How to reset an iPhone to factory settings using buttons

What will be removed?

Before you reset your device, read the list of materials and sections that will be deleted. The full list is presented below:

• contacts, calendar, notes;
• installed applications;
• music, videos, podcasts;
• network settings, geolocation.

Before resetting, it is recommended to make a backup copy on your computer's hard drive or iCloud cloud storage. This way you will spend the least amount of time restoring all personal data and settings. After this, you can proceed to the zeroing procedure.

Depending on your iPhone model, you need to choose the appropriate factory reset method. We have identified 3 current options for different versions of the phone.

What is Hard Reset on iPhone and iPad

A hard reset is a radical method for solving a large number of problems with an iPhone. After performing the reset, the phones begin to work as they did at the beginning of the purchase and look software new.

iPhone phone reset process

Note! Physical damage to the phone, of course, will remain, but the operating system will be restored to its original form.

It is worth remembering that after a Hard Reset, the iPhone appears before the user in a completely new form and all data from it is completely erased. Before carrying out such an operation, you should think carefully and prepare: transfer all valuable documents and photographs to another medium.

Some people don’t understand why a hard reset of an iPhone or iPad is needed at all. It is most often used for:

• selling on the secondary market or giving to friends;
• the phone is in a slow state;
• desire to start the “life” of the device again;
• accumulation of a large amount of garbage that you are too lazy to remove manually.

There are several ways to do a full reset: using the device itself, or rather its buttons, through iTunes and the phone’s system settings. The last two options may require the user to know the location of certain settings, so the most popular method of hard reset using buttons will be discussed below.

Reset via iTunes

iPhone 8 and all new models

Starting with the iPhone 8, the creators of the mobile device have changed the emergency reset procedure. Now 3 physical keys are involved in this process. First you need to press the volume up button. Immediately after this, press the volume down key once. Then hold down the on/off button for a few seconds until the company logo appears.

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Once the Apple logo appears, the phone will boot with basic settings. At the same time, linked accounts and cloud storage will be preserved.

Reset on different iPhone models

It is worth noting that the procedure for restoring settings may differ depending on the version of the smartphone used.

iPhone 6

In the iPhone 6, settings are reset using buttons.
There are people who still use the iPhone 6. Some believe that doing a Hard Reset on this model is problematic. However, in reality this is far from the case.

The fact is that in older iPhone models, restoring factory settings is quite simple. To do this, you don’t even have to use third-party programs, since everything is done using buttons on the phone.

To restore your phone, you need to turn it off and hold down the Home and Power buttons at the same time. After this, you need to wait for the gadget to turn on.

If the smartphone does not turn on the first time, you need to press the buttons again.

iPhone 7

The iPhone 7 uses different firmware and therefore the reset procedure is slightly different from the sixth model. To do a Hard Reset on this smartphone, you do not need to press the Home button, which is located below the display.

Instead, you will have to hold down the side button, which is designed to decrease the volume. At the same time, you need to hold down “Power”. After this, you need to carefully look at the screen and wait for the Apple icon to appear. If it does not appear within 15-20 seconds, then you will have to repeat the procedure until you can restore the factory settings.

To make sure that the Hard Reset was completed successfully, you need to turn on your smartphone and check whether third-party applications are installed on it. If they are not there, then the settings have been reset.

iPhone 8

In the eighth iPhone model, restoring settings is a little more difficult than on older smartphones. The fact is that now you have to press not two, but three buttons.

iPhone 8 reset using volume buttons

To do a Hard Reset on this phone, you need to perform the following sequence of actions:

1. Press and hold the volume up key for a few seconds.
2. Press and release the button responsible for decreasing the volume.
3. Press and hold the power key for 5 seconds. It must not be released until the Apple logo appears on the gadget’s display.

It is worth noting that you need to perform the above steps very quickly. Only in this case will it be possible to restore the smartphone to factory settings.

Other models

Old smartphone models are reset in the same way as the sixth version of the iPhone. To make a Hard Reset of the latest models, you should use the instructions for the iPhone 8.

