• Home
  • Article
  • lifehacker lifehacker LifeHacker LifeHacker How to restore or reset your iPhone without iTunes

lifehacker lifehacker LifeHacker LifeHacker How to restore or reset your iPhone without iTunes

When Apple first released the iPhone, the best way to reset or restore the iPhone was to connect it to a computer with iTunes installed.

However, Apple ended iTunes for Mac in 2019 and started offering the "Apple Music App" instead.

Also, iTunes does not work on all Windows PCs. So what's the best way to reset and restore your iPhone without iTunes?

Here's how to reset and restore your iPhone when iTunes isn't available, using your device settings, the Finder, or a third-party app.

The difference between "reset" and "restore"

"Reset" and "restore" are often used interchangeably, but that's a mistake. These two are words related to different processes.

It's easier to "reset" your device.

Depending on the reset method you choose, your smartphone's data may be lost, but it does not affect the firmware or OS version.

There are also finer options for resetting. Not only can you reset all settings on your device to their initial state, but you can also choose to clear "All Content and Settings".

If you wish, you can reset it by selecting only "Network settings", "Keyboard conversion learning", "Home screen layout", "Location information and privacy", and leave the rest of the data as it is.

"Restore" is the process you take if you have a serious problem with your iPhone.

For example, the device does not recover from "recovery mode" or "device firmware update (DFU) mode", or error codes (most commonly 3194, 4013, 4014, 9, 51) continue to be displayed. , And so on.

Performing a restore will erase all data and reinstall the OS from the beginning.

The restore process can be further divided into two.

One is to restore to a clean state with no data, and the other is to restore using a data backup.

How to reset iPhone without iTunes

It's easy to reset your iPhone without iTunes.

If your device is working properly, you can operate it from "Settings" on your iPhone. To reset your iPhone, please follow the steps below.

  1. Turn on your device and make sure it's not connected to iTunes.
  2. Open the settings.
  3. Select General> Transfer or Reset iPhone.
  4. Here you will see the various reset options available. If you want to erase all data and reset your iPhone to factory settings, tap Erase All Content and Settings. Otherwise, tap Reset and choose the option that suits your needs.

You must enter your passcode before the reset begins. It will take a few minutes to finish the process.

If you can't do the above because your iPhone doesn't work, you should instead follow the steps to restore your iPhone without iTunes.

How to restore iPhone on Mac without iTunes

If you have a Mac but you can't use iTunes because Apple has discontinued iTunes, you can use the Finder instead to restore your iPhone. The method is exactly the same as it was with iTunes.

  1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.
  2. Open Finder and select your iPhone from the sidebar.
  3. When prompted, enter your passcode on your iPhone screen and tap Trust.
  4. You can completely erase the data on your device and reinstall the software by clicking Restore iPhone from the Finder's General tab. Or you can click Restore Backup to restore your data from the last backup stored on your Mac.

Depending on the iPhone's malfunction situation, it may also be necessary to restore the firmware.

To do this, you need to put your iPhone in "DFU mode".

How to restore iPhone on Windows PC without iTunes

The situation is a little more complicated if you have to restore your iPhone on your Windows computer, for example, if you've had that problem with your smartphone's screen going blank, but you can't use iTunes or the Finder.

In these cases, third-party software is required. Three famous brands are "Tenorshare", "dr.fone" and "FonePaw".

Let's focus on Tenorshare here.

If you don't like the Tenorshare process, try the other two.

If your iPhone isn't working or doesn't work at all, let's see how to restore it without iTunes.

If you have forgotten your iPhone passcode, stopped in the middle of "recovery mode" or "DFU mode", or got an error in iTunes during restoration, use this method as well.

First, download "Tenorshare ReiBoot". There are paid subscriptions, but they are free.

After installing and launching the app, connect your iPhone to your computer. Please connect using a cable. This process does not work with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

If you want, you can use the one-click button to activate recovery mode and exit recovery mode, but most of the time you can just press start to repair your iPhone.

You will see a list of possible iOS bugs. Select the one that most closely matches the state of your iPhone and click Start.

This will give you a choice between normal mode, which is less effective but can be repaired without erasing data, or advanced mode, which is more effective but erases all data during the repair process.

Whichever you choose, follow the on-screen instructions to put your iPhone in the proper mode and perform the repair.

Download: Tenorshare ReiBoot (free, with subscription)

How to restore iPhone data using Tenorshare

Even if you delete important photos, messages, documents, files, etc. that were on your iPhone, you may be able to restore them if you take immediate action.

Tenorshare also offers an app to help you in that case.

"Tenorshare UltData" is free, but if you register for a fee, you will be able to use more functions. This app is available on either macOS or Windows.

This app has two major advantages over iTunes in restoring files.

First, unlike iTunes, you can (hopefully) restore files directly from your iPhone.

In other words, you don't have to have a backup. The other is that you can restore the data individually from the iTunes backup, rather than the alternative of restoring everything or not at all.

To restore iPhone data without iTunes, please follow the steps below.

  1. Download and install "UltData".
  2. Depending on how you want to restore, you can choose to restore from iOS device, restore data from backup, or restore data from iCloud.
  3. Select the files you want to restore.
  4. Click Scan to see the data. Please restore the required data.

Download: Tenorshare UltData (free, with subscription)

Third-party apps can do more than iTunes

Not being able to reset and restore your iPhone using iTunes may seem inconvenient at first, but in reality many third-party apps offer far more features than iTunes.

With ReiBoot, you can easily turn "recovery mode" on and off, and fix various problems.

UltData can also restore any kind of data from iPhone, iCloud, or backup.

However, you may be able to restore it in the same way using other methods.

Source: YouTube, TenorShare (1, 2)

Original Article: How to Restore or Reset an iPhone Without iTunes by MakeUseOf