How To Erase Personal Data From Iphone

Whether you're giving away your old iPhone to a family member or selling it to someone else, one of the first things you should do is to completely wipe all the data and personal settings. Why? Because nearly everything on that phone is personal to you: contacts, messages, photos and other content, as well as login information and other account details. This post can help you in speeding up your iPhone by erasing files you don't need anymore.

Method 1: Erase All Content and Settings via iPhone (Not Safe)

It's commonly known for every cellphone user that you can find a factory reset option on your iPhone. For users who want to reset their iPhone to factory reset without iTunes or a third-party tool, the best choice is to use the "Erase All Content and Settings" feature from Settings.

Unlock your iPhone, open Settings. Navigate to General > Reset, scroll down and tap on Erase All Content and Settings.
A pop-up window will appear to confirm your decision. You'll have to enter your Apple ID password. Now you are able to set up your iPhone as a new iPhone. All contents and settings are removed from your iPhone.

erase all contents and settings on iphone

Method 2: Permanently Delete All Files/Logs on iPhone without Total Reset

Some users just need to erase all data on their iPhones instead of resetting. They want to free up their phone space by deleting all media files, junk files, logs. However, deleting all files on iPhone manually could not be practical and it's time-consuming.

That's why you need help from a iOS data eraser app - PanFone iOS Eraser, which supports to instantly delete all these crash logs, temp files, etc. to free up more space on your iOS device. It also supports to erase messages, contacts, call history, photos & video, browsing data, and more with 0% recovery.

PanFone iOS Data Eraser

PanFone iOS Data Eraser helps you completely erase all iOS data to protect your privacy.

1-click to erase all data on iOS device completely with nothing recoverable.
Selectively erase deleted files and private data with 0% recovery: messages, contacts, photos & video, etc.
100% Wipe 10+ social apps data: WhatsApp, LINE, WeChat, Instagram, Kik, etc.
Clear junk files and speed up your iOS device.

Mode 1. Free up useless files on iPhone

Step 1:Download and install PanFone iOS Eraser to your computer. Run the program and connect your iPhone with PC.

connect ios device

Step 2: Select "Free Up Space" mode from the main interface. Click on Quick Scan to scan junk files, temporary files, photos, apps and more on your iPhone.

main interface

It will take a while to scan your iPhone. Once it's done, a result list will show you the files you are able to clean for more space. Tap Clean behind the type of files to free up space.

scanning iOS device result

Mode 2. Erase all data on iPhone

Step 1: Launch PanFone iOS Data Eraser and get your iPhone connected to your computer. And remember to turn off Find My iPhone first if you want to permanently wipe your iPhone data.

connect ios device

Step 2: Select "Erase All Data" mode from the primary interface. Click on Erase and choose the "Security Level": low level, medium level and high level.

Low level: A quick erasure to your phone which will destroy your files completely and make sure the files are unrecoverable.

Medium level (recommend): It will totally overwrite your private data, ensuring the erased files are 100% unrecoverable.

High level: It's highly recommended if you've saved any private files (e.g. bank records, passwords, financial data, etc.) on your device.

erase all data on iPhone

Step 3: After you choose the security level, you can enter "erase" then tap on Erase now to launch the process. Make sure you don't need those files anymore. The erasure is unrecoverable. Otherwise, you'd better make a full backup of your iPhone in case you want to restore them one day.

start the erasure process

Note: The file deleted by PanFone will not be recovered anymore. You can check your storage to see how much space your apps use and delete the ones you don't need.

Method 3: Reset iPhone to Factory Settings with iTunes

One of the most used way to restore iPhone to factory reset is iTunes restore. You can reset your iPhone as a new iPhone using iTunes restore easily.

Start iTunes on your computer and connect your iPhone to the computer via USB cable.
Select your iPhone in iTunes and in the Summary panel, click Restore.
Click Restore again to confirm. Then iTunes erases your device and installs the latest iOS on your iPhone. It's more like a way to update your iOS device.

reset iPhone with itunes

Method 4: Wipe Your iPhone Remotely via iCloud

Similarly, you can erase your iPhone data using iCloud on computer, which could also be simple. But some private data may be recoverable. It's not safe if you want to give your phone away.

Before start, you have to make sure 2 things: make sure you have enabled Find My iPhone feature; make sure you can access the device if two factor authentication is enabled.
On your computer or another mobile device that has an internet connection, go to icloud.com and log in with Apple ID & password.
Under All Devices and select the device you want to reset.
Click on Erase iPhone to proceed.

delete iphone data on iCloud

That's all about how to reset iPhone 7/8/X/XS/XS Max/11/12. Using method 1,3,4, you need to restore your iPhone to the factory reset. Only with method 2, you can clear all files on your iPhone without a factory reset, besides, the deleted files are unrecoverable. Choose a way according to your situation and get your problem solved perfectly.