A factory reset wipes your iPhone back to how it looked out of the box. People do it for two main reasons: to clear a phone before selling or giving it away, or to fix a device that is freezing, crashing or behaving strangely. Either way, the single most important thing to understand is that the process is permanent. Once you tap the final confirm button, your photos, messages and apps on that device are gone for good. So the first job is always a backup, and the second is making sure you will not accidentally lock the phone to your own account forever.

This guide covers the standard on-device method for iOS 15 through iOS 18, how to handle the Find My and Activation Lock trap honestly, how to erase through a computer when the phone will not cooperate, and what each reset option actually does. The steps have barely changed across recent iOS versions, so they apply whether your iPhone is a few years old or brand new. For help getting your data somewhere safe first, see our guide on how to back up your iPhone.

Back up before you erase anything

Skipping this step is the one mistake you cannot undo. There is no recycle bin for a factory reset, so take five minutes here before you go anywhere near the reset menu.

  1. Open Settings and tap your name at the very top of the screen.
  2. Tap iCloud, then iCloud Backup, and tap Back Up Now. Keep the phone on Wi-Fi and plugged in until it finishes.
  3. If you are low on iCloud storage, connect the iPhone to a computer instead and back up through Finder (on a Mac) or iTunes (on Windows) for a full local copy that costs nothing.
  4. For a local backup, tick Encrypt local backup so that saved passwords, Health data and Wi-Fi settings are included.
  5. Confirm the backup actually completed by checking the date and time shown under the Back Up Now button.
  6. If storage pressure is the reason you are resetting in the first place, our guide on how to free up space on iPhone may fix things without a wipe at all.

Once you can see a recent, finished backup, you are safe to continue. A backup is also what lets you restore everything onto the same phone or a new one afterwards.

Erase All Content and Settings (iOS 15 and later)

This is the normal way to factory reset, and on modern iOS it is also the smart way, because it quietly handles the Apple Account sign-out and Activation Lock for you in the same flow.

  1. Open Settings and tap General.
  2. Scroll right to the bottom and tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
  3. Tap Erase All Content and Settings.
  4. A summary screen lists what will be removed, including Apple Pay cards, your Apple Account and your eSIM. Read it, then tap Continue.
  5. Enter your iPhone passcode when prompted, and your Screen Time passcode if you set one.
  6. Enter your Apple Account password to sign out and turn off Activation Lock. This is the step that protects the next owner, so never skip it.
  7. If you have an eSIM, choose whether to keep or erase it. Erase it only if you are giving the phone away.
  8. Tap Erase iPhone to confirm. The screen goes dark, the Apple logo appears with a progress bar, and after a few minutes you land on the white Hello setup screen.

That blank Hello screen is your confirmation the reset worked. The phone is now a clean slate, ready to be set up as new, restored from your backup, or handed on to someone else.

Turn off Find My and Activation Lock (the step people miss)

Here is the honest warning that trips up thousands of sellers. A factory reset on its own does not switch off Find My. Find My is tied to Activation Lock, a theft-protection feature that binds the iPhone to your Apple Account. If the phone is erased while still linked to you, whoever switches it on next is stopped cold at setup and asked for your Apple Account email and password, which you almost certainly do not want to share with a stranger. A locked phone is worthless to a buyer and will bounce straight back to you as a complaint.

  1. On iOS 15 and later, the Erase All Content and Settings flow above already signs you out the moment you enter your Apple Account password, so Activation Lock is cleared for you automatically.
  2. On older iPhones, or if you simply want to be certain, sign out first: open Settings, tap your name, scroll down and tap Sign Out.
  3. Enter your Apple Account password and tap Turn Off to disable Find My.
  4. Choose whether to keep a copy of your calendars, contacts and other data on the device, then confirm the sign-out.
  5. Only then run the erase. If you have forgotten your password and cannot sign out, reset it before erasing using our guide on how to change your Apple ID password.

If you have already sold a phone and realise too late that it is still locked, you can remove it remotely. Sign in at iCloud.com or open the Find My app on another device, select the old iPhone, choose Erase This Device, and once erased choose Remove from Account. That releases Activation Lock so the buyer can set it up.

Reset via a computer (Finder or iTunes) if the phone will not respond

Sometimes you cannot reach the Settings menu at all, because the phone is frozen on the Apple logo, stuck in a restart loop, or you have genuinely forgotten the passcode. In those situations a computer can force the erase for you.

  1. On a Mac, open Finder. On a Windows PC, open the latest version of iTunes (or the Apple Devices app on Windows 11).
  2. Connect the iPhone with a cable, then put it into recovery mode: press and quickly release Volume Up, press and quickly release Volume Down, then press and hold the Side button until a recovery screen showing a cable pointing to a laptop appears. Keep holding past the Apple logo.
  3. On the computer, a message pops up offering to Restore or Update the phone. Choose Restore.
  4. Confirm, then let the computer download the software and erase the device. If the download takes longer than 15 minutes the phone may exit recovery mode, in which case just repeat the button sequence.
  5. Keep the cable connected throughout and do not let the computer sleep.

Be clear-eyed about one thing: this wipes the phone but does not bypass Activation Lock. When it restarts, you will still need the original Apple Account password to get past the activation screen. That is the protection working exactly as designed, and no legitimate tool gets around it.

What a reset erases versus what it keeps

The Transfer or Reset menu actually holds several options, and picking the wrong one either does too much or too little. Here is how they differ.

  1. Erase All Content and Settings removes everything: photos, messages, apps, accounts, Apple Pay cards and your passcode. The phone becomes a genuine blank slate, which is what you want before selling.
  2. Reset All Settings keeps all your data and only returns preferences to default, clearing things like Wi-Fi networks, wallpaper, keyboard dictionary and home-screen layout. It is the right choice for fixing odd glitches without losing a single photo.
  3. The Reset submenu also offers narrower options such as Reset Network Settings or Reset Keyboard Dictionary, handy when only one thing is misbehaving.
  4. Your iCloud content is never touched by any of these. It lives on Apple’s servers and syncs straight back the moment you sign in again on any device.

If you are troubleshooting rather than selling, try Reset All Settings first. It resolves a surprising number of connectivity and performance problems and spares you a full restore. Only reach for Erase All Content and Settings when you truly want the phone empty.

To recap the safe order every time: back up your data, sign out of your Apple Account to clear Activation Lock, then erase the phone. Follow those three steps in that exact sequence and a factory reset is safe, clean, and completely reversible from the backup you made at the start, whether you are fixing a glitch or passing the phone on.