Completely deleting the data from an iPhone is the best way to empty the phone of all our information and personal data. Thus, if we are going to sell, give away or transfer the device, we will make sure that none of our information will remain, which can be accessed by other people. and in this post We are going to teach you the different ways that there are in order to do it safely.
Erase the iPhone from the device itself
The first method that we can use to format the phone’s memory is through the settings. If we go to Settings> General> Transfer or reset the iPhone, we will see two options at the bottom of the screen. The first one is Reset. If we click on it, we will see a drop-down menu with these options:
- Hola: All the parameters that we have configured are deleted.
- Reset network settings: Only the information related to the Internet networks and passwords that we have configured will be eliminated.
- Reset keyboard dictionary: Only the content of the predictive keyboard is deleted (if we use it).
- Reset home screen: The app icon layout returns to its original state. The folders that we have created, the widgets that we have placed and the distributions that we have carried out are deleted.
- Reset location and privacy: Everything related to access (by applications) to location services, or the information on the iPhone that they can access, will be deleted.
These options allow you to reset certain phone parameters. However, everything related to our data, such as the Apple ID or the Find my iPhone function, or the applications, photos and videos, will not be touched. To do this, in the tab that we have said before, You have to go to the option Erase content and settings. If we click on it, we are told that the following will be eliminated:
- All apps and their related data
- Apple ID
- Find my iPhone service
- Information saved in Wallet and Apple Pay
As additional information, if we delete everything related to our information, then we will be asked to carry out an initial configuration of the iPhone. Therefore, the settings (of any kind) that we have previously configured will not be saved either. In this way, everything that we had stored will disappear from the device (but not what we have saved in our iCloud storage).
Erase all content from a PC or Mac
If we want to carry out this process with the iPhone connected to a computer, we can also do it. In the case of a Windows PC, we must use the iTunes program to find the Restore option, once we have connected it with the USB cable.
And if we do it from a Mac, we will have to look for that same Restore option, but from the Finder menu. When we connect an iPhone, it will appear in the sidebar as a removable device. If we consult what we can do with it, we will see the Restore option, which will leave the device (both on PC and Mac) as if it were new from the factory. It is very important that, if we do this process, we do not have to disconnect the phone from the computer. We can only end the connection when the process has finished.
