3 Ways to Erase or Wipe an iPhone - wikiHow

Are you getting ready to sell your old iPhone, or give it to a friend? Was your iPhone lost or stolen and you want to keep sensitive personal information out of the wrong hands? Follow this guide to completely erase and reset your iPhone, even when you can't find it.
STEPS
METHOD 1 OF 3: BACKUP YOUR DATA

1

PERFORM EITHER AN ITUNES OR AN ICLOUD BACKUP. These will save all of your settings, contacts, Camera Roll photos and more. It will not save any music or videos that were synced to your device from your computer. Performing a backup will allow you to restore your settings on a new device.

2

BACKUP USING ITUNES. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. Select your iPhone from the list in the left frame, in the Devices category. If you don’t have a menu on the left side of the iTunes window, use the Devices dropdown menu in the top-right of the window to select your phone. This will open the Device Summary page.
In the Backups section, click Back Up Now to start the backup process. The backup program will create a full image of your phone that can be used to restore the data and settings on a new device.

3

BACKUP USING ICLOUD. Open the Settings on your iPhone. Scroll down and tap iCloud. Select the Storage & Backup option. Slide the iCloud Backup switch to on. Your device will backup automatically the next time it is plugged, connected to a Wi-Fi signal, and has the screen turned off.
You can change what is backed up by clicking Manage Storage. In this screen you can see how large your backup file is, and you can toggle which Apps to backup.
METHOD 2 OF 3: RESET YOUR IPHONE

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OPEN THE SETTINGS. This can be found on your Home screen. Tap the General button and scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Tap reset.

2

CHOOSE WHETHER TO KEEP OR DELETE YOUR DATA. Reset All Settings will delete your settings and preferences, but keep your music, photos, apps, and other data. The settings and preferences will be reset to the factory default. Erase All Content and Settings will delete all the data on the phone and reset all the settings and preferences. Everything added to the phone will be lost.

3

WAIT A FEW MINUTES. Depending on your reset choice, the process could take a few minutes. Once the reset is complete, the phone will act as if it had just been taken out of it’s packaging.
METHOD 3 OF 3: RESET YOUR IPHONE REMOTELY

1

MAKE SURE IT’S ACTUALLY LOST. If you reset your phone remotely, and then find it later, all of your settings and data will be gone. Be sure that you have actually lost your phone or had it stolen before performing a remote reset.
If you erase your phone remotely, you won’t be able to use the Find My iPhone function of iCloud. Be sure to try this before remotely erasing your phone.
You must have enabled Find My iPhone on your phone in order to be able to remotely erase it. You can do this in the iCloud menu in your Settings.

2

SIGN IN TO ICLOUD. You can do this from any web browser. Open the Find My iPhone page here. You will be prompted to log in with your Apple ID.

3

CLICK THE DEVICES BUTTON. It is located in the top-left corner of the window, next to the iCloud icon. Select your iPhone from the list of your devices. A window with your phone’s picture will appear with three options on the bottom.

4

CLICK ERASE IPHONE. You will be asked to enter your Apple ID and password to confirm. If the device is currently connected to the internet, it will begin erasing immediately. If it is not connected, it will begin erasing the next time that it has an internet connection.