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iPhone Clean Reinstallation of iOS

W

Wirenut

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 6, 2016
198
94
Hey guys, I just had a new battery put in my iPhone 6S so it's ready to go for another year or more. But I would like to reset the entire operating system. I have been "Restoring" the iPhone each and every time I got a new one ever since my first 3G, which I think is causing some lagginess and possibly other issues. So I would like a fresh installation of the OS.

I just wanted to confirm that going to: Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings is the proper way? Will this give me a clean installation of the iOS? Or do I have to do something different thru iTunes or something?
 
jr866gooner said:
You could do it that way. You could also do it via iTunes which basically wipes and re-downloads iOS on to the device completely from scratch. To add to that you could set up as a new device entirely. This would be the cleanest of clean iOS lol
Click to expand...

I think re-downloading iOS sounds like the best option, instead of just resetting it back to factory defaults.

When you say setup as a new device, that would be opposed to Restoring it? Because that is what I am trying to avoid since I have done that with every new iPhone I have bought since the beginning. I'd like a complete fresh installation.
 
Make sure you save an archive of the last backup you make of your phone with iTunes, so if you find that some critical information was on your phone but not in iCloud, you can have a hope of getting it back.

Full wipes aren't for the faint of heart. You're going to spend a lot of time fiddling around with your phone to get it like it was before. :)
 
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That's fine, I don't mind having to set everything. A good cleanse is therapeutic lol. I actually do way less on my phone now than I did in the past.
 
Wirenut said:
Hey guys, I just had a new battery put in my iPhone 6S so it's ready to go for another year or more. But I would like to reset the entire operating system. I have been "Restoring" the iPhone each and every time I got a new one ever since my first 3G, which I think is causing some lagginess and possibly other issues. So I would like a fresh installation of the OS.

I just wanted to confirm that going to: Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings is the proper way? Will this give me a clean installation of the iOS? Or do I have to do something different thru iTunes or something?
Click to expand...

Reinstalling via iTunes will give you a completely clean install of iOS and is what is recommended.
 
I did the DFU restore, everything is great. I finished most of the settings and now am downloading the apps I need. Thanks guys.

I see that the voicemails and recent calls are all there but the iMessages and text messages are gone. I guess I lost those? I don't mind, just curious.
 
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Wirenut said:
I did the DFU restore, everything is great. I finished most of the settings and now am downloading the apps I need. Thanks guys.

I see that the voicemails and recent calls are all there but the iMessages and text messages are gone. I guess I lost those? I don't mind, just curious.
Click to expand...
Do you have a backup? If so you can restore it and get your messages back, iOS 11.3 which will be releasing soon will allow you to do a clean install and keep your messages.
 
I have everything backed up from before the reset. Can I restore just the messages without all the other stuff?
 
Wirenut said:
I have everything backed up from before the reset. Can I restore just the messages without all the other stuff?
Click to expand...
You can't do this until 11.3 comes out, what you can do now is restore the backup and wait for 11.3 release which it seems should be in the next few weeks (could even be a week from now).
 
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Everything worked out great. I just finished paying off this 6S and it's still like new. New battery, new OS. I'm happy the way it is, so I won't tinker with the text messages.
 
Once iOS 11.3 is released and I know that my messages are safe I am probably going to do this on my iPad Pro and MacBook Pro. I wish I could do this on the watch but I do not think it's possible.

I've been holding off specifically because I do not want to loose my messages.
 
kylew1212 said:
Once iOS 11.3 is released and I know that my messages are safe I am probably going to do this on my iPad Pro and MacBook Pro. I wish I could do this on the watch but I do not think it's possible.

I've been holding off specifically because I do not want to loose my messages.
Click to expand...
I understand losing your messages from the iPad, but why can't you do the MacBook now?
 
Wirenut said:
I understand losing your messages from the iPad, but why can't you do the MacBook now?
Click to expand...

My MacBook has the overall message backup on it. I had to reset my iPad a few months ago, and I need the new iCloud Messages sync'ing to get my messages back aligned across iPhone, iPad, and my MacBook.

I know that technically I could backup my MacBook messages reinstall then restore only the messages, but 11.3 is just around the corner so there's no need.
 
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I see, makes sense.

I don't sync Messages across my iPad and Mac. I believe the reason why I never started was because many of the people I message don't have iPhones so I would only have half the conversations on the iPad and computer, not the text messages.
 
Wirenut said:
I see, makes sense.

I don't sync Messages across my iPad and Mac. I believe the reason why I never started was because many of the people I message don't have iPhones so I would only have half the conversations on the iPad and computer, not the text messages.
Click to expand...

A person is not required to have an iPhones for the syncing to work. There is a setting on your iPhone in Messages called text forwarding or something like that. This setting forwards out non iMessages to your iPad/Mac. It allows you to text from your computer anyone regardless if they have apple or not.

Because of this setting I rarely use my iPhone at home. I literally pick up my iPad/Mac and can do the very same things I do on my phone. I can talk on the phone/ text anyone regardless if they have Apple stuff or not. This applies to sms text messages, mms, land line phone calls, android phone calls, etc. It's a nice feature.
 
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kylew1212 said:
A person is not required to have an iPhones for the syncing to work. There is a setting on your iPhone in Messages called text forwarding or something like that. This setting forwards out non iMessages to your iPad/Mac. It allows you to text from your computer anyone regardless if they have apple or not.

Because of this setting I rarely use my iPhone at home. I literally pick up my iPad/Mac and can do the very same things I do on my phone. I can talk on the phone/ text anyone regardless if they have Apple stuff or not. This applies to sms text messages, mms, land line phone calls, android phone calls, etc. It's a nice feature.
Click to expand...
Wow, that really is nice. Thanks for the info!
 
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