How To Erase iPhone And iPad Remotely With Icloud
If you have turned on Find My iPhone, you can track and locate your device using iCloud. And if you dont have your iOS device in your hands or sometimes you forget your iPhone passcode, you can also use iCloud to erase iPhone and iPad to protect your personal data and information.
tips: After erasing iPhone or iPad, you cannot use Find My iPhone to locate it any more. So if your device is lost or stolen, youd better locate it or play a sound on it before you decide to erase it remotely.
How To Wipe iPhone Clean
The iPhone wiping process is actually called a factory reset, and it means bringing the device back in the state it was when it left the factory where it was assembled .
If you have a jailbroken iPhone and need to wipe data on it without losing the jailbreak, its possible to do so, but keep in mind that the process is not exactly simple, as its aimed at advanced iPhone users. Fortunately, weve explained the process in our comprehensive guide.
The process is quite intuitive and can be performed by following these steps:
Thats it, after the wiping process completes, your iPhone should restart all brand-new and without any of your old data on it. Its worth mentioning that you can also trigger the wiping process remotely from a desktop computer.
If youre worried about third-party tools being able to recover data you wiped, rest assured data on iOS devices is inherently protected using 256-bit encryption, and the keys are destroyed once your data is wiped from your device.
Therefore, even if someone were to be able to recover your old iPhone data, it would be inaccessible thanks to the encryption used to protect it.
Selling Or Trading In Your iPhone You Need To Factory Reset It First
It’s an important step that could keep your personal information safe.
Getting rid of your old iPhone? Make sure you reset it properly.
Buying a new phone can be exciting, especially if you got the iPhone 13, iPhone 12 or one of the great Android phones available right now. But before you can celebrate, you’ll have to take care of that old iPhone first. If it’s still in working order, there are several options to consider. You can trade it in to save some cash, sell it to a random stranger, or repurpose it. However, there’s still some work that needs to be done before you sell or trade in your old iPhone.
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Before you can even begin to think about giving your phone to someone else, you need to take some time to wipe and reset it to factory settings. Doing so will ensure that nobody has access to the treasure trove of personal information we all keep on our phones. Below, I’ll walk you through steps you need to take before resetting your phone, and I’ll show you the reset process.
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How To Restore iPhone From Icloud Backup
You can backup from iCloud using these steps:
How To Reset iPhone To Sell
If you want to completely erase your device and are wondering how do I wipe my iPhone before selling it? follow these simple steps to reset it:
Upgrading your phone? Trade in your old iPhone with Decluttr and make extra cash for a new device
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All Right Now You Can Reset Your iPhone
With your phone backed up and all of your accounts removed, factory reset it by opening the Settings app. Then tap General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings and confirm your decision. You’ll be asked to enter your phone’s PIN code, followed by your Apple ID password to turn off Apple’s Find My service.
After entering your password, the screen will go dark and the Apple logo along with a progress bar will show up. A few minutes later, you’ll be greeted with a screen with “Hello” in different languages flashing on it, indicating the reset was a success.
With your phone now wiped and ready for a new owner, you can send it on its way with peace of mind that your information is no longer on your phone.
How To Wipe An iPhone Clean Before Selling
- User
There are plenty of reasons why youd want to remove all data from your iPhone permanently, without any way of recovering it whatsoever. For instance, you may want to sell the device and youre worried about private data falling in the wrong hands, and its not like that never happened before.
Fortunately, all modern devices have this feature built-in, although its effectiveness may vary from one device to another. However, when it comes to iPhones, you can rest assured that once your data has been wiped, theres no way to recover it once the process comes to an end.
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How To Restore Your iPhone From A Backup Using Finder
You can also back up your iPhone on your Mac. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, you can restore your iPhone from iTunes. On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, you can do this using Finder.
Once the sync is complete, you can unplug your new iPhone. Its restored and ready to go!
