How to do a hard reset on my iphone

If your iPhone is frozen, unresponsive, stuck in a booting loop or became sluggish, you can try resetting your iPhone to its factory settings (known as hard-reset) — the way it was when you took it out of the box. In this tutorial we'll show you 3 ways to reset an iPhone. The procedure requires no third-party tools or specialist knowledge.

Note: Bear in mind this will wipe everything on your iPhone. Make sure you back up your photos, videos and other important content, take out the SIM card before performing a factory reset.

Method 1: Hard reset directly from the iPhone

  1. Tap the Settings icon on your Home screen.
  2. Go to General and then scroll to the bottom of the screen.
  3. Tap on Reset -> Reset All Content and Settings.
  4. You'll get a warning box appear, with the option to Erase iPhone in red. Tap it.

    How to do a hard reset on my iphone

  5. You'll need to enter your Apple ID password to confirm the action, then the iPhone will wipe everything off its storage and go back to the initial setup screen you saw when you first used the device.

This is the easiest way to reset an iPhone but it requires you remember the Passcode. If you forgot your iPhone Passcode and couldn't bypass the lock screen, then perform a hard reset with the following methods.

Method 2: Hard reset an iPhone with Home + Power buttons

  1. Hold the sleep/wake button ( It is located on the right side of iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus. On iPhone 5 or lower models it's located on the top of the phone.) and the Home button at the same time.

    How to do a hard reset on my iphone

  2. Hold them both until you see the screen go black. In some cases, you may need to keep holding them even after the red power-off slider appears. If it appears, just keep holding it.
  3. Wait until the silver Apple logo appears.
  4. When this happens, you can let go - the iPhone is rebooting.

Now your device can boot up normally. The device has been restored with factory settings but the exciting thing is, you will find all your data intact and unaltered.

Method 3: Hard reset an iPhone from recovery mode

  1. Connect your iPhone to your computer with a USB cable and start the iTune.
  2. Before entering the recovery mode, you need to turn off your device completely. Press and hold the Power button and slide to turn it off. If the device isn't responding, press and hold the Power and Home buttons at the same time for a few seconds to turn it off.
  3. Press and hold the Home button until the "Connect to iTunes" screen appears — you'll see a connector pointing at an iTunes icon. You can now release the button.
  4. At this point, you'll also see a message telling you iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode and needs to restore. Now you can click the Restore button in iTunes and then wait for iOS to download and install on your iPhone.

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

After many years spent with the iPhone, we have discovered countless tips and tricks to get the most out of it, but it’s always good to get a refresher for some important basics. Something all iPhone users need to know is how to reset the phone. The steps used to be exactly the same on every device, but things have changed a little with the release of newer models in recent years.

Contents

  • The difference between a soft reset, a force restart, and a factory reset
  • How to soft reset your iPhone
  • How to force restart your iPhone
  • Force restart for iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone 11, iPhone SE (2nd generation and later), iPhone 12, and iPhone 13
  • Force restart for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
  • Force restart for iPhone 6S or earlier and iPhone SE (2016)
  • What to do if a restart doesn’t work
  • What to do if a restart doesn’t work for iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone 11, iPhone SE (2nd-generation and later), iPhone 12, and iPhone 13
  • What to do if a restart doesn’t work for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
  • What to do if a restart doesn’t work for iPhone 6S or earlier and iPhone SE (2016)

If you upgraded from an older iPhone model to one of the latest iPhone 13 models but have never needed to reset it, you may be at a loss as to how to begin the process.

We explain how to reset your iPhone, when you should restart it, and how to force a restart when your phone is not responding. We also lay out the differences between a restart, a soft reset, and a factory reset.

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

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

Restarting your iPhone using the software option — a soft reset — will not result in the loss of any data. The same is true of a force restart, which allows you to use the hardware keys to restart your iPhone when the touchscreen isn’t responsive or your apps start acting weird. A factory reset is a completely different beast. It reverts your iPhone to its original state when it first came out of the box: It wipes all content, settings, and personal information from the device.

