Delete iPhone Data to Restore to Original State

Last Updated: March 3, 2015

Deleting all of the data and settings from your iPhone is a drastic step. After all, when you do that, you get rid of all the music, apps, email, and settings from your phone—unless you backed it up, that is—you won't get it back.

Still, there are a few circumstances in which you'll want to delete all of that data from your iPhone in order to restore the phone to its factory-new condition.

These circumstances include when:

• You're selling or giving the iPhone away
• The phone is being sent for repairs and you don't want your personal data available to prying eyes
• The software or operating system on your phone is so messed up that it needs to be erased and set up again from scratch to fix whatever's wrong.

You can delete your iPhone's data either when your phone is synced or through onscreen commands.

Whichever you choose, always begin by syncing your iPhone to your computer, since this creates a backup of your data (depending on your settings, you may also be backing up your data to iCloud. Even if you are, I still recommend syncing your phone. Better to have multiple backups, just in case). With that, you'll be able to easily restore your data and settings to a new phone later, if you choose.

With your backup made, it's time to decide how you want to delete your data:

• Using iTunes—To erase your iPhone data when it's synced with iTunes, click the Restore iPhone button in the box at the top of the iPhone management screen and follow the onscreen instructions.

• Using iPhone—To delete your iPhone data and settings on the phone itself, continue on to the next page for more instructions.

Once the sync is complete and your phone is backed up, you can disconnect it from your computer. When this is done, follow these steps to delete your iPhone's data and settings:

1. On your phone's home screen, tap the Settings app to open it
2. Tap General.
3. In General, scroll down to the bottom of the page and tap Reset.
4. On the Reset screen, you'll have a number of options for removing your iPhone's content:
   • Reset All Settings - This deletes all of your preference settings, returning them to the defaults. It will not erase any of your data or apps.
   • Erase All Content and Settings - If you want to completely delete your iPhone's data, this is the option to choose. When you tap this, you'll not only erase all of your preferences, you'll also delete all music, movies, apps, and other data from your phone.
   • Reset Network Settings - To return your wireless network settings to their factory default states, tap this.
   • Reset Keyboard Dictionary - Want to remove all the custom words and spellings you've added to your phone's dictionary/spellchecker? Tap this option.
   • Reset Home Screen Layout - To undo all of the folders and app arrangements you have created and return your iPhone's layout to its default state, tap this.
   • Reset Location & Privacy - Each app that uses the iPhone's GPS to be location aware, or accesses other features of the iPhone like the microphone or address book, asks your permission to use your private data. To reset all of those apps to their default off state, select this.

1. In this case—when you're selling or repairing your phone—tap Erase All Content and Settings. Continue to the next page for the final steps in this process.

If Activation Lock is enabled on your phone (and it really, really should be) you'll need to enter your passcode at this point. This step is there is to prevent a thief from getting your phone and deleting your data—which would include your phone's connection to Find My iPhone—so they can get away your with your device.

With that entered, your iPhone will ask you to confirm that you really want to do what you've chosen.

If you have changed your mind or accidentally gotten here, tap the Cancel button. If you're sure you want to go ahead, tap Erase iPhone.

How long the deletion process takes depends on what you chose in step 3 (deleting all data and settings takes more time than resetting the dictionary, for instance). 

Once you've deleted your iPhone's data, it will restart and you'll have an iPhone with either all new settings or a completely empty memory. From here, you can do what you like with the iPhone:

• Sell it
• Give it way
• Send it for repairs
• Restore your data from the backup you made in Step 1.