Reset in recovery mode

A full reset via Recovery Mode uses both the phone buttons and the computer with iTunes. To perform a reset using a PC, follow the presented algorithm:

1. Connect iPhone to computer via USB cable.
2. Launch iTunes and wait for it to sync with your phone.
3. Perform a reset using the buttons as described in our instructions above.
4. After this, iTunes on your computer will prompt you to restore or update your device. Click on the “Restore iPhone” button.
5. Now all that remains is to wait until the phone returns to factory settings.

After completing the procedure, you will receive iOS in its original form. When starting, you need to select a language, region, log in or register an Apple ID, and so on.

An alternative reset method is the iOS system menu. However, to use it, your device must start properly and not freeze for 10-15 minutes. Then you will have time to go to the settings and select the appropriate reset option. The advantage of this method is that the user himself selects the reset area (full reset, reset of content, network settings, geo settings, dictionary, etc.).

How to clear the application cache on iPhone yourself

The iOS operating system does not have a special button for clearing the device’s memory, as well as, in fact, a centralized cache. A cache is considered to be files that are saved for quick access later. On mobile devices, there is a cache in browsers, games and applications.

Reboot your phone

The easiest way to clear the cache is to reboot the device. The fact is that after a reboot, when the phone starts, the operating system deletes temporary files and cache.

To restart your iPhone, you need to hold down the Home and Power buttons until the (apple) logo appears on the display.

Cleaning with iTunes

Creating a backup copy and then restoring the data helps clear the cache from your iPhone. After this, applications will be completely cleared of cached data. How to do it:

• Using a Lightening cable, we connect the phone to the computer (this can be a PC on either Mac or Windows);
• On the main screen of the program, select the device;
• go to the “Overview” section and check the “Encrypt iPhone backup” checkbox and create a password for the backup (be sure to write it down or remember it);
• click on the “Create a copy now” button;
• wait for the backup to be created;
• disable the “Find iPhone” function in the device settings, otherwise iTunes will not allow you to recover data;
• in the same “Review” section, click on the “Restore from copy” button and confirm the action (at this stage you will need the previously created password);
• After restoring the data, go to the “iPhone Storage” section in the settings and see how much memory is freed up.

The downside of this method is that you cannot completely clear the cache. For example, attachments (pictures, videos and other files) in Viber or WhatsApp cannot be deleted in this way, since iTunes considers that this is not garbage, but important data for the user. But there will still be much more free space on the device.

Clearing cache in messengers

In WhatsApp, Telegram, as well as other instant messengers, even in a short period of time, many pictures and videos accumulate that clog up the memory.

In WhatsApp, you can clear the cache like this:

• go to “Settings” and go to “Data and storage”;
• open "Storage Management" and select the data to delete.

In the Telegram messenger you can also delete files saved in the cache:

• in the application settings, open the “Data and memory” tab;
• go to “Memory Usage”;
• Click on the inscription “Clear Telegram cache”.

In addition, in the messenger you can set the data storage period: 3 days, a week, a month, always, and also specify the maximum cache size.

How to clear application cache on iPhone manually

The method is quite inconvenient because it takes some time. First, check how much cache a particular application contains. To do this, in your phone settings, select the “General” tab, and then “iPhone Storage”. Browse through the list of applications and select those that take up a lot of memory.

To evaluate each individual program, you need to go into it and open the “Documents and Data” item. Unfortunately, the cache cannot be deleted separately, only together with the application. Simply uninstall programs with large cache sizes and then install them again. As a result, the entire cache will be deleted from hidden application folders, and it can take up a decent amount of data, up to several gigabytes.

Clear Safari browser cache

It can store a decent amount of cache, especially if the device owner actively uses it. How to clear cache and history in Safari:

1. find the browser in your phone settings;
2. open the application page and click on the “Clear history and data” option;
3. the system will warn you that cookies and browsing history will be deleted as a result of the action;
4. confirm the action.

Memory cleaning programs

If an application does not have a cache clearing function, and for some reason you cannot delete it or you simply don’t want to, you can use special optimizer programs.

This is not a panacea, and you should treat them with caution. Many of the cleaner apps only paint a pretty picture on the screen, showing how much memory has been cleared. But in fact, they only take up memory themselves, without doing anything useful.

Proven cache clearing programs include Magic Phone Cleaner and Battery Saver. They are convenient because they allow you to get rid of garbage with literally one click. Install the program, open it and click on the “Clean up junk” button. Applications of this kind cannot completely clear the cache, but they will free up some memory.

