All You Need to Know about the iPhone Factory Reset

If you’ve got any plans to ditch your iPhone, you’ll have to do a factory reset before selling it. Otherwise, you run the risk of the new owner having access to your information and some [pretty important aspects of your life. Private details, billing information, passwords, etc will all be at the new owner’s fingertips and unless he (or she) the Pope or Mother Theresa, there’s a huge chance he’ll want to take advantage of thy opportunity and just help himself (or herself) to some free stuff. Trust me; the last thing you need is for a complete stranger to meddle with your information and start to splash your hard-earned cash by using your credit cards, iTunes and Apple App Store accounts.

A reset can also be the best option if your iPhone suddenly develops a fault and needs a repair service. It’s an extremely rare case, but it does happen. Sometimes, getting the latest software for your iPhone can cause a device to develop issues and the best way to just get rid of the whole issue is to get a factory reset.

For instance, a few days after the launch of the iOS 10, many users of the iPhone 5 and 5c products began complaining of compatibility issues and numerous bugs that caused their phones to go on the fritz. Although Apple advised them to be patient while they worked on a solution, most of these people decided to get the phones fixed themselves; by performing a factory reset and starting all over again.

An iPhone factory reset is a pretty important job. However, here are some few things you might need to know about it

Wiping erases EVERYTHING

Wiping is usually a last-ditch effort at salvaging an iPhone. However, before you start, you need to be ready for the consequences. Wiping erases every single thing on your iPhone. Remember when you bought it and how clean it seemed? Good; it’s going to be just like that. Every picture, video, contact, message, etc…GONE. If you’ve got valuable information on your iPhone (and I’m sure you probably do), it’ll be best to have them backed up on your computer, your iCloud, or any other storage medium. The moment you press “Reset”, it’s all over. Everything is gone.

Factory Resets Don’t Always Work

Although it has been touted as the most secure way to fix issues, you should also know that performing a factory reset doesn’t always work. For cases where there is severe damage to your software or operating system, the best option is to take it to an engineer. That being said, if you’ve got an issue, performing a factory reset mighty not work for you.

Backup Affiliated Devices

Devices like your Apple Watch, FitBit, etc are usually connected to your iPhone for long periods of time. These devices communicate with your iPhone by sharing data and making sense of it. If you’re looking to get a factory reset, make sure you disconnect all these devices from your iPhone. For instance, with the Apple Watch, you disconnect by first getting the Watch as far away from the iPhone as you think is necessary. Then,

Open the Apple Watch App on your iPhone – Tap On the “My Watch” Tab – Tap your Watch at the top of the screen – Tap “Unpair Apple Watch” – Tap the Screen Again to confirm.

When disconnecting, a prompt will most probably show requesting that you provide your Apple ID password. Make sure you do this. You don’t have to worry about losing information as the iPhone will automatically create a backup of the Watch and all information embedded in it before proceeding to erase its content.

Delete your iCloud Account

When resetting your iPhone, it is also important for you to sign out of your iCloud. This is because leaving it open will leave you vulnerable to hacks and break-ins. You definitely won’t want anyone else having the ability to access your personal information that’s stored in the cloud. To do this, you’ll have to either delete your account from your iPhone or simply sign out. The action you take will depend on the version of your iOS software. If your device is running on the iOS 10, all you’ll need to do is simply sign out of the iCloud account and then delete it. To do this,

Tap settings> iCloud> sign out.

However, if your iPhone runs on the iOS 7or earlier,

Tap settings> iCloud> delete account