A factory reset erases almost everything on your iPhone, but not quite everything

When you perform a factory reset on an iPhone — technically called an Erase All Content and Settings — the phone wipes your photos, messages, apps, contacts, and settings. It removes your email accounts, browsing history, saved passwords, and any files you stored locally. The operating system itself stays, but your personal data does not.

What does not get deleted: your Apple ID account remains tied to the phone, your carrier account stays active, and any data you backed up to iCloud or another cloud service remains there. If you had Find My iPhone turned on, that service persists until you sign out of your Apple ID. The phone's serial number and hardware identifiers do not change.

The reset takes 5 to 15 minutes depending on how much data was on the phone. Once it completes, the iPhone looks and behaves like a brand-new device fresh from the factory — you see the setup screen and have to choose your language and country again.

Key Takeaways

  • A factory reset deletes all your photos, messages, apps, contacts, email accounts, and settings stored on the phone itself.
  • Data backed up to iCloud or other cloud services remains in those accounts and is not touched by the reset.
  • Your Apple ID stays linked to the phone, so you will need to sign in again during setup or remove the account before selling it.
  • A factory reset does not remove the phone's activation lock if Find My iPhone was enabled, which protects against theft but requires your Apple ID password to reactivate.
  • If you want to erase everything including cloud backups, you must delete those separately from iCloud.com or your cloud provider.

What gets deleted during a factory reset

The reset removes all data stored directly on your iPhone's storage. This includes every photo and video in your Camera Roll, all text messages and iMessage conversations, every app you downloaded, and all your contacts. Calendar events, reminders, notes, voice memos, and any documents you saved to the phone's local storage all disappear.

Your email accounts are removed from the Mail app, which means the phone forgets those account passwords and settings. Safari browsing history, bookmarks, and saved passwords vanish. Any custom ringtones, wallpapers, or home screen layouts you created are gone. Accessibility settings, notification preferences, and display settings all reset to factory defaults.

Health data stored on the phone, including step counts and workout history, is deleted unless you had it synced to iCloud. The same applies to Wallet passes, stored credit cards, and Apple Pay setup. Any files in the Files app that were stored locally on the device are removed.

What does not get deleted

Your iCloud backup persists after a factory reset. If you backed up your photos to iCloud Photos, those photos remain in your iCloud account. Messages backed up to iCloud stay there. Any documents you saved to iCloud Drive, notes synced to iCloud, or contacts stored in iCloud remain untouched. The reset only affects data on the phone itself, not data in your cloud accounts.

Your Apple ID account stays connected to the phone. This is a security feature called Activation Lock. Even after the reset, the phone remembers your Apple ID and will ask for your password during setup. If you plan to sell or give away the phone, you must sign out of your Apple ID before the reset, or the new owner will not be able to use it without your password.

Your phone number and carrier account information remain active. The reset does not cancel your cellular service or remove your number from your carrier's system. Your phone's hardware identifiers — the IMEI number and serial number — do not change.

How to back up before resetting

Before you reset, decide what you want to keep. If you want to preserve your photos, messages, and app data, create an iCloud backup. Open Settings, tap your name at the top, select iCloud, then tap iCloud Backup. Turn on iCloud Backup and tap Back Up Now. The backup includes photos, messages, contacts, calendars, reminders, notes, Safari bookmarks, and app data — but not apps themselves, which you will need to download again.

If you do not have enough iCloud storage (you get 5 GB free), you can buy more storage through Settings, or you can use a computer instead. Connect your iPhone to a Mac or Windows PC, open Finder or iTunes, select your phone, and click Back Up Now. A computer backup stores everything on your device, including apps, so restoring from a computer backup is faster than restoring from iCloud.

After you reset the phone and set it up again, you can restore from your backup. During setup, you will see the option to restore from iCloud backup or from a computer backup. Choose the backup you created, and your photos, messages, contacts, and app data will return to the phone.

Removing your Apple ID before selling or giving away your phone

If you are selling or giving your iPhone to someone else, sign out of your Apple ID before you reset it. Open Settings, tap your name at the top, scroll down, and tap Sign Out. You will be asked for your Apple ID password. Enter it, then choose whether to keep or remove a copy of your iCloud data on the phone. Select Remove to ensure no personal data stays on the device.

After you sign out, you can perform the factory reset. The new owner will be able to set up the phone with their own Apple ID without needing your password. If you forget to sign out and reset anyway, the phone will be locked to your Apple ID, and the new owner will not be able to use it. They would need to contact Apple with proof of purchase to remove the lock.

What happens if you reset a phone with Find My iPhone enabled

If Find My iPhone was turned on when you reset, the phone remains locked to your Apple ID even after the reset completes. This is Activation Lock, and it is designed to prevent theft. The new owner or user will see a screen asking for your Apple ID and password before they can set up the phone.

To avoid this, sign out of your Apple ID before resetting, as described above. If you have already reset the phone and it is now locked, you can remove the lock by going to iCloud.com, signing in with your Apple ID, opening Find My, selecting the phone, and choosing Remove. You will need access to the email address associated with your Apple ID.

Erasing iCloud data separately from the phone

A factory reset only erases data on the phone. If you want to delete your iCloud backup, photos, and other cloud data as well, you must do that separately. Go to iCloud.com, sign in with your Apple ID, and navigate to Account Settings. Under Advanced, you will find options to delete your account or manage your data.

To delete just your iCloud backup without deleting your entire account, go to Settings on any iPhone or iPad, tap your name, select iCloud, then tap Manage Storage. Select your phone's backup and tap Delete Backup. To delete iCloud Photos, open iCloud.com, go to Photos, select all photos, and delete them. Deleted photos go to the Recently Deleted folder and stay there for 30 days before permanent removal.

If you want to delete your entire iCloud account and all associated data, go to iCloud.com, sign in, open Account Settings, scroll to Advanced, and select Delete Account. This is permanent and cannot be undone, so make sure you have downloaded or backed up anything you want to keep first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will a factory reset remove viruses or malware from my iPhone?

A factory reset removes any malicious apps or files that were installed on your phone. However, if malware was able to compromise your Apple ID or iCloud account, resetting the phone alone will not fix that. Change your Apple ID password after the reset and review your iCloud security settings to make sure no unauthorized devices are signed in.

Can I recover data after I have already reset my iPhone?

If you have an iCloud backup or a computer backup from before the reset, you can restore from it during setup. If you do not have a backup, data recovery is extremely difficult because the reset overwrites the storage. Some third-party recovery services claim to recover data, but success is not may provide and costs are high.

Does a factory reset remove the SIM card information?

A factory reset does not affect your SIM card or your carrier account. Your phone number and cellular service remain active. If you want to switch carriers or remove your number, you need to contact your carrier separately.

What if I reset my iPhone but forgot to back up first?

If you had iCloud Backup turned on before the reset, your data is still in iCloud and you can restore it during setup. If you did not have iCloud Backup enabled and did not create a computer backup, your local data is lost. You can still sign back into your Apple ID to recover any data that was synced to iCloud, such as contacts or calendars.

Do I need to remove my SIM card before resetting?

No, you do not need to remove your SIM card. A factory reset does not affect the SIM card or your carrier account. You can leave the SIM card in the phone throughout the reset process.