How to reset your iPhone back to factory settings
So, you want a fresh start.
Maybe you're sick of the way your iPhone is set up, or you're sick of being confronted with the realities of the past four years every time you unlock your home screen. Perhaps you just want a change of pace.
There are plenty of reasons to want to reset your iPhone — including wanting to give your phone to someone else or get rid of it altogether without fearing someone will gain access to everything you've said or done on the device since you bought it.
In order to fully reset your iPhone to factory settings, you'll need your device's passcode to unlock it and the iCloud account password and information. Before you reset your phone, you might also want to back it up, just in case. That way, if you want to use another iPhone in the future, it'll be easier to transfer over all of your settings. Backing up your phone will also ensure access to your photos and data in the future, too.
It will take a few steps to reset your phone completely, but here's how you can do it:
Turn off Find My
Navigate to your main settings on your phone and click your name at the top. This will take you to a page with your Apple ID and iCloud information, along with information about your media and purchases. Scroll down and click Find My. At the top of the page, click Find My iPhone. Then, turn Find My iPhone and Find My network off.
Turn off iCloud
You're going to repeat a bit of what you did in the first step, here. You'll want to navigate to your main settings on your phone and click your name at the top. This will, once again, take you to a page with your Apple ID and iCloud information, along with information about your media and purchases. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page, which says Apple ID at the top, and click Sign Out. Now, you'll enter your Apple ID Password, and sign out.
Reset your iPhone
Now it's time to fully reset your iPhone. Go to the main settings page on your phone and scroll down to General. Scroll all the way to the bottom of this page, click Reset and then click Erase All Content and Settings. It will ask you to confirm this decision a few times, and once you've selected it, it will take a bit to fully reset. Then, you'll be navigated back to that famous welcome screen.