We recommend factory resetting your iPhone only as a last resort if you’re having issues that you can’t solve, but it should also be used when you’re selling or trading in your iPhone, giving it to a friend, or if the phone has been lost or stolen. It’s not necessarily permanent, since you can use a backup to restore all 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 breakdown of the reset options found in Settings > General > Reset.

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

The easiest way to soft reset your iPhone is by turning it off. This method is often called a “soft reset” because, unlike a factory reset, you will not lose any data, and it will not 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 are experiencing a minor problem but your iPhone is still responsive. Apple changed how to perform a soft reset on the X, 11, 12, and 13 series iPhones, where a soft reset requires you to hold down two buttons. All you’re doing here is turning your phone off.

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

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

Step 2: Rest your finger on the Slide to power off slider that appears, then swipe to the right.

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

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

Alternatively, provided you have iOS 11 or later installed, you can go to Settings > General and scroll to the bottom, where you’ll find the Shut down button. When you tap Shut down, you will see the Slide to power off slider. You can then proceed to step 2 above.

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

How to force restart your iPhone

Another way to reset your iPhone is to do what Apple officially calls a “force restart.” Once again, no important data will be lost. A force restart is recommended when your iPhone is completely unresponsive. For example, your iPhone screen turns black (despite it being powered on), the screen freezes, or your iPhone encounters an issue during startup. The exact way to perform a force restart depends on which iPhone model you own.

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

Force restart for iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone 11, iPhone SE (2nd generation and later), iPhone 12, and iPhone 13

Step 1: Press and quickly release the Volume up button.

Step 2: Press and quickly release the Volume down button.

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

Step 3: Press and hold the Sleep/wake button until you see the Apple logo.

How to do a hard reset on my iphone
How to do a hard reset on my iphone

Force restart for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

Press and hold the Sleep/wake and Volume down buttons until the Apple logo appears

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

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.

How to do a hard reset on my iphone
Apple

What to do if a restart doesn’t work

If your phone is unresponsive or failing, you can try entering recovery mode, which should let you update or restore your phone. However, if you can’t get past the Apple logo or if your phone just won’t respond, there is another option.

While this may be your only option to save your phone, this procedure will delete everything you previously had on your phone. Hopefully, you followed our guide on how to back up your iPhone so you can recover your data after you erase your iPhone. Here’s how to enter recovery mode.

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

What to do if a restart doesn’t work for iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone 11, iPhone SE (2nd-generation and later), iPhone 12, and iPhone 13

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

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

Step 2: Press and quickly release the Volume up button.

Step 3: Press and quickly release the Volume down button.

Step 4: Press and hold the Sleep/wake button until you see the recovery mode screen appear.

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

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

How to do a hard reset on my iphone
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

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 on a Mac with MacOS Catalina or later, open a Finder window.

Step 2: Press and hold down the Sleep/wake button and the Volume down button at the same time until you see the recovery mode screen appear.

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

How to do a hard reset on my iphone

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 on a Mac with MacOS Catalina or later, open a Finder window.

Step 2: Press the Sleep/wake button and Home button simultaneously until you see the recovery mode screen appear.

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

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What does it mean to do a hard reset on iPhone?

Hard resetting means removing everything that is on your iPhone. Performing a hard reset wipes out all the data from your device. On the flip side, soft reset pertains to simply turning off your phone and restarting it.

How do I force my iPhone to factory reset with buttons?

Quickly press and release the Volume Up button. Quickly press and release the Volume Down button. Press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears, then release the Side button.

Is Hard Reset good for iPhone?

It terminates all running apps without allowing them to “clean up” any process in progress, so it can cause data loss in apps that are running (just like it can on a computer). But it won't cause any damage to hardware or iOS. The better way to restart (unless the phone is frozen) is to shut down, then start.