How to delete all files from iPhone. How to erase all personal information when you leave work

Apple devices are in good demand in the secondary market. The Apple corporation has been supporting the iPhone, iPad, MacBook and other of its products at the software level for several years, which makes it attractive to purchase a device that has previously been in use. With careful use, externally and internally, Apple devices may not undergo changes over years of active use. Before you sell your iPhone or iPad, you need to completely clear it of accumulated information and reset its settings. This article will look at three ways to erase all data from an iPhone or iPad.

Formatting iPhone via iTunes

The best way to delete information from an iPhone or iPad involves using the iTunes application. This is due to the fact that when connected to a computer, the user has the opportunity to make a complete backup copy your device before cleaning it. The backup will contain all the information from the iPhone:

  • Individual settings for key system applications, including fingerprint information (Touch ID), data from medical programs, information about bank cards in Apple Pay;
  • Files in PDF format, which were downloaded to the iBooks app on your device;
  • Applications from the App Store;
  • Videos, music and other content from the iTunes Store;
  • Information synchronized with iTunes: books, photos, videos, music and more;
  • Data saved in iCloud.

To create a backup in iTunes, you need to connect your iPhone to your computer, synchronize and select the appropriate item in the program menu. Later, the backup copy can be used on another iPhone to instantly set it up for normal use.

Once the backup is made, you can begin to clear the device of the information on it and reset the settings. To completely erase your iPhone you need to:


Important: During iPhone recovery Do not remove the wire from the device, otherwise it may happen software glitch, which will cause errors.

Also, if you delete all data, you can switch to earlier versions software.

How to erase all data from iPhone or iPad remotely

Apple services allow you to remotely interact with devices if you know your Apple ID. If you want to erase all data from your iPhone or iPad, you can do it via iCloud as follows:


In this way, you can delete all information from the device, even if it is turned off. The signal will be sent through iCloud, and it will work the moment the iPhone or iPad turns on and connects to the Internet.

How to erase everything from iPhone or iPad

Completely clearing an Apple device of information is possible without connecting to a computer or remote control via iCloud. To perform a full formatting you need to:


Note: Depending on the total amount of memory on the device, smartphone model, firmware version and other parameters, the formatting procedure can take from several minutes to half an hour or more. It is important that the smartphone is not discharged at this moment, otherwise it will have to be restored after

Nothing complicated.

Now it's time to say goodbye to old iPhone, passing it into the hands of a joyful buyer. But how to properly transfer the device into the wrong hands so that no one can use your data? This is what we will talk about today, we will look at how to remove an iPhone from iTunes, properly clear the device of your data and erase information from the smartphone about your Apple ID.

The above steps are required when selling an iPhone. Not only are they good manners, but they will also save you from having to receive tons of activity alerts from your old smartphone (especially if the person who bought it turned out to be very active).

The first step is to create the most recent backup of your device data. It is recommended to do this immediately before selling or transferring the iPhone, since within a few days this same backup copy can become “overgrown” with information. We wrote in detail about how to backup an iPhone using iTunes, but for the sake of completeness, we will still briefly describe this process.

How to Backup iPhone

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. If iTunes is not installed on your computer, you can download the latest version of the utility at official Apple website.

Step 2. Select iPhone in iTunes, go to the " tab Intelligence", check the box " This computer" and press " Create a copy now».

Note: If you are used to backing up to iCloud, you can skip the previous step. Instead, on iPhone, go to the menu Settings» → « iCloud» → « Intelligence» → « Backup copy" and press " Create a backup».

Step 3. In the menu " File» → « Devices" Press " Move purchases" By performing this operation, you will save all purchases (applications, games, music, movies, etc.) on your computer, which will allow you to restore all content in the future, in the event of a failure.

Ready! A complete backup of your iPhone has been successfully created.

Now you need to work with your iPhone, namely, reset all settings and clear the device of downloaded content. We do not recommend manually deleting all photos, videos, contacts and applications, and is it even necessary? iOS has an excellent automatic reset feature built in that is designed to help us in exactly this situation.

How to reset all data from iPhone

Attention! Before resetting your data, make sure you have backed up your iPhone.

Step 1. Go to menu " Settings»→ « Basic» → « Reset».

Step 2. Click on the button Erase content and settings" Attention - to continue you will need to enter a password for restrictions, of course, if you set one.

Step 3. Confirm the reset and wait for the process to complete.

It would be a good idea to warn again - all data will be destroyed! Don't forget to back up your iPhone before resetting it.

Also, do not delete contacts, documents, photos, calendars and others iCloud data if you are connected to an iCloud account. In this case, the content will be deleted not only from this device, but also from the Apple cloud service, and therefore from all your other devices associated with the same account. iCloud recording. To prevent such an incident from happening, it is better to immediately log out of iCloud from your iPhone by going to the “ Settings» → « iCloud» → « Delete your account».

