There are different ways of resetting your iPhone, from factory resets that delete all your data, to soft resets that keep your settings and personal information.
Selling your iPhone or giving it away? Then you should do a factory reset to delete your data and settings. It’s the best way of making sure you’re not accidentally sharing any personal information.
If you’re having any issues with your phone, like crashing apps or network problems, then doing a soft reset can sometimes sort them out.
Thinking of resetting your iPhone but not too sure about all the ins and outs? Then let us guide you through resetting and restarting your iPhone, from start to finish.
How to reset your iPhone
We’ll show you how to do a factory reset, soft reset and hard reset below. But first things first – you’ll need to do a back-up…
How to backup an iPhone before resetting
We strongly recommend you backup your iPhone before doing a reset, to make sure all your personal data, apps, photos, videos and messages are safely stored if anything goes wrong. Here’s how to do it using iCloud Backup.
Connect your iPhone to your home Wi-Fi network.
Go to ‘Settings’ > [your name] > ‘iCloud’.
Scroll down and tap ‘iCloud Backup.’ Turn it on.
Tap ‘Back Up Now’ and your iPhone will backup.
How to factory reset an iPhone
Follow these simple steps to factory reset your iPhone:
Go to ‘Settings’ and tap ‘General’.
Scroll to the bottom and tap ‘Reset’.
Choose ‘Erase All Content and Settings’ to return your iPhone to its factory default state.
Enter your passcode to proceed.
Confirm that you want to erase all content and settings.
Your iPhone will begin the reset process, which may take a few minutes. It’ll restart when the process is complete.
How to soft reset an iPhone
Performing a soft reset is basically just restarting your phone. It can sometimes sort out issues like unresponsive or frozen apps and screens. It doesn’t delete any data from your iPhone, because you’re basically just turning the iPhone off and an again. You can do this through the Settings app, or by holding the power button and using the on-screen slider to ‘power off’.
How to hard reset an iPhone
If you’re experiencing a major issue – such as the phone not responding at all – sometimes something more forceful than a soft reset is needed. Here’s how to do a hard reset, which doesn’t delete any of your data or settings:
· Press and release the ‘volume up’ button.
· Press and release the ‘volume down’ button.
· Press and hold the side button for a few seconds until the Apple logo appears.
· When the Apple logo appears, release the side button. Your iPhone will now restart.
How to restart an iPhone
When you reset your iPhone using one of the methods we mentioned above, it should automatically restart at the end of the process. But if it doesn’t, here are a few things to try:
How to restart an iPhone from settings
Follow these steps to restart your iPhone from the settings:
Go to ‘Settings’ and tap ‘General’.
Scroll to the bottom and tap ‘Shut Down’.
A ‘slide to power off’ slider will appear. Swipe right!
Your iPhone screen will now go black and the shutdown process will begin. To restart, press and hold the power button until the Apple logo appears. Release the button and your iPhone will restart.
How to restart iPhone with power buttons
Here’s how to an iPhone using the power buttons:
Press and hold the power button until ‘slide to power off’ appears on the screen.
Swipe right.
Your iPhone screen will now go black and the shutdown process will begin. To restart, press and hold the power button until the Apple logo appears. Release the button and your iPhone will restart.
How to restart an iPhone with AssistiveTouch
AssistiveTouch is a feature that helps you use your iPhone if you have difficulty touching the screen or pressing buttons. Here’s how to restart your iPhone using it:
Go to ‘Settings’ > ‘Accessibility’ > ‘Touch’ > ‘AssistiveTouch’, and turn it on.
Tap ‘Customize Top Level Menu’ and choose the actions you want.
When the AssistiveTouch menu is set up, tap on it and select ‘Device’.
Press and hold the ‘lock screen’ icon until ‘slide to power off’ appears on the screen.
Swipe right.
Your iPhone screen will now go black and the shutdown process will begin. To restart, press and hold the power button until the Apple logo appears. Release the button and your iPhone will restart.
How to force restart an iPhone
The method for doing a force reset on your iPhone is exactly the same as the hard reset mentioned above. They’re basically two different names for doing the same thing, which is:
Press and release the ‘volume up’ button.
Press and release the ‘volume down’ button.
Press and hold the side button for a few seconds until the Apple logo appears.
When the Apple logo appears, release the side button. Your iPhone will now restart.
iPhone force restart not working: troubleshooting tips
If a force restart doesn’t work on your iPhone, here are a few troubleshooting tips to try out:
1. Check for software updates. Sometimes, software glitches are fixed in newer updates.
2. Reset all settings. This can resolve issues caused by incorrect settings without erasing your data.
3. Do a factory reset. As mentioned above, this can resolve a lot of software issues.
FAQs
What's the difference between a soft reset and a hard restart on iPhone?
A soft reset (or restart) simply turns your phone off and on again. A hard reset reboots your iPhone’s operating system but doesn’t delete any data. You can use both these methods to try and sort out minor performance issues.
Please note: some people use the term ‘hard reset’ when they mean ‘factory reset’ A factory reset deletes all your data, so make sure you know which is which!
How can I factory reset iPhone without losing anything?
A factory reset erases all your iPhone’s data and returns it to the factory settings. If you want to carry out this task and keep your data, you’ll need to back it up. We explain how to do this in the ’How to backup an iPhone before resetting’ section near the top of this article.
Does a hard reset erase everything on iPhone?
A hard reset reboots your iPhone’s operating system but doesn’t delete any data.
What is the difference between restart and reset on iPhone?
A restart on an iPhone means simply turning it off and back on again, which can resolve minor software issues. There are different types of reset. A soft reset is basically just the same as a restart. A factory reset, on the other hand, will erase all your iPhone’s data and settings.
Why would I need to reset an iPhone to factory settings?
If you’re giving your iPhone to somebody else, you should do a factory reset to delete all of your data and settings from it. It’s the best way of making sure you’re not accidentally sharing any personal information.
Any more questions?
If you want to talk to an expert about buying a phone or mobile phone accessories, feel free to pop into one of our stores for a chat. Thinking about getting a new iPhone? Check out our guide to the new iPhone 15 family.