Option B: Backup To Itunes
We recommend this option if you are selling your iPhone or iPad and moving to Android, or dont intend to restore the backup of this iPhone or iPad onto a new device right away. If you are only backing up your phone for archival purposes, then the iTunes Backup option is recommended. The iTunes app on will backup your entire iOS device and make an exact mirror image, that you can restore onto any iOS device in the future. By default, iTunes will create a backup of your iPhone or iPad onto your local drive, i.e. Macintosh HD, but you can move your iPhone or iPad backups to an external hard drive to save space on your internal drive.
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What Do I Do If I Send My Phone Without Wiping The Data
Oh no! You’ve already sent your phone without wiping your data? You’re doomed!
Actually you’re not, so dont panic. Recyclers will wipe your phone before they do anything with it. It’s still more secure to do it all yourself first, but they’re unlikely to send it back for the sake of a bit of admin.
UNLESS you don’t turn off the passcode. Active security features will stop them accessing the phone, and they’ll have no choice but to send it back to you. A small number may even charge you for the return postage. So, if you take nothing else from this guide, remember this: turn off your security!
Reset iPhone Without Passcode
But its not always possible to just go and log out of Apple ID , let alone reset a locked iPhone . So, you need to use workarounds.
- Download the PassFab iPhone Unlockerutility to your computer
- Connect iPhone to computer using Lightning cable
iPhone can be reset even if you forgot your passcode
- In the PassFab iPhone Unlocker interface, select Unlock
Resetting your password removes all data from your iPhone.
- Check the box next to the user agreement and click Start
The iPhone must be put into recovery mode.
- Enter iPhone into DFU mode using the buttons on the smartphone or automatically
- In the next step, download the latest version of iOS
- Confirm the procedure for resetting iPhone to factory settings.
PassFab iPhone Unlocker
This procedure will not only reset your iPhone lock password , but will also delete all data from your smartphone. This is very convenient, because in this state it will be more convenient for you to sell it. However, keep in mind that the smartphone will remain linked to the Apple ID. So you have to log out of your account, which will prevent unauthorized sale of the stolen iPhone . The only drawback is that without a lock password, you will not be able to back up and restore your data in advance.
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How To Unlock Your iPhone For Use With Other Carriers
Unlocking your iPhone generally allows you to sell your device for a higher price. This is because an unlocked iPhone can be used with carriers other than the carrier you used when owning the device.
For instance, if you had a contract with Verizon, but you’ve fulfilled your contract and paid off the iPhone, then you can ask Verizon to unlock your device. That way, when you sell your device, the person who buys it can use Sprint, T-Mobile, or any other carrier they choose.
Therefore, if you’ve fulfilled your contract, ask your carrier to unlock your iPhone. To get it unlocked, call your carrier or fill out a form on your carrier’s website.
Permanently Wipe iPhone Before Selling It With Ukeysoft Foneeraser
UkeySoft FoneEraser provides a solution for permanently erasing iPhone data. You can use this reliable iOS eraser to delete everything on iPhone in one click before selling it. All removed data is 100% unrecoverable. If your iPhone starts to slow down, it may be too many junk files, temporary files, application cache stored on the phone, UkeySoft FoneEraser speeds up your iPhone by helping you clean up these unnecessary files. With UkeySoft FoneEraser you can protect your private data by:
Completely wipe your iPhone without recovery.Permanently erase private data on iPhone such as contacts, messages, pictures, videos, call logs, notes, WhatsApp chat history, etc.Erase App Fragments from Facebooks, Kik and more apps.Erase junk files, large files, temp files to speed up iPhone.
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Start By Unpairing Your Apple Watch
That last part about backing up your data won’t take long. But while that’s underway, make sure you back up your iPhone too.
If you’re an iPad user, you don’t have to worry about pairing with Apple Watch like this, but backup your device anyway. It does mean you won’t lose anything, but it also means that setting up the next device with all of your personal information will be quick.
Removing your personal information from the old iPhone or iPad is essential, but it’s quick too. Or it is once you have unpaired the Watch and backed up your iPhone.