Some users may need to unlink their iPhone from the Support Profile, but in the CIS countries this is not very relevant at the moment, since the Apple Store is not open in our country yet. However, if you want to completely say goodbye to your old device, you can read about this process in.

Well, that's all. All that remains is to remove the SIM card from the phone, thoroughly polish the screen of your iPhone with a cloth, put the documents and available accessories in a box and go to sell.

Many people believe that if it is impossible to use HDD due to its inoperability, it means that the data from it cannot be read. But this is not true, and even a broken hard drive is still a loophole for an information security breach.

A hard drive consists of a set of magnetic platters that contain sectors that cannot be read directly using operating system. When a file is deleted, the operating system actually deletes only a pointer to it in memory. The area containing the deleted data is marked as free space, and therefore while new file will not be written to this location, the data can be read. Special software is used to recover and read deleted data. It is used to search for sectors containing any data deleted files, and then they are restored. It's not too difficult to do this, and what's more, you can find free data recovery software. Here we should note that data recovery software for physically damaged disk sectors does not work and that we cannot use this software without an operating system.

When we think that a disk is broken, we must remember that in fact only one of the microcircuits or mechanical parts inside the disk becomes faulty. And the platters where all the files are stored are still functional because the drive is in a hard case and the platters have no mechanical or electrical parts. Forensic experts use only platters to recover deleted files on broken drives. But if desired, even a less experienced specialist will be able to recover files in this case, because descriptions of procedures for manually recovering deleted files are widespread on the Internet.


What to do?

Users and companies wishing to sell or donate a used hard drive separately or with a computer, or discard damaged drives, must first completely clean the drive. Deleting data from disks is the process of permanently deleting data located on them. There are two types of cleaning hard drives- physical erasure of data and destruction of data.

Physical cleaning

The fastest option is to demagnetize the disk. To do this, you can use special devices designed to guarantee the destruction of data on magnetic media at the end of their service life in order to ensure storage security and prevent information leakage. As an example, I can mention the Avalanche device produced by the Ukrainian company Epos.

IN this device A physical method of data destruction is used, based on the impact of a powerful electromagnetic pulse on the storage device. As a result, all magnetic domains of the carrier are uniformly magnetized to a state of saturation. This leads to the disappearance of magnetic transitions in which the information recorded on the medium is encoded. Thus, the complete destruction of the original magnetic structure of the medium leads to the guaranteed destruction of all data ever stored on it.

The autonomous multifunctional device EPOS DiskMaster Portable allows you to work with all hard drives with PATA, SATA, eSATA interfaces, regardless of manufacturer, model and capacity. All operations are performed at the highest possible speed that the drive supports (data transfer rates up to 8 GB/min). Unlike software with similar functionality, the device provides copying and destruction of data in the hidden area of ​​HPA hard drives (Host Protected Area), as well as on hard drives with defects on the surfaces.

Information destroyers of this kind are also produced by Detector systems, Infosecure and others.

Physical disk destruction is a method of securely deleting data. This is the preferred method of data destruction when other methods fail or there is severe corruption. hard drive. Physical destruction of hard drives is the fastest and most effective method safe deletion of data, but the hard drive itself, of course, will no longer be used in the future.

Software data cleaning

Software data wiping is the process of permanently deleting data stored in an area that is logically considered free space, using specific data deletion techniques. The process occurs when the computer boots, but after the operating system loads. This is the recommended method if you plan to sell, give away, or reuse the disc.

Here are the top three hard drive cleaning software:

  • DBAN - boot cleaning program, multi-platform, free;
  • DiskWipe - does not require installation, supports Windows (XP, Vista, 7), free;
  • CCleaner, supports Windows (XP, Vista, 7), free.

Data cleaning software works great on drives that do not have bad sectors. It cannot erase information on damaged disks. To effectively destroy data, you must repeat the data erasure process at least three times. A complete erase cycle may take several hours or days depending on the disk capacity.

Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN)

Darik's software Boot and Nuke (DBAN) can be downloaded from Here you will get the downloadable ISO image, which you can subsequently burn to a CD and, after booting from it, select the hard drive to delete the data. Next, turn on the computer, hard disks you want to clean, making sure it will boot from the CD drive, and then insert the DBAN CD.

1. If you boot correctly, you will see a welcome screen and a boot: _ prompt (screen 1).

Screen 1: Darik's Boot and Nuke Window

2. Press Enter and go to DBAN interactive mode, see screen 2. If your disk contains confidential information or business sensitive data, then go to step 3, otherwise skip it and go to step 4.

Screen 2. Disks and Partition

3. Press the "M" key to manually select a cleaning method and select Gutmann Wipe, then press Enter. This method is recommended for deleting sensitive data. The Gutmann Wipe method makes 35 passes over the hard drive (Screen 3).

