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How to reset your old iPhone after you get your new one!

6:56 video

You just got a brand-new iPhone and need to decide what to do with the old one: give it to a friend or family member, trade it in, or sell it. First, you need to reset it. Here’s the full reset process to follow after migrating to your new iPhone.

Wait a few days

After you finish migrating, the new iPhone offers to erase the old one. You can hit Continue to go through the reset now, or Not Now to do it later. If you just migrated, I think you should skip it for now, because you may still need things from the old iPhone that didn’t fully transfer. Some apps don’t move everything you’d expect, like many two-factor or multi-factor authentication apps. You may need to set up MFA on the new iPhone before erasing the old one, because you may have to authenticate using the old device. I’ve been there, and it was a pain, because I’d already erased my device. Even if you can’t think of a reason right now, give it a few days if you can. The last thing you want is to need something off your old iPhone after you’ve erased it.

If you’re sure, reset right from the setup prompt

  1. Hit Continue, then enter the old iPhone’s passcode and your Apple Account password, and tap Turn Off at the top.
  2. The screen may seem to stall for several seconds, even a minute or two. It is working in the background.
  3. It asks about your eSIMs: keep them and erase the data, or delete the eSIM and erase the data. If you’re resetting to reuse the iPhone yourself with a fresh OS, you can keep the eSIMs. For most people, since you’re giving the phone away or trading it in, choose Delete eSIMs and Erase Data.
  4. The reset takes a few minutes. When it’s done, the iPhone is ready to be set up as new, and you can shut it down to sell it or give it away. If you like, keep it as a backup device.

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The purpose of a reset is to securely remove your personal information so nobody else can access it. The iPhone does a good job of throwing away the encryption keys and starting fresh for the next person.

Resetting later, from Settings

If it’s been a while since you migrated:

  1. Go to Settings. If you migrated recently, you might see an option at the top to reset your old iPhone.
  2. Otherwise go to General → Transfer or Reset iPhone at the bottom.
  3. Choose Erase All Content and Settings. (Reset only resets some settings, which isn’t what you want.) It lists what will be removed: your apps, Apple Account, Find My information and Apple Wallet information.
  4. Continue, enter your passcode, and let the iCloud backup complete. I recommend that, in case you later need something from this iPhone or want to restore it to another device. You can also skip.
  5. Enter your Apple Account password, tap Turn Off, confirm, and tap Erase.

That’s everything you need to do to hand your old iPhone down or sell it.

Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. See my ethics statement.

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