Full reset to factory settings

This is perhaps the most effective, but also the most radical way to get rid of the cache on an iPhone.

Important: you can do a full reset only if you are absolutely sure that you have an original device. In addition, before resetting, it is recommended to back up your data for later recovery.

How to reset settings:

• open the “Settings” application and go to the “General” section;
• open the “Reset” tab and select the “Erase content and settings” option;
• confirm the action by entering your password;
• After a hard reset, restore using the backup.

As a result of the procedure, important data will not be lost, and the cache will be cleared.

Read about the best iPhone phones in 2021 – https://sravnismart.ru/kak-vybrat/top-10-luchshih-telefonov-ajfon-na-nachalo-2020-goda/

Download the cleaner app to clear the cache on iPhone and iPad

There are many applications that can help you quickly get rid of unnecessary files. These applications are usually installed on your Mac or PC; then you need to connect your iPhone (or iPad) and let the app work its magic.

A cleaner app is usually the fastest and most effective way to free up space on your iPhone, but if you want the most feature-rich of them all, it will cost around 20 euros (about 1,400 rubles). But it’s worth saying that it’s better than buying a new phone when your own one simply runs out of space.

PhoneClean

PhoneClean from iMobie will help you remove unnecessary files from iOS. Here are the simple steps:

1. Connect your iPhone and Mac with a USB cable.

2. Open PhoneClean and click "Scan".

3. When scanning is complete, click Clear.

Some PhoneClean features, such as Photo Cache, are only available in the Pro version. It costs $19.99 (about 960 rubles) per year.

Why is iPhone cleaned?

Resetting content and settings on an iPhone may be necessary for several reasons, and first of all, there is a lack of free space on the device. In addition to the programs and content that are downloaded to the phone, the smartphone’s memory is also filled with application files and system logs, so for normal operation it is recommended to clean the device regularly. Find out what happens if you reset your iPhone's network settings in our separate article.

In addition, you will need to reset your iPhone settings and content to:

• pre-sale preparation;
• normalization of phone operation;
• optimization of processes within the operating system.

It is important to understand the iPhone cleaning procedure so that there are no problems with the further startup of the device. And before resetting your device, you need to back up your device.

How to clean an iPhone through camera settings?

Photos and videos can take up up to 50% of the free space on an iPhone, because there are a lot of them, and the weight of a photo of not the best quality easily exceeds 5 MB (we're not even talking about videos). Thus, by slightly optimizing some camera parameters in the iPhone, we can clear several gigabytes of memory (or more!).

First of all, reduce the video quality from 4K and 60 fps to another resolution. We recommend leaving 1080p and 30 fps - the most optimal value for video quality and size. One minute of video in this quality will weigh approximately 60 megabytes. If you need to clear even more space, then choose 720p. In this case, the image will no longer be very clear, but a minute of video in this resolution weighs only 40 MB.

How and where do you need to change the quality of the video you shoot?

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select Camera.
3. Then open Video Recorder and select the resolution you want. Don't forget to change the quality of the slow motion video.

Unfortunately, you cannot change the resolution of photos in the basic camera settings. In such cases, many users install additional software, thanks to which they manually change the quality of each photo. Many of them are paid, but according to the users themselves, they work and help clear up quite a lot of space. With subtle compression of 90%, the photo becomes “lighter” by 2-3 times, and with average compression of 70%, the weight of the photo becomes 5-7 times less! Examples of similar applications: Photo Compress, Compress Photos & Pictures.

Do you shoot in HDR? This shooting mode allows you to take more natural photos, but to free up memory on your iPhone, you must disable a certain option associated with this mode. By default, when HDR mode is active, the iPhone saves two photos: an HDR photo and a regular one. That is why the entire device storage is filled with identical photos.

You can clear it of them by disabling the corresponding function: “Settings” → “Camera” → Find the “HDR (HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE)” subsection and turn off the “Keep original” toggle switch.

