How to Erase an iPhone Before You Sell or Reset It

To erase an iPhone, open Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings, then follow the prompts. This is also how you factory reset an iPhone. Back up first, because erasing removes your data from the phone, and if you are selling or giving the phone away, finish a few steps before you erase.

Below is the checklist in order, the erase steps, what the erase does and does not remove, and what to do when the iPhone is lost and you need to erase it remotely. Each iOS detail is linked to the Apple Support page it comes from.

Before you erase: the checklist

Apple’s guide to selling, giving away or trading in an iPhone lists the steps in this order. If you are only resetting the phone to fix a problem and keeping it, the first step still applies.

1. Back up the iPhone. Apple says a backup lets you copy and save the information on your iPhone, and that you can use it to set up your next one. If you are moving to a new iPhone, the guide to transferring to a new iPhone covers the options.
2. Unpair your Apple Watch. If an Apple Watch is paired with the iPhone, Apple says to unpair it first.
3. Sign out of your Apple Account and turn off Find My. Open Settings, tap your name, scroll down and tap Sign Out. On iOS 26 or later, Apple’s page says to choose Erase this iPhone or Sign Out But Don’t Erase when asked. On iOS 18 or earlier you enter your Apple Account password and tap Turn Off. The guide to turning off Find My on iPhone goes through that step on its own.
4. Decide about the eSIM. If the iPhone uses an eSIM and you are selling or giving it away, Apple says to choose the option that erases the device and the eSIM profile when asked. Contact your carrier if you are unsure how your plan is handled.

Do not skip the second and third steps if the phone is leaving your hands. An Apple Watch left paired and an Apple Account left signed in are the usual reasons a buyer gets a phone they cannot set up.

How to erase an iPhone

Apple’s erase instructions go like this:

1. Open Settings, tap General, then tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
2. Tap Erase All Content and Settings, then tap Continue.
3. If asked, choose whether to keep or delete your eSIM. Apple warns that if you erase the eSIM, you need to contact your carrier to reactivate your cellular plan.
4. At the alert that asks if you are sure you want to erase all data, choose Keep eSIM and Erase Data or Delete eSIM and Erase Data.
5. Enter your passcode, then your Apple Account password if asked.
6. Wait for the iPhone to reset. When it finishes, the Hello screen appears.

Apple’s page on selling or trading in a phone also says that if the passcode prompt appears, you enter it and then tap Erase. The wording on your screen can differ slightly between iOS versions, but the path through Settings is the same.

We did not find an Apple Support page that describes erasing an iPhone from a Mac or a PC as a normal route, so this guide leaves that out. If your iPhone will not start or you cannot reach its Settings, Apple Support is the place to ask.

What erasing removes

According to Apple, when you erase your iPhone, Find My and Activation Lock turn off. Apple also says your content is not deleted from iCloud when you erase the device. That second point matters in both directions.

• On the phone: your apps, their data, your settings and the content stored on the device are removed. Treat everything that exists only on the iPhone as gone.
• In iCloud: anything you keep in iCloud, such as iCloud Photos, stays there. Erasing the phone does not delete it, and signing the phone out of your Apple Account does not either.
• Your Apple Account: the account is not deleted. The phone just stops being tied to it.

The part people get caught on is the first bullet. If a file lives only inside an app on the phone, and the app has no copy anywhere else, erasing removes it.

Check where your private files live

Apps that keep data in their own storage, including photo and video vault apps, store those files on the device, not in your Photos library. When you erase the iPhone, that storage is erased with everything else. Photos you hid in the built-in Hidden album follow the rules of Photos and iCloud, but files inside a separate vault app do not.

So before you erase:

• Open each app that holds files you care about and find out what it backs up and where.
• Confirm the backup exists and is recent, in a place that survives the erase, such as your own iCloud.
• If the app offers a way to test the backup, use it before you wipe the phone, not after.
• Export what you cannot afford to lose to somewhere you control.

A backup you have never restored is a guess. The guide to moving a photo vault to a new iPhone shows how to carry a vault across, and the vault recovery guide covers what happens if the keys are gone.

Erase a lost iPhone remotely with Find My

If your iPhone is lost or stolen, you can erase it from another device. Apple’s Find My page gives the requirements and steps.

Requirements

• Find My had to be on before the phone went missing. If it was not, the iPhone will not show up.
• Your Apple Account needs two-factor authentication to erase a device remotely in the Find My app. Without it, Apple says to use iCloud.com or turn on two-factor authentication first.

In the Find My app on another Apple device

1. Open Find My and choose Devices.
2. Select the lost iPhone, tap the more button, scroll down and choose Erase This Device.
3. Complete the onscreen steps.

On iCloud.com

1. Sign in at icloud.com/find.
2. Choose your lost iPhone.
3. Select Erase iPhone, then tap Erase to confirm.

What to know first

• Apple says erasing a device can’t be undone and recommends you try everything else first. If you might still recover the phone, locate it or mark it as lost before you erase.
• If the iPhone is offline, Apple’s iCloud page says the erase starts the next time it is online, and you can cancel the request if you find the phone before then.
• On iOS 15 or later, Find My can still locate a device after it is erased.
• If the device was lost or stolen, Apple says not to remove it from Find My after erasing it, because removing it turns off Activation Lock.

Frequently asked questions

Does erasing an iPhone delete everything?

It removes the content and settings stored on the iPhone. Apple says your content is not deleted from iCloud when you erase the device, so photos and files in iCloud stay there until you delete them.

How do I factory reset an iPhone?

Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. That is the factory reset on current iOS versions. Back up first, since the phone returns to its Hello setup screen with nothing on it.

What should I do before I reset my iPhone to sell it?

Back it up, unpair any Apple Watch, sign out of your Apple Account and turn off Find My, handle the eSIM as Apple describes, then erase the phone. Apple lists these steps on its page about selling, giving away or trading in an iPhone.

Will erasing my iPhone remove my photo vault app’s files?

Yes, files stored inside an app on the phone are erased with everything else. Confirm the vault’s backup exists, and restore it on a test device or after the reset to make sure it works, before you wipe the original.

Can I undo an erase?

No. Apple says erasing a device can’t be undone. You can restore from a backup afterward, but only if you made one.

Can I erase a lost iPhone that is offline?

Yes. Apple says an offline device starts the erase the next time it connects, and you can cancel the request if you find the phone first.

Where Forevault fits

Forevault keeps your files in its own encrypted storage, so an erase takes them with the rest of the phone, and the backup is what protects you. Files are encrypted on the device with AES-256-GCM. The app opens with a pattern on a 5×5 grid or a passcode or password, with Face ID as an option. You can keep separate vaults for different patterns, and the lock screen does not list them. You get a 12-word recovery phrase and an encrypted backup to your own iCloud, with Test a restore so you can check the backup works before you erase anything. Export to Photos or Files is always free. There is no account and no data collected. The free tier holds 100 photos, 10 videos and 3 vaults. It protects against someone holding your phone, not forensic analysis. Questions go to the support page. Download Forevault on the App Store.