Sometimes to get an electronic device back to work just turn it off and then on again or, at other times, reset and reset it . This applies to computers and also to smartphones and tablets, especially after a certain period of use, after installing several applications and after having moved the system settings.
Although doing a factory reset of the iPhone is not exactly ideal because all the personalized settings, the applications, the data, the photos and the address book are deleted, but sometimes it is necessary and it is the obligatory way if there are errors that they prevent you from turning it on, charging its battery, or making it work when it gets stuck, as it did when it was just bought.
In addition, a complete reset, resetting all data, is a fundamental operation in the case of transfer of the iPhone to another person, to prevent the latter from finding personal information of the previous owner.
Resetting an iPhone, whatever its generation and number ( iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 etc. ) to the original factory settings is a simple process within everyone's reach, which takes just 5 minutes.
But before doing so, it is advisable to do some operations to save the data and make sure that they can be restored, mainly in order not to lose photographs and contacts from the address book which are the most important things.
In this guide we therefore see all the ways to do the factory reset of an iPhone, whatever it is, with instructions that also apply to the iPad .
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To reset the iPhone from the computer, you need to install the iTunes program on the computer (if you don't already have it) which is the iPhone management program.
iTunes can be downloaded for free for PC and Mac from the Apple website.
If it is already installed, check that it is the latest version from the menu that appears by clicking the question mark on the top bar.
1) Prepare the iPhone
Then connect the iPhone to the computer via USB cable, open iTunes (which should open on its own and recognize the device) and press the button to make the backup.
Alternatively, you can follow the guide to backup iPhone using iCloud.
The backup allows you to save photos, applications, contacts, settings and other data so that you can restore them automatically after doing the reset and go back to using the iPhone as before.
2) Reset the iPhone
Once the backup is complete, you can click on the gray iPhone restore button that appears on the Summary tab in iTunes.
Accept and confirm the decision and, if requested, also accept the software license agreement that will start the download of iOS before the recovery.
3) Data recovery
Once the phone has been reset, turn it on and check that everything is empty, with only the applications pre-installed by Apple, without accounts and without data in memory.
If done correctly, you will encounter, when you turn on the iPhone, the startup wizard, from which you can restore data from a backup or continue as if you had a new mobile phone just left the factory or shop.
Data recovery can also be done from iTunes by choosing the last backup made.
You can also reset an iPhone from the phone itself, without using iTunes and a computer.
Then touch the Settings icon on the main screen, go to General to find the Reset button.
Among the reset options, the strongest one that clears everything is the second one from the top, the one that says to delete the contents and settings of the phone.
After the phone has been reset, after a few minutes, the iPhone will be like new and a backup can be restored or a new boot procedure can be started from scratch.
READ ALSO: How to restore default settings (and data) on iPhone and iPad
If the iPhone got stuck and you couldn't reset from the settings menu, there is another way.
First of all, it is worth forcing the restart of the iPhone because maybe it was just a temporary error that will not happen again.
To restart the locked iPhone, just hold down the Power / Wake button until the red cursor appears that can be dragged to turn off the phone.
After the device has turned off, press and hold the Standby button again until the Apple logo appears.
To reset the locked iPhone instead, you must hold down the Home buttons (the one in the center) and the power or standby button for 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo.
NOTE: on iPhone 7 you must press the side and volume down keys together.
NOTE 2: on iPhone X and iPhone 8 and 8 plus press one after the other (without keeping them pressed together) the keys: volume up, then volume down and finally the power key keeping it pressed.
You can also do a hard reset of the iPhone, as a last resort, by putting it in DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode.
Then turn off the iPhone by holding down the on / off button and connect it to the computer with iTunes installed and open.
DFU mode is activated by turning on the iPhone in this way: press the Home and power buttons together and hold them for 10 seconds, counting out loud.
After 10 seconds, release only the power button, keeping the Home button pressed until iTunes detects the iPhone by putting it in recovery mode.
A new installation of the iOS operating system and a total recovery of the iPhone operation will then be made.
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