Does Factory Reset Delete Everything on iPhone?

When you want to sell or donate your iPhone, a factory reset is recommended. This ensures that your personal information isn’t compromised or misused and prepares your device for a fresh start, whenever needed.

Additionally, factory resetting an iPhone helps fix many issues, such as the iPhone freezing or crashing, the iPhone stuck at the Apple logo, the iPhone stuck in boot loop, the ‘0 bytes available’ message, and others.

But the question is, does a factory reset delete everything on iPhone? 

This blog explains what happens when you perform a factory reset on your iPhone and how to prevent your confidential iPhone data from falling into wrong hands.

What is a Factory Reset?

A Factory Reset, also known as a ‘hard reset,’ erases all the data and settings from your iPhone and returns it to its default setting. In this process, the device is reset to the point when it was first taken out of the box. It will remove all the iPhone settings, photos, videos, chats, and all the app data.

How to Factory Reset an iPhone?

You can factory reset an iPhone via Settings on your device. Close all the apps and follow the below steps on your iPhone to factory reset:

Note: Always back up your data on iCloud or iTunes before the factory resets the iPhone.

• On the iPhone, navigate to Settings > General.
• Tap on Transfer or Reset iPhone.
• Click the Erase All Content and Settings options.
• Next, click the Continue button and then enter the iPhone passcode.
• Now, click Erase iPhone. Your iPhone will reboot a few times, and the device will be fully wiped once it’s done.

What All Gets Deleted during Factory Resetting an iPhone?

Doing a factory reset will delete nearly everything on your iPhone, including:

1. Personal Files: This includes photos, videos, messages, contacts, notes, calendars, and reminders stored on your iPhone.
2. System Settings: Any settings you have configured on the device, such as Wi-Fi settings, Bluetooth connection, location settings, accessibility settings, and app settings, will be reset to their defaults.
3. Apps: Installed applications and their data will be erased.
4. Accounts: The device will be unlinked from your Apple ID, and all accounts logged in on the device (such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc.) will be removed.
5. Apple Pay & Cards: Any credit card information added to Apple Pay will be removed from the device.

What Doesn’t Get Deleted During a Factory Reset?

Although doing a factory reset on an iPhone wipes most of its data, there are certain things that it won’t remove:

1. iOS Software: It does not remove the iOS firmware/software updates made to the iPhone.
2. Pre-installed apps: It doesn’t delete pre-installed apps like Calculator, Camera, iMessage, FaceTime, Clock, Compass, etc. However, any data saved in these apps gets deleted.
3. iCloud and iTunes/Finder Backup: A factory reset of your iPhone doesn’t delete your data from iCloud or iTunes/Finder backup. iCloud backup files are stored in Apple’s cloud server, while iTunes/Finder backup files are saved on your PC or Mac drive.
4. SIM Card: After a factory reset, the data stored on your SIM card, such as text messages and contacts, will not be removed.

Does a Factory Reset Wipe Everything on iPhone?

Although a factory reset erases everything on the iPhone, your data can still be accessed. Despite factory resetting your iPhone, another user can access your device data using advanced iPhone data recovery tools.

So, is there a secure way to permanently wipe your iPhone before selling or donating it?

Is There a Safer Way to Wipe an iPhone?

The safer way to permanently wipe iPhone data beyond the scope of recovery is using Stellar iPhone Eraser. This professional iPhone data eraser software ensures that your data, documents, photos, videos, recordings, passcodes, contacts, messages, etc., are deleted permanently and cannot be recovered by even a data recovery software.

This eraser software wipes your iPhone data by overwriting it multiple times. Overwriting ensures that no information can be recovered using any data recovery solution.

Stellar Eraser for iPhone can erase data from all Apple iOS devices, including iPhones and iPads. It is compatible with the latest iPhone 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, and below series and even all iPad versions, such as iPad Air, iPad Mini, etc.

Steps: How to Wipe An iPhone Before Selling it via Stellar Eraser for iPhone

• Download, install, and launch Stellar Eraser for iPhone on your Windows or Mac system.
• Now, click Next on the Erase iPhone Data screen.

• Connect your iPhone to your computer and click Erase to delete data from the selected device.

• Click Yes in the Confirm Erase dialog box to initiate the erasure process.

• You will see the progress of the erasure process and the time remaining in the Erasing iPhone Data screen.

• Once the process finishes, click OK in the Erasure Complete box.

Conclusion

A factory reset deletes everything on an iPhone, but anyone can recover this data with the help of an iPhone data recovery tool. Thus, whenever you wish to sell or donate an old iPhone, use Stellar iPhone Eraser instead of just doing a factory reset. This ensures that your sensitive and personal information is not found and misused later.

I hope this post answers your questions about iPhone factory resets and when to use an iPhone data erasure software.

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About The Author

Vishakha Singh

Vishakha Singh is a Senior Writer at Stellar Data Recovery with half a decade of experience in writing content in diverse verticals. She's a tech enthusiast who loves creating photo/video recovery & repair tutorials. Vishakha also specializes in writing full-blown iPhone and Android guides.