Factory Reset iPhone 7/7 Plus: When/How to Do?

Your iPhone 7/7 plus is where technology meets ingenuity. With features ranging from dust and water resistant to high-performance processors, it can be difficult for you to imagine any technical failures that can warrant a factory reset on your iPhone 7.

However, if you wonder, “why do I need tofactory reset my iPhone 7?” here are some of the reasons:

• You see, like other gadgets, your iPhone 7 also ages. Aging can manifest as your iPhone 7 running slower than usual or in some extreme cases, hanging. It is mostly caused by an increase in files, usually unnecessary ones that accumulate with every app installation or upgrading of the operating system.
• Furthermore, viruses are becoming more relentless with every passing day, and your iPhone 7 can easily be a target. Their destructive nature can lead to loss of files or worse, extraction of personal information which can prompt you to factory reset your iPhone 7/7 plus.

Besides, there are many more situations involved. The segments below will give you more insight:

• Part 1. When and How to restore factory settings of iPhone 7/7 Plus
• Part 2. When and How to Unfreeze/restart/soft reset iPhone 7/7 Plus
• Part 3. When and How to hard reset iPhone 7/7 Plus

Part 1. When and How to Restore Factory Settings of iPhone 7/7 Plus

Factory reset of your iPhone 7/7 plus, manually can be cumbersome. Therefore this article provides a tool you can use to factory reset iPhone 7/7 plus in all possible situations.

Factory reset iPhone 7/7 Plus in all situations

Dr.Fone - Data Eraser

Best Tool to Factory Reset iPhone 7/7 Plus with PC

• You will be able to permanently erase your personal information and protect your identity from identity thieves.
• It enables you to get rid of all types of data on your IOS devices for good.
• You can selectively erase private data, such as contacts, texts, pictures and applications.
• It assists you in unclogging your device of useless files and hence improves system performance.
• It can manage massive data.

Available on: Windows Mac

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How to reset factory settings of iPhone 7 with Dr.Fone - Data Eraser

Step 1: Connect your iPhone 7 to the computer

First, ensure Dr.Fone - Data Eraser is running on your Mac and then connect using the Thunderbolt cable. When your device is recognized, it will display three options. Select Erase all data option. The right-hand window will give extra detail, on it click Start.

Step 2: Ensure the security of erased data

The level of protection determines the possibility of recovering data. A high-security level means your information is completely wiped out. Therefore, select the highest to be safe though it takes longer to erase data.

Now, confirm your operation as instructed, by entering ‘000000’ and click on Start now. You are currently doing a hard reset on your iPhone 7.

Step 3: Wait for the process to complete

In this step, stay put, and ensure your iPhone 7 is connected at all times.

A pop up will appear prompting you to reboot your iPhone 7. Click OK.

Your iPhone 7/7 plus should now look and feel brand new, possibly responding much faster than before.

Factory reset iPhone 7/7 Plus with iTunes

You can also useApple’s software, iTunes to perform a factory reset of your iPhone 7. With iTunes, you will be able to connect and manipulate your phone’s data on PC.

To use iTunes:

Step 1: First of all, make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your PC.

Step 2:Then, use your iPhone’s cable to connect to PC. Enter passcode when prompted or choose to ‘Trust this computer.’

Step 3: Select your iPhone 7 when it appears. It’ll show various details about it on the right-hand of the screen.

Step 4: Click Restore on the summary panel, then once thepop-up window appears, click Restore to confirm.

You can now set up your device again.

Factory reset iPhone 7/7 Plus without buttons

Factory resetting your iPhone 7 without buttons means using the user interface. You can do this when you have installed a third-party app, and you are afraid of a breach of privacy. With this method, you are essentially performing a hard reset.

Step 1: To start, go to the Settings menu and tap on the General tab.

Step 2: Then, scroll to the very bottom and tap Reset.

Step 3: On the Reset window therewill be two options. Select ‘Erase All Content and Settings.’

Step 4: Lastly, on the passcode prompt window, enter your passcode, and confirm you arefactory resetting your iPhone 7by clicking ‘Erase iPhone.’

