How to reset an iPhone, restart it or completely erase your data

These days, most mobile carriers offer generous upgrade plans, making it easy to get the latest iPhone without dropping tons of money. The official upgrade process at the majority of retailers includes a factory reset step, ensuring that all your data is erased and preventing any subsequent users from accessing your files.

However, if you want to sell your device on your own, you will need to know how to reset your iPhone and clean it. It’s also good to know how the process works before heading to AT&T or Verizon for an upgrade – that way you can be sure your personal data is securely deleted from your old phone. Fortunately, the process is similar on all modern iPhones, including the new iPhone 15. Here’s how to reset your iPhone and erase its drive before giving it away.

The difference between a soft reset, force restart and factory reset

Restarting your iPhone using the software option – a soft reset – will not result in any data loss. The same goes for a force restart, which lets you use hardware keys to restart your iPhone when the touchscreen becomes unresponsive or your apps start behaving strangely. A factory reset is a completely different beast. It returns your iPhone to its original state when it was taken out of the box: it erases all content, settings and personal information on the device.

We recommend factory resetting your iPhone only as a last resort if you encounter problems that you cannot resolve, but this should also be used when you sell or trade in your iPhone, give it to a friend, or if the the phone has been lost or stolen. This isn’t necessarily permanent, since you can use a backup to restore all of your phone’s data and settings. If you need to perform a factory reset, read our guide on how to factory reset an iPhone, which also includes a description of the reset options found in Settings > General > Reset.

how to Soft Reset Your iPhone 15 and Other Models

The easiest way to reset your iPhone is to turn it off. This method is often called a “soft reset” because, unlike a factory reset, you won’t lose any data or delete anything from your phone. Consider a soft reset when your phone is running slowly, if an app won’t launch or work properly, or if you’re having a minor problem but your iPhone is still responding. Apple has changed the way to perform a soft reset on the iPhones X, 11, 12, 13, and 14 series, where a soft reset requires you to hold two buttons. This process also applies to resetting your iPhone 15. All you do here is turn off your phone.

Step 1: Press and hold the Sleep/wake button and the Lower the volume button. On iPhone X and later models, you’ll find the sleep/wake button on the right side of the phone.

2nd step: Place your finger on the Slide to turn off cursor that appears, then swipe to the right.

Step 3: Once there is nothing on the screen and it turns black, press and hold Sleep/wake again until the Apple logo appears to turn it back on.

If you’re using an iPhone SE or iPhone 8 or earlier, you can turn off your iPhone simply by holding down the button Sleep/wake until the cursor appears.

Alternatively, provided you have iOS 11 or later installed, you can access Settings > General and scroll down, where you will find the Close button. When you press Closeyou will see the Slide to turn off slide. You can then proceed to step 2 above.

how to Force Restart Your iPhone

Another way to reset your iPhone 15 or earlier models is to perform what Apple officially calls a “force restart.” Again, no important data will be lost. A force restart is recommended when your iPhone is completely unresponsive. For example, your iPhone screen goes black (even though it’s on), the screen freezes, or your iPhone has a problem starting up. The exact way to perform a force restart depends on the iPhone model you have.

Force restart for iPhone 8 and later

The following steps will work for iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2nd generation and later), iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone 14 and iPhone 15.

Step 1: Quickly press and release the Turn up the sound button.

2nd step: Quickly press and release the Lower the volume button.

Step 3: Press and hold the Sleep/wake until the Apple logo appears.

Force restart for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

Press and hold the Sleep/wake And Lower the volume buttons until the Apple logo appears

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Force restart for iPhone 6S or earlier and iPhone SE (2016)

Press and hold the Sleep/wake And Home buttons together until the Apple logo appears.

What to do if a reboot doesn’t work

If your phone is unresponsive or crashes, you can try entering recovery mode, which should allow you to update or restore your phone. However, if you can’t get past the Apple logo or your phone just isn’t responding, there is another option.

While this may be your only option for saving your phone, this procedure will delete everything you previously had on your phone. Hope you followed our guide on how to backup your iPhone so that you can recover your data after erasing your iPhone. Here’s how to enter recovery mode.

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What to do if a restart doesn’t work for your iPhone 8 and later

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. If you’re using a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, open a Finder window.

2nd step: Quickly press and release the Turn up the sound button.

Step 3: Quickly press and release the Lower the volume button.

Step 4: Press and hold the Sleep/wake until the Recovery Mode screen appears.

Step 5: In iTunes or Finder on your computer, choose to update or restore your device to begin resetting your iPhone.

What to do if a restart doesn’t work for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. If you’re using a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, open a Finder window.

2nd step: Press and hold the Sleep/wake button and the Lower the volume at the same time until the recovery mode screen appears.

Step 3: In iTunes or Finder on your computer, choose to Update Or Restore your device to start resetting your iPhone.

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What to do if a restart doesn’t work for iPhone 6S or earlier and iPhone SE (2016)

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. If you’re using a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, open a Finder window.

2nd step: press the Sleep/wake + button Home simultaneously until the recovery mode screen appears.

Step 3: In iTunes or Finder on your computer, choose to Update Or Restore your device to start resetting your iPhone.

As you can see, there are different ways to restart your iPhone if you’re having problems or just want to restart it every once in a while. Although the process has changed depending on the model of iPhone you have, everything is still relatively simple. We’ve outlined the different methods for you here, but always try a soft reset or force restart first – the update/restore method is basically where everything else fails.

Editor’s note: This article was verified on February 19, 2024 and DT has confirmed that the steps and information included remain accurate.

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