Whenever your iPhone starts to show software or hardware issues resetting the device seems like a good idea, but can anything go wrong when you reset an iPhone and what exactly happens? Let me answer this question.
In total resetting your iPhone erases restores the phone to factory settings, it removes your preferred settings and information stored on your phone, including contacts, apps, browsing history, music library, notes, calendar info, voice memos, and all other information.
In this article, I will specify what you would lose if you reset your iPhone, whether resetting your iPhone is effective for troubleshooting, and what happens when you reset the iPhone too many times.
What Will I Lose If I Reset My iPhone
Resetting your iPhone erases all the personal information on the phone restoring the device to factory settings. But if you just reset the settings of your iPhone it will erase your preferred settings and set the iPhone to default settings.
When resetting your iPhone, you have two options; reset all settings or erase all content and settings.
Here’s what you will lose when you choose either of these settings:
What Will I Lose If I Erase All Content And Settings On My iPhone?
If you are selling your iPhone or just giving a hard reset to your device, you should always reset your iPhone by choosing the “Erase All Content And Settings” option. Opting for this option completely wipes out any data on your device. This includes:
- Applications
- Photos and media library
- Music
- Calendar
- Notes
- Contacts
- Credit and debit card Info
- Wallet
- Voice Memos
- Preferred settings
- and all the other information stored on it.
Erasing all content and settings would also disable iCloud, iMessage, FaceTime, Game Center, and other Apple services on your iPhone and restore your iOS to factory settings. However, rest assured that your iCloud data is not erased from iCloud, only your iPhone.
Before erasing all content and settings on your iPhone, make sure you back up all of your data to iCloud or PC because it will be erased from your iPhone.
How to backup iPhone data to iCloud
- Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup.
- Turn on iCloud Backup. iCloud automatically backs up your iPhone daily when iPhone is connected to power, locked, and on Wi-Fi.
- To perform a manual backup, tap Back Up Now.
What Will I Lose If I Reset All Settings On My iPhone?
The Reset All Settings option on the iPhone is perfect to fix occasional bugs and problems on your device. If your iPhone is having trouble making purchases or any other functions like a speaker malfunction or phone freezing, Apple suggests resetting all settings.
But what does the Reset All Settings option do? Do you lose any important data if you opt for this option?
The Reset All Settings option erases all of your preferred settings and restores your iPhone to the default settings that it came with. Here’s what it erases:
- Network settings
- Home Screen layout
- Location settings
- Keyboard dictionary
- Privacy settings
- and Apple Pay cards
However, you won’t lose any of your data or apps on the iPhone. Apple also gives you the option to restore particular settings like Reset Network Settings, Reset Keyboard Dictionary, Reset Home Screen Layout, and Reset Location & Privacy. These options come in handy when you only want to reset particular settings.
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Does Resetting iPhone Delete Everything?
Resetting your iPhone deletes all of the personal information on the phone including preferred settings credit card information, Apple ID, apps, photos, music, and any other data stored on the iPhone.
Factory resetting an iPhone is known to fix many issues such as if your apps are crashing, the device is not responding, it is stuck in an endless loop of restarting, or your memory is full, a factory reset can knock fix these problems.
A factory reset erases your device, only leaving behind the original iOS software with factory settings. Only the default apps like Clock, App Store, Messages, Camera, Calculator, Contacts, Compass, Calendar, FaceTime, Voice Memos, etc. are left behind.
Any of your personal data and information is erased from the apps that are why people erase all content and settings from their iPhones before they are selling their device and switching to a new phone speaking of new iPhones should you buy your new Apple device at Apple.com or in a physical store? I found the answer in my article.
The data stored on iCloud, however, is not erased it is just deleted from your iPhone but remains on iCloud that you can access whenever you want at iCloud.com. It is recommended to always back up your iPhone to iCloud or your Windows/Mac computer before you reset your iPhone.
It is easier to backup your iPhone data to a Mac than a Windows computer because not only are Macs part of the Apple ecosystem, they are actually much easier to use than Windows see my article to find out why.
Is It A Good Idea To Reset My iPhone?
As a general rule, a factory reset will fix any software issues and improve iPhone performance. Apple recommends factory resetting your device whenever it has software issues. Remember to back data on iCloud or a computer as a factory reset wipes all personal settings and data on the device.
There are many reasons why resetting your iPhone is a good idea:
Troubleshooting Problems
Corrupt iOS, application crashes, long pauses, and other software problems on your iPhone can be easily solved with a reset. If you have already rebooted your iPhone and the problems persist, an Apple technician may ask you to reset your iPhone before they fix it.
You can factory reset your iPhone by going to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.
However, make sure to create a backup of your data before erasing all the content and settings.
Remember to create backups
You should always have a recent backup of your iPhone data in case you lose your device or your data gets corrupted. A factory reset is a great reason for creating a recent backup of your device. You can either backup your iPhone on iCloud or manually create a backup on your computer via iTunes.
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It improves performance
Have you noticed how those “storage full” alerts disappear as soon as you back up and reset your iPhone? That’s because full memory deteriorates the performance of your device. So whenever your iPhone has full storage, you should back up your data, reset your device and only reinstall the apps you need. It will get rid of those never-ending “storage full” alerts and fix the performance issues.
Reset when setting or giving away the iPhone
Resetting your iPhone before selling it or giving it away would remove any of your personal information stored on the device. It is the best way to make sure that none of your Apple Pay cards, messages, contact information, apps, and other data stays behind.
So before you transfer the ownership of your iPhone, make sure to reset it and erase your device. It will allow the new owner to set up the phone according to his preferences.
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What Happens If You Reset Your iPhone Too Many Times
There is no limit to how many times you can reset your iPhone. Resetting your iPhone multiple times would not harm the device or deteriorate its performance. In fact, resetting your iPhone every few months can actually clear out all the bugs and improve its speed.
Apart from all the time it takes to restore your iPhone and set it up again, there’s no harm in resetting the device multiple times. It clears your app caches and data and ultimately improves the performance and speed of your iOS device.
Resetting the device only erases the content and settings, making your device just like new. It does not harm or delete your iPhone’s operating system. It only restores it to its default settings. So you can rest assured that nothing bad would happen to your device.
That’s all about resetting iPhones please remember that a factory reset can fix not all issues, and you should only consider it if nothing else (like restarting the device) works. If you only want to reset certain settings, we recommend you to opt for the reset options for that specific setting and not erase your entire device. For instance, you can reset your privacy settings to default by simply choosing the Reset Location & Privacy option.
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