Great, now you need to clear your iPhone gallery of identical pictures taken earlier, as well as other unnecessary photos. You can do this manually, but this method is very complicated, and it’s unlikely that anyone will want to spend an hour or two doing an absolutely useless task. It’s much faster and more convenient to download special software for iPhone, which will automatically find identical photos and clean them. Here is a short list of the most popular:

• Gemini Photos: Gallery Cleaner;
• Remo Duplicate Photos Remover;

It’s also worth deleting old photos and videos that you no longer need (for example, screenshots). And most importantly, don’t forget to empty your iPhone’s trash: the “Recently Deleted Items” folder. Otherwise, all our efforts were in vain...

Reinstalling applications

If you see in the storage usage statistics that an application takes up a lot of space, but you cannot clear the cache separately, you will have to delete it along with the application.

Simply uninstall and reinstall the application and the problem is guaranteed to go away. Just remember to save the content from the application before deleting. It is convenient to reinstall from the “Purchases” tab in the App Store. And in order not to remember later the location of the icons on the desktop, take a screenshot before deleting.

Something else and preventive measures

And now about how to avoid quickly filling up memory. I'm not telling you to disable everything, but disabling features you don't use would be smart, right?

• Disable storage of HDR originals (Settings → Photos and Camera → Keep original).
• Clear Safari history and cookies (Settings → Safari → Clear history and website data).
• Turn off VoiceOver Enhanced Speech Quality (Settings → General → Accessibility → VoiceOver → Speech).
• Disable system languages ​​that you do not use (Settings → General → Language and Region).
• Leave background updating only for the applications you need (Settings → General → Content Update).
• Remove the email accounts you are using and add them again.
• Clear Siri's cache by disabling and re-enabling the feature in Settings.
• Delete the Recently Deleted album in the gallery.
• Change the video recording quality to 1080p 30 fps or 720p 30 fps.

That's probably all. We hope these tips will help you free up a couple of gigabytes and use them with something useful.

How to do a Hard Reset on iPhone 10 or X

Before the iPhone 7, you simply had to press and hold two buttons to reset, but with the introduction of the iPhone 8, things have changed a bit. Now iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR reset slightly differently (in three steps). This is due to the fact that simultaneously pressing power and volume activates the SOS function on new models.

Therefore, to hard reset new versions of the phone, including the top ten, you need:

• Quickly press and release volume up.
• Do the same with decreasing the volume.
• Press and hold “Nutrition” until the bitten apple appears.

Resetting various parameters and user data is also available through the standard phone settings menu or iTunes. In this regard, there is no difference between the new (8, X, XS, XR) and old (5, 5 s, 6, 6 s, 7) models. The names of items in the Russian language of the firmware may be changed insignificantly.

The reset menu is identical on all iPhones

Recovering iPhone using Home

First, switch the gadget to complete shutdown mode. Then follow the instructions.

1. Hold down the Home key.
2. Using Lighting, connect the iPhone to the computer, “Home” should remain pressed.
3. You will see the iTunes icon on the display. Your device has entered recovery mode.
4. Launch iTunes and click “Restore iPhone”.

Using Applications

Since iOS restricts the user in many ways, including clearing the cache, third-party developers are trying to eliminate this disadvantage by releasing special programs. App Sore has several apps that make deleting temporary files easy and make getting rid of junk easy and visual.

Battery Doctor Error

Although this program is designed to increase battery life, battery consumption is optimized by removing unnecessary files. To clear the cache you will need:

1. Download and install Battery Doctor.
2. Open the program.
3. Start scanning.
4. Confirm deletion of unnecessary files.

After completing the operation, the owner of an Apple iPhone may notice that the smartphone not only freed up space in the internal memory, but also began to work noticeably faster. True, you will have to repeat cleaning through Battery Doctor once every couple of weeks, otherwise a new cache will have time to appear.

PhoneClean

PhoneClean is a computer program that allows you to perform a deep cache cleanup that is invisible to other applications. To optimize your Apple iPhone you will need:

1. Download and install PhoneClean on your computer.
2. Connect your smartphone to your PC.
3. Open the program.
4. Click the “Scan” button.
5. Delete unnecessary files by clicking the “Clean” button.

Since PhoneClean has quite broad capabilities for ridding your smartphone of cache, the program is paid. The user will have to subscribe for $19.99 per year to get access to clearing temporary photo files (thumbnails). You can use it without the additional function, but then you will be able to free up less memory in the internal storage.