check the 'Encrypt local backup' box and set a password you'll remember.

Windows or older Mac Open iTunes, connect your iPhone, click the device icon, and choose Back Up Now from the Summary tab. Same encryption option applies.

A backup isn't just a safety net for you. It's also proof, if a buyer or trade-in service ever disputes the device's condition, that you handed over a clean, working phone with no lingering data.

This is the fastest method and works for every iPhone running iOS 15 or later. You don't need a computer, a cable, or even a Wi-Fi connection.

Here's the exact path

• Open Settings and tap your name at the top to open Apple ID settings.
• Scroll to the bottom and tap Sign Out. You'll be asked for your Apple ID password. Enter it and tap Turn Off next to any data you don't want to keep on iCloud. Then tap Sign Out and confirm.
• Back in Settings, go to General, then scroll to Transfer or Reset iPhone.
• Tap Erase All Content and Settings.
• If you haven't backed up recently, iOS will offer to do a final iCloud backup. Take it.
• Enter your iPhone passcode when prompted, confirm twice, and the reset begins.

Depending on the model and how much storage is filled, the process takes anywhere from two minutes to about ten. The Apple logo appears on a progress bar. Don't interrupt it.

One edge case: if Screen Time is enabled and you set a Screen Time passcode you don't remember, iOS will ask for it before allowing the erase. If you're stuck, you'll need to use Recovery Mode instead (covered below).

If your iPhone screen is cracked and unresponsive, or you're locked out of the device, a computer-based reset is your next option.

On a Mac running macOS Catalina (2019) or later

• Connect your iPhone with a Lightning or USB-C cable and unlock it. If prompted to 'Trust This Computer', tap Trust and enter your passcode.
• Open Finder. Your iPhone appears in the left sidebar under Locations.
• Click the device, then click the General tab in the main panel.
• Click Restore iPhone. Finder will ask you to confirm, then download the latest iOS version and install a clean copy.

On Windows or a Mac running macOS Mojave (2018) or earlier

• Open iTunes (make sure it's updated). Connect your iPhone and trust the computer if prompted.
• Click the small iPhone icon near the top left of the iTunes window.
• On the Summary page, click Restore iPhone and confirm.

Both methods erase the device and reinstall iOS. The download can take 10 to 30 minutes depending on your internet speed. Leave the cable connected the entire time.

Note on iCloud Activation Lock Even after a Finder or iTunes restore, Activation Lock stays active if the Apple ID wasn't signed out beforehand. The phone will prompt for the Apple ID password on the setup screen. If you're resetting to sell the phone, sign out of iCloud in Settings first, before running the restore from a computer.

Recovery Mode is the nuclear option. Use it when the phone is disabled after too many wrong passcode attempts, stuck on the Apple logo, or won't respond at all.

The button combination varies by model

• iPhone 8, X, XS, XR, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 series Press and quickly release Volume Up, press and quickly release Volume Down, then press and hold the Side button. Keep holding even when the Apple logo appears. Release only when the Recovery Mode screen (a cable pointing to a laptop icon) appears.
• iPhone 7 and 7 Plus Hold Volume Down and the Side button together until the Recovery Mode screen appears.
• iPhone 6s and earlier Hold the Home button and the Top (or Side) button together until the Recovery Mode screen appears.

Once you see the Recovery Mode screen on the phone, your connected Mac (Finder) or PC (iTunes) will detect it and offer two options: Update or Restore. Update tries to reinstall iOS without erasing data. Restore wipes everything and installs a clean copy. For a factory reset, choose Restore.

If the download takes longer than 15 minutes, the iPhone exits Recovery Mode on its own. You'll need to repeat the button sequence. A reliable internet connection matters here.

Find My iPhone is tied to Activation Lock. If Find My is on when you erase the device, Activation Lock remains active. The phone cannot be set up by anyone, including you, without the original Apple ID password.

This is the single most common reason a phone gets rejected at a trade-in or buyback service. A locked phone has near-zero resale value because no buyer can activate it.

To confirm Find My is off after a reset, check your iCloud account at icloud.com/find. If the device still appears there, it wasn't fully signed out. You can remove it from that page manually, but you'll need the Apple ID password to do so.

If you're selling or trading in your iPhone, double-check this before you ship or hand over the phone. A clean, unlocked device consistently gets the best trade-in offers. One that's locked to an Apple ID is essentially unsellable until someone can remove the lock.

If you've forgotten your passcode and Face ID or Touch ID isn't working, you have two realistic paths.

Recovery Mode (described above) is the most reliable. Connect to a trusted computer, enter Recovery Mode using the button sequence for your model, and choose Restore in Finder or iTunes. This bypasses the passcode entirely because it reinstalls iOS from scratch.

iCloud Remote Erase If Find My was enabled before you got locked out, go to icloud.com/find on any browser, sign in with the Apple ID linked to the phone, click the device, and select Erase iPhone. This sends a remote wipe command over the internet. The phone needs to be online (Wi-Fi or cellular) to receive it.

