How to factory reset an iphone 8 plus without password

• You can reset an iPhone, even without the password, by putting it into "recovery mode" or erasing it via Find My.
• If you don't know what an iPhone's password is or it's been disabled, you'll have to reset it to use it.
• Once you've reset your iPhone, you can use an iCloud backup to restore its data.

iPhones are notoriously difficult to break into. If you have a unique passcode set up, it's almost impossible for someone to get in without your permission.

But this also works the other way around. If you need to open an iPhone but don't have the password, or it's disabled, the only way to unlock it is to factory reset it.

Luckily, there are two ways to reset an iPhone without using its password.

How to reset an iPhone using Finder or iTunes

Firstly, you can use a computer. If you've got a Mac you'll be using Finder, and if you've got a PC you'll be using iTunes (which you need to download first).

1. Turn the iPhone off. The exact way to do this will depend on what kind of iPhone you have:

2. Once your iPhone is off, plug it into your computer and put it into recovery mode. To do this, you'll need to press a certain combination of buttons:

3. Keep holding the button(s) until the recovery mode screen appears. It'll have a picture of a laptop with a charging cable.

4. Once ready, open Finder or iTunes and open the iPhone menu. If you're using Finder, click your iPhone's name in the left sidebar. In iTunes, click the iPhone icon in the upper-left corner.

5. You'll be shown a message saying that the iPhone has a "problem" and needs to be updated or restored. Select Restore.

6. Keep your iPhone connected to the computer as it resets and restores the iPhone. This could take up to 20 minutes, so be patient.

Once the process finishes, turn your iPhone on and set it up like a new device. When you're asked if you'd like to restore data from a backup, feel free to sign into iCloud and do so.

How to reset an iPhone using Find My

If you have an Apple ID account, your iPhone is probably connected to Find My, Apple's global device tracking network. This service also lets you reset and erase your iPhone without having the password for it.

1. On a computer, go to iCloud's website and log into your account.

2. In the main menu, click Find iPhone.

3. You'll be given a map of all your devices. Click All Devices at the top and then select your iPhone.

4. In the pop-up menu that appears, click Erase iPhone, and then confirm your choice.

As long as your iPhone is on and connected to the internet, it'll be reset immediately.

William Antonelli

Tech Reporter for Insider Reviews

William Antonelli (he/she/they) is a writer, editor, and organizer based in New York City. As a founding member of the Reference team, he helped grow Tech Reference (now part of Insider Reviews) from humble beginnings into a juggernaut that attracts over 20 million visits a month. Outside of Insider, his writing has appeared in publications like Polygon, The Outline, Kotaku, and more. He's also a go-to source for tech analysis on channels like Newsy, Cheddar, and NewsNation. You can find him on Twitter @DubsRewatcher, or reach him by email at .

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If your iPhone is frozen, unresponsive, stuck in a booting loop or became sluggish, you can try resetting your iPhone to its factory settings (known as hard-reset) — the way it was when you took it out of the box. In this tutorial we'll show you 3 ways to reset an iPhone. The procedure requires no third-party tools or specialist knowledge.

Note: Bear in mind this will wipe everything on your iPhone. Make sure you back up your photos, videos and other important content, take out the SIM card before performing a factory reset.

Method 1: Hard reset directly from the iPhone

1. Tap the Settings icon on your Home screen.
2. Go to General and then scroll to the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap on Reset -> Reset All Content and Settings.

4. You'll get a warning box appear, with the option to Erase iPhone in red. Tap it.

   

5. You'll need to enter your Apple ID password to confirm the action, then the iPhone will wipe everything off its storage and go back to the initial setup screen you saw when you first used the device.

This is the easiest way to reset an iPhone but it requires you remember the Passcode. If you forgot your iPhone Passcode and couldn't bypass the lock screen, then perform a hard reset with the following methods.

Method 2: Hard reset an iPhone with Home + Power buttons

1. Hold the sleep/wake button ( It is located on the right side of iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus. On iPhone 5 or lower models it's located on the top of the phone.) and the Home button at the same time.

   

2. Hold them both until you see the screen go black. In some cases, you may need to keep holding them even after the red power-off slider appears. If it appears, just keep holding it.
3. Wait until the silver Apple logo appears.
4. When this happens, you can let go - the iPhone is rebooting.

Now your device can boot up normally. The device has been restored with factory settings but the exciting thing is, you will find all your data intact and unaltered.

Method 3: Hard reset an iPhone from recovery mode

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer with a USB cable and start the iTune.
2. Before entering the recovery mode, you need to turn off your device completely. Press and hold the Power button and slide to turn it off. If the device isn't responding, press and hold the Power and Home buttons at the same time for a few seconds to turn it off.
3. Press and hold the Home button until the "Connect to iTunes" screen appears — you'll see a connector pointing at an iTunes icon. You can now release the button.
4. At this point, you'll also see a message telling you iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode and needs to restore. Now you can click the Restore button in iTunes and then wait for iOS to download and install on your iPhone.

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