How to Reset iPhone and Restore iPhone with iTunes Backup

iTunes is one of the software that can enable users to access proprietary hardware of their apple iPhones since Apple has restricted access to its hardware. As a result, iTunes turns out to be the best solution for backing up information from photos to videos, system settings, and applications amongst others. Even so, iTunes can sometimes fail to lead to users having difficulties, and as such, they can’t restore iTunes backup to a new iPhone or after resetting their iPhone.

Quick Navigation

Part 1. How to Reset iPhone and Restore iPhone with iTunes Backup

Part 2. Can’t Restore iPhone from iTunes Backup? What happened?

Part 3. How to Restore iPhone from iTunes Backup without Erasing

Part 1. How to Reset iPhone and Restore iPhone with iTunes Backup

Whenever your iPhone is malfunctioning especially when it is a result of unidentified issues, resetting the iPhone is one of the best solutions as it remedies almost all problems. Also, in a case where you want to sell your iPhone, resetting it is important because this helps to protect your information such as financial information, personal photos, videos, etc from other people. Moreover, if you got a second-hand iPhone and want to back up the data of your previous iPhone, resetting is also necessary. Resetting your iPhone restores your phone to factory settings by completely wiping out all data on it.

How to Reset your iPhone

1. Go to settings and proceed to General.
2. Finally, proceed to Reset and select Erase All Content and Settings.

If you have set a passcode, you will need to input it. After typing it, you will receive a warning box with the option to Erase iPhone in red. Then, you will be required to enter your Apple ID password in order to confirm the action.

After doing this, the device will be wiped and will return to the initial setup screen that you see when you use the device for the first time.

How to Restore iPhone with iTunes backup

Restoring your iPhone from iTunes backup after setting up as a new phone is different from performing a reset because with iTunes, you can use a backup to restore your iPhone to a state you require (ideally when it didn’t malfunction) unlike with a reset which only wipes everything.

To restore iPhone with iTunes backup,

1. Connect your device to your computer using a USB cable.
2. Go to the iTunes app on your PC and click on the Device button near the top left of the iTunes app window.
3. Click on Summary.
4. Click on Restore then follow the onscreen instructions.

This is the Apple official way of resetting and restoring the iPhone with iTunes backup.

Part 2. Can’t Restore iPhone from iTunes Backup? What happened?

After trying to restore your iPhone with the process above, you may encounter an error message such as "This iPhone cannot be restored". As a result, you can’t restore iPhone from iTunes backup to a new phone. Do not be afraid as this problem is a common problem involving iTunes backup. There are so many reasons that can cause this problem which can be hardware or software problems but they are solvable as will be seen below;

1. Updating iTunes on your PC

Sometimes, you can't restore a new iPhone from iTunes just because of the fact that iTunes is not up-to-date on your Mac or Windows. Well, this is an easy problem to solve.

To check iTunes update status on Windows,

1. Open iTunes.
2. Click the Help button from the windows menu bar.
3. From the drop-down menu, click on Check For Updates.

To check iTunes update status on Mac,

1. Open iTunes.
2. At the top of the screen on the left-hand side of the apple toolbar, click the iTunes button.
3. From the drop-down menu, click on Check For Updates.

After following this, iTunes will either self-update or inform you it is up to date.

2. Use a Different USB cable

Sometimes, a faulty USB cable can prevent you from restoring your iPhone from iTunes backup. So a quick fix is to get another USB cable or borrow one from a friend or family. Furthermore, using other cables that are not accepted by Apple to be compliant with its standard (that is MFi (Made for iPhone) certified) can distort the restoring process too. So getting one may help fix the issue.

3. Changing USB Port

A port that works for other devices may fail when used with your particular iPhone. Also, when an iPhone doesn’t have an adequate supply of power from the computer to charge the device during the entire process, it may cause the restoration to fail hence a change in port or even a change in a computer user may be necessary before continuing the process.

4. Reboot your Computer

In case you have an iTunes that is already up-to-date, then rebooting your computer may be the fix to the issue because maybe the process is hindered from functioning as a result of malfunctioning of the iTunes app in particular or the entire computer as a whole.

If you have tried all the above methods and still not succeeded in solving the problem of restoring data, then your iPhone may need to visit a repairer as a couple of hardware problems may stop the process of restoring the iPhone from iTunes backup.

5. Perform a Hard Reset

A hard reset is a last resort process but sometimes it is the last-minute solution after every other solution was not successful. To perform this, connect your iPhone to your computer with the use of a cable.

Hard resetting is different for the different models of iPhone as shown below

1. For iPhone 6s, SE, and older models

Press and hold the sleep/wake button and the home button at the same time until you see the Apple logo appear.

2. For iPhone 7 and 7+

Press and hold the sleep/wake button and volume down button simultaneously. As the apple logo is seen, release both buttons.

3. For iPhone 8 and more recent models

Press and release the volume up button, then quickly press and release the volume down button and finally press and hold the side button. Release the side button as soon as the Apple logo appears.

Part 3. How to Restore iPhone from iTunes Backup without Erasing

When you try to restore the iPhone from iTunes backup using the apple official way, all information will be erased because the restoring process starts by erasing information first. However, there is a way of restoring the iPhone from iTunes backup without erasing of information. This is made possible with the use of the app know as iBeesoft iPhone Data Recovery. This is full software that has integrated various possible ways to recover data from iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app can recover data from iTunes Backups and iCloud backups. It can help you recover data lost in various scenarios and supports over 20 file types on iOS devices.

To recover files from iTunes backup files using iBeesoft iPhone Data recovery for Mac or Windows.