How To Factory Reset A Stolen iPhone
If your phone got stolen and you have Find My iPhoneenabled, you would factory reset your Phone to forestall somebody getting into your information.
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How To Back Up Your Data And Factory Reset Your iPhone Or iPad
Open the Settings app on your iPhone, and go to General. Scroll down and choose the Transfer or Reset iPhone option.
If youre planning to buy a new iPhone, Apple will offer to back up your entire iPhone data to iCloud even if you arent paying for iCloud Storage. This data will be available for a week, and once restored, it will be removed from your iCloud account. To use that option, choose the Get Started option in the Prepare for new iPhone section.
To completely wipe the iPhone data, choose the Erase All Content and Settings button.
Youll now get a new page with an overview of all the things that Apple will remove from the device. For the first time, youll see things like your Apple ID, Find My, and Apple Wallet in this list. Tap the Continue button.
Screenshot: Khamosh Pathak
Enter the passcode for your iPhone to confirm. If your iCloud backup isnt complete, youll see an option to continue the process once the backup is completed. We would recommend you finish this backup, and take a local backup on your iPhone or iPad. Tap the Skip Backup option if you want to skip the backup process.
Next, enter your Apple ID password to log out of your device and to disable Find My and Activation Lock. Tap the Turn Off button after entering your password, then tap the Erase iPhone button.
Screenshot: Khamosh Pathak
S To Take Before Resetting
Before resetting your iPhone or iPad, make sure you have a backup of the device. You can backup your data using iCloud, Finder , or iTunes . Or you can transfer data directly between your old device and a new one using Quick Start.
After that, youll need to disable Find My iPhone or Find My iPad. This officially signs the device out of Apples Find My network that keeps track of your devices location if it gets lost or stolen. To do so, open Settings and tap your Apple ID name. Then navigate to Find My > Find My and flip the switch beside Find My iPhone or Find My iPad to Off.
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Unpair Your Apple Watch
Again, this applies to those of you who plan on getting rid of their iPhone, so if youre just wiping data on it for any other reason, you might as well skip this step. If youre selling your iPhone, a good idea is to unpair your Apple Watch.
Note that if you own a GPS + Cellular Apple Watch, you may need to remove your cellular plan. If youre going to pair your Apple Watch with an iPhone, you should keep the plan, but if youre about to start using a non-Apple device, you should definitely remove the plan. Additionally, you may want to contact your carrier and ask them to cancel your cellular subscription, if needed.
If youre also planning to get rid of your Apple Watch, youll probably want to wipe your data from it, as well. Heres how you can safely erase all data from your Apple Watch without significant effort.
Erasing your Apple Watch:
Other Things You Can Do Manually After Erasing iPhone Or iPad
- Remove your SIM card. On some devices, contacts and call logs can be stored on your SIM card, so its really important that you remove it before selling your iPhone. Locate the SIM tray on the side of your iPhone and insert a paperclip or a SIM-eject tool into the hole beside the tray. Then remove your SIM card.
- Disable your iCloud account. Open the Settings app > iCloud > tap “Delete Account” to delete the account from the device.
- Log out of your Apple ID. Open the Settings app > iTunes & App Stores > tap Apple ID and sign out.
- Turn off Find My iPhone. Having Find My iPhone activated can sometimes block activation by a new owner, so you’ll need to turn if off before giving or selling your device. Go to Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone and slide it to off.
- Unlink your iPhone. Unregister your iPhone from Apples website so that its no longer linked to your Apple ID. Just go to Apple Support, log in with your Apple ID and click Edit Products on the top right. Click “unregister” and confirm to unlink your iPhone.
- Find some iPhone recycling websites. If you are planning to sell your old iPhone, you can go to some cellphone recycling websites like Apple Reuse and Recycling program, eBay, Gazelle,etc.
Peter has always had great enthusiasm for writing, programming and web development. He likes writing about software and technology, his works are featured on some tech blogs or forums like Tom’s Hardware, CNET, etc.
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