Factory resetting an iPhone means deleting all the information on it so it's like you're taking
it out of the box for the very first time. You could go into Settings and erase all content
and settings right now, but surprise, it's not that simple and you lose all your data
if it's not backed up. The truth is there are other things you need to turn off too,
especially if you're planning to sell your iPhone, trade it in, or give it to someone else. First,
if you have an Apple Watch, unpair it from your iPhone. This erases all content and settings on
the Apple Watch and removes Activation Lock. But what happens to all my data on my Apple Watch?
Your iPhone saves the backup of your Apple Watch before it unpairs it. This step is especially
important if you're planning to sell your iPhone, trade it in, or give it away to someone else.
On your iPhone, open the Watch app, tap All Watches (upper left-hand corner of the screen),
tap the Information button to the right of your watch, scroll down, and tap Unpair Apple Watch.
There are a few things we need to turn off, but first we need to make sure you have an
iPhone backup, that way you won't lose all the information currently saved on your iPhone. The
easiest way to back up your iPhone is by using iCloud. Open the Settings app and tap your name
at the top of the screen. Tap iCloud, tap iCloud Backup, make sure the switch next to Backup This
iPhone is on, then tap Backup Now. But iCloud isn't the only way to back up your iPhone.
You can also use your computer. If you have a Mac running Mac OS 10.15 or newer, you'll back up your
iPhone to your computer using Finder. Just plug it in, look for your iPhone underneath Locations,
then tap Backup Now. And if you have a Mac running 10.14 or older or a PC, you're going to use iTunes
to back up your iPhone. Plug your iPhone into the computer, look for the phone icon near the upper
left-hand corner of iTunes, then click Backup Now. Or, just to make things more complicated,
there's now an Apple Devices app for Windows 11 and newer. You can't have both iTunes and that
app, so look for one if you plan on selling it, trading in, or giving away your iPhone.
You also need to cancel your Apple Care Plus plan, but if you're keeping your phone or maybe
giving it to someone else in your direct family, keeping the plan is okay. If you're paying for
Apple Care on a monthly or annual basis, here in your Apple ID settings, tap Back to iCloud,
tap Back to Apple ID, then tap Subscriptions and look for an Apple Care Plus plan here in
your list of subscriptions. Just tap on it, then tap Cancel. And if you pay for AppleCare up front,
you can contact Apple support to ask them nicely to cancel the plan and maybe give you a refund.
It's worth a try, I haven't seen it work, but no guarantees.
Yeah, next we need to sign out of iCloud. Make sure you know your password before signing
out. Here in our Apple ID settings, let's head back to the main page, scroll all the way down,
then tap Sign Out. Next up, deregister iMessage. It's especially important if you're planning on
switching to Android after you sell or give away your iPhone. Let's head back to the main page of
the Settings app, scroll down, and tap Messages, then turn off this switch next to iMessage. Apple
has a website where you can deregister iMessage. It tells you how to do it using the Settings app,
which David just showed you, but if you don't have your iPhone anymore,
you can enter your phone number and then a capture code and then confirmation code,
and this will actually deregister your phone number from the iMessage servers.
Bear this in mind if you switch to Android and your iPhone friends still can't text you.
And now the moment you've all been waiting for, let's head back to the main page of Settings,
scroll up, and tap General, scroll all the way down, tap Transfer or Reset iPhone,
then tap Erase All Content and Settings and follow the prompts to factory reset your iPhone. But you
can always factory restore your iPhone using a computer. The difference is that with a restore,
all the software gets taken off your iPhone, it downloads a fresh copy of it,
and updates iOS on your iPhone at the same time. Again, if you have a Mac running 10.15 or newer,
you'll use Finder to restore your iPhone. So connect your iPhone to your computer, open Finder,
and look for your iPhone underneath Locations. I found it, click on that,
then click Restore iPhone. Keep in mind that when you restore your iPhone using a computer,
you will be prompted to turn off Find My iPhone. And if you're using a PC and Apple
hasn't killed iTunes yet, use the Apple Devices app or iTunes, whichever one your PC has. Just
connect your iPhone to your computer, click the phone icon, then click Restore iPhone.
Now that we've factory reset your iPhone,
watch our next video to learn how to optimize the settings on your new iPhone right now.