What doesn't work: guessing indefinitely. After six failed passcode attempts, iOS introduces time delays. After ten attempts with 'Erase Data' enabled, it wipes itself automatically. If you're at that stage, you're already in Recovery Mode territory.

One thing Apple cannot do: bypass the passcode for you, even with proof of purchase. Their policy is firm on this. Recovery Mode and remote erase are the only official paths.

Older iPhones with a physical Home button follow a slightly different layout in Settings, but the core process is the same. The main differences are

• On iOS 15 and earlier versions that may still be running on an iPhone 6s, the erase option lives at Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. The 'Transfer or Reset iPhone' path is iOS 15.2 and later.
• Recovery Mode on these models uses the Home button plus the Top or Side button held simultaneously, as described in the Recovery Mode section above.
• iCloud sign-out is in Settings, tap your name (iOS 13+) or Settings > iCloud > Sign Out (older iOS versions).

iPhone 6s shipped on iOS 9 in 2015 and can be updated to iOS 15. If you're still running something much older, update first. It closes security gaps and gives you access to the cleaner Settings layout.

The iPhone SE (1st generation, 2016) uses the same button layout as the 6s. The SE 2nd generation (2020) and 3rd generation (2022) use the iPhone 8 layout for Recovery Mode.

After the erase completes, your iPhone shows the 'Hello' screen. What you do next depends on why you reset it.

If you're keeping the phone and did a reset to fix a software problem, tap through the setup assistant and choose 'Restore from iCloud Backup' or 'Restore from Mac or PC'. Select the most recent backup. Restoration takes 20 to 60 minutes depending on backup size and connection speed. Apps re-download in the background after setup.

If you're selling or trading in, stop at the Hello screen. Don't tap through setup. Leave the phone in that unactivated state so the new owner or trade-in processor can set it up fresh with their own Apple ID. This is what trade-in services expect to receive.

If you're giving it to a family member, same advice. Let them set it up themselves from scratch so it links to their Apple ID, not yours.

One thing to double-check before shipping: remove the SIM card. Even after a factory reset, the SIM is still physically in the tray and contains carrier data. If you're switching carriers or selling outright, take it out and keep it or destroy it.

A freshly reset iPhone is the starting point for getting a good trade-in offer, but it's not the only factor. Condition matters enormously. Cracked screens, bent frames, Face ID that doesn't work, and batteries holding less than 80% capacity all reduce what buyers will pay. Check the screen carefully in natural light and run a quick battery health check in Settings > Battery > Battery Health before you list or ship anything.

Storage capacity affects value too. A 256GB iPhone 15 Pro is worth more than a 128GB model of the same phone. Higher storage variants hold value better at resale because they're more useful to buyers who don't want to constantly manage space.

On where to sell: carriers sometimes advertise aggressive trade-in credits, but those credits only apply toward a new device on their plan. If you want cash, that's a different calculation. Independent resale-value studies have found that ecoATM kiosks typically pay roughly 57 to 71% of a phone's market value, which is worth knowing if convenience is your priority and maximum return is not.

For the best return, compare your options. You can get an instant offer on your iPhone here, and our guide to the best places to sell your phone in 2026 breaks down how buyback services, carrier trade-ins, and peer-to-peer platforms stack up in practice. Once you know what you have, run a quote at BuyBackBear's quote tool to see what your specific model and condition is worth right now.

The short version: a clean factory reset, no Activation Lock, original storage intact, and a screen in good condition puts your iPhone in the best possible position for trade-in. Don't skip any of those steps.

Most factory resets go smoothly. When they don't, here are the situations you're likely to hit

• Reset gets stuck on the Apple logo Leave it for 15 minutes. If it doesn't progress, force-restart the phone using the button sequence for your model, then try again. If it still stalls, use Recovery Mode.
• iTunes or Finder won't recognize the iPhone Try a different USB cable (Apple's own cable is more reliable than third-party), a different port, and trust the computer again. Outdated iTunes versions on Windows also cause this, so update iTunes first.
• Can't sign out of iCloud because the Apple ID password is forgotten Go to iforgot.apple.com to reset the password. You need access to the email or phone number linked to the account. Once the password is recovered, sign out normally.
• Erase All Content and Settings is greyed out This usually means a Mobile Device Management (MDM) profile is installed, common on corporate or school-issued devices. MDM-enrolled phones require the organization's administrator to remove the profile before you can fully erase the device.
• Screen Time passcode blocking the reset If you set a Screen Time passcode and forgot it, Apple's only official path is Recovery Mode. There's no bypass from within iOS.

If none of these resolve your specific situation, Apple Support's chat tool is the fastest route to a human who can walk through your exact model and iOS version. Their support page at support.apple.com/iphone is worth checking before you visit a store.