Factory reset iPhone 7/7 Plus in recovery mode

You can use the recovery mode when you are doing a soft reset. It involves circumstances where you may have forgotten your passcode, your phone is disabled, or the phone’s touch screen is not functional.

Note: First put your iPhone in the recovery modeusing the steps below:

Step 1: Connect your iPhone 7 to your computer running iTunes.

Step 2: Simultaneously press and hold both Side button and Volume Down button.

Step 3: Hold them down as your phone restarts till the iTunes logo appears.

Your iPhone is now in recovery mode.

When in recovery mode, only iTunes can be used to do a reset.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone 7 (in recovery mode) to your computer running iTunes.

Step 2: A window will appear saying ‘there is a problem with the iPhone.’

Step 3: On the bottom right of the window, select Restore.

Step 4: Finally, when the process is complete, your iPhone 7 will restart.

Factory reset iPhone 7/7 Plus without passcode

You can reset your iPhone 7/7 plus without a passcode if it has been lost or forgotten. It means you have tried several times and your iPhone 7 is probably blocked.

Dr.Fone - Screen Unlock (iOS)

Factory reset iPhone 7/7 Plus when passcode is forgotten

• It has a short, simple process of erasing or unlocking iPhones.
• The software is safe as no data gets leaked.
• When used to delete data, no software can recover the lost data.
• It works well with a variety of models.
• It is also well compatible with emerging versions of iOS.

Available on: Windows Mac

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There are three ways of resetting your iPhone without passcode:

1. Via iTunes app.
2. Through the iPhone settings
3. Using Dr.Fone toolkit

We have explained the first two above.

Using Dr.Fone-unlock to do a hard reset

Step 1:First of all, launch Dr.Fone from your computer and select Screen Unlock from the menu.

Step 2:Now, connect your iPhone 7 to your computer.

Step 3: When connected, a window will show. Select Unlock iOS Screen.

Step 4: Proceed with the on-screen instructions that appear. It will guide you to activating the DFU mode.

Step 5: On the next screen, fill in your iPhone model and system version. Click on the Download button below.

Step 6: Click on Unlock Now to restore the iPhone.

You will have to confirm ‘Unlock’ because this step will wipe out your entire data.

There you go, since your phone has been unlocked, you can now use your phone as usual.

Part 2. When and How to Unfreeze/restart/soft reset iPhone 7/7 Plus

A soft reset of your iPhone 7means to reboot or restart it. It is useful when applications become unresponsive or when certain features of your iPhone stop working.

Please note, with a soft reset, no data is lost.

Here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Simultaneously press the Volume Up or Down button together with the Sleep/Wake button.

Step 2: Hold for not more than 5 seconds. A screen appears, and you slide it to turn the phone off.

Step 3: After a while press and hold the Sleep/Wake button to turn it on.

Part 3. When and How to hard reset iPhone 7/7 Plus

Make sure that you only do a hard reset when you either have a separate back up of your data, or you don’t mind losing it.

A hard reset is to be performed when:

• You want to sell your iPhone 7.
• To give it a brand-new feel and look.
• A virus has destroyed data.
• Someone has hacked your iPhone, and you don’t want them to get your personal information.

There are three ways of doing a hard reset:

1. From your iPhone using Settings (without buttons)
2. Using iTunes on a PC or Mac
3. Using third-party software like Dr.Fone.

From your iPhone settings app:

It is the same as performing a factory reset without buttons, as discussed previously. It is because you use the touch screen.

Doing a factory reset Using iTunes and Dr.Fone (for all situations) has also been detailed previously too.

To add on that, make sure you have the latest version of iTunes running on your PC or Mac.

Conclusion

We can now agree that you knowhow to reset iPhone 7 to factory settings using various means, including the two primary forms of factory reset- the hard and soft factory reset methods.Also, we have seen that there are precautions you can taketo avoid losing precious data on your iOS device. It is, therefore, important that all iPhone 7/7 plus users get this information to safeguard their data and also keep their iPhone in excellent condition. Thus,we recommend that you share this article widelyand allow everyone around you get educated onhow to reset iPhone 7.