Screen 3: Selecting Gutmann Wipe Removal Method

4. Make sure that the image on the screen matches that shown on screen 4.

Screen 4. Selecting a drive to erase data using Gutmann Wipe

5. Press the Spacebar to go to the screen to start the data deletion process (Screen 5).

Screen 5. Screen to start the data deletion process

6. Make sure you choose required disk(section) to delete data. If everything is fine, press the F10 key to begin the uninstall process (Screen 6).

Screen 6: Data Deletion Process

The entire data deletion process may take up to 12 hours.

DiskWipe

Disk Wipe is free application for Windows, designed for guaranteed data destruction and does not require installation. The Disk Wipe utility can be downloaded from http://www.diskwipe.org/. With Disk Wipe you can erase all the contents of a disk and make it impossible to . Disk Wipe allows you to delete data from both a partition and the entire hard drive using Dod 5220-22.M, US Army, Peter Guttman algorithms. Supported interfaces are S-ATA (SATA), IDE (E-IDE), SCSI, FIREWIRE (screen 7).

Figure 7: Disk Wipe Window

CCleaner

CCleaner is free program to optimize your computer, combining a system cleaning module that removes all unnecessary and temporary files, and a full-featured registry cleaning module. CCleaner cleans the following system components:

  1. Internet Explorer - temporary cache files, browsing history, cookies, hidden Index.dat files, download history.
  2. Recycle Bin.
  3. Clipboard.
  4. Windows temporary files.
  5. Windows logs.
  6. List of recent documents (in the Start menu).
  7. History of executed commands (in the Start menu).
  8. History of the Search Assistant in Windows XP.
  9. Deprecated Prefetch data in Windows XP.
  10. Memory dumps after Windows crashes.
  11. File fragments remaining after the Chkdsk command has run.

Additional functions allow you to clear:

  • menu queue cache;
  • system tray message cache;
  • Windows size and address cache;
  • user assistance history;
  • IIS log files;
  • additional folders.

CCleaner not only removes old files and other data from standard Windows components, but also allows you to clean temporary files and lists of recent documents in many other programs: Opera, Safari, Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, Microsoft, Nero, Adobe Acrobat Reader, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and others.

CCleaner uses a registry cleaner to detect various problems and inconsistencies in the system. It checks file extensions, elements ActiveX controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstaller, Common DLLs, Fonts, Help File Links, Application Paths, Icons, Incorrect Shortcuts.

In addition, a function is provided to permanently delete files with several rewrite cycles, which does not allow them to be restored in any way (Figure 8).

As shown in Screen 8, for safe mashing free space The following algorithms can be used on disk:

  • simple erase (1 pass);
  • DOD 5220.22-M (3 cycles);
  • NSA (7 cycles);
  • Gutmann (35 cycles).

Screen 8: Permanently erasing with CCleaner

You can choose the optimal algorithm for erasing free space based on speed/security requirements.

We must not forget about the built-in means of irrecoverable erasure from the operating system. Team

Cipher/W: directory

provides irrecoverable erasure of free space in the selected directory; it has existed in the Windows family since Windows versions 2000. However, it should be noted that in this case, quick erasing is carried out.

In fact, deleting data permanently is not difficult at all. It is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen removal approach (software or hardware). Soft erasing allows you to reuse drives, but it is time-consuming and can only be used on working hard drives. Hardware is much faster and allows you to process non-working (unreadable) disks. However, when used on working disks, there is always the possibility that due to too strong a magnetic pulse, the disks will fail forever.

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Owners of the iPhone mobile device have many questions about how and what to download and install on it. However, the degree of curiosity (of course, in the absence of appropriate skills) does not decrease even when it is necessary to perform a completely opposite task. That is, when you need to delete an account, videos, photos, correspondence and other personal data from your iPhone. This article discusses methods for global cleaning of a smartphone, as well as selective deletion of certain categories of content in its memory (from ringtones to videos).

Deleting all information on your phone

Method number 1: activating the built-in function

1. Tap the “Settings” icon in the iPhone tiled menu.

2. Go to the “Basic” subsection.

3. Select the Reset option.

4. Tap in the submenu “Erase content and settings”.

5. In the additional requests panel, select “Erase iPhone” to delete all user files and data from the iPhone.

Note. Before activating this feature, the smartphone may request an Apple ID (identifier account).

Method #2: Cleaning in iTunes

1. Install the iTunes manager on your computer (download the installer only from the offsite!).

2. Connect your iPhone to your PC via a USB cable.

4. Go to the “Overview” section (the first item in horizontal menu).

5. Click the “Restore iPhone...” button. Activating this feature allows you to delete all user content, reset settings, update iOS and system software to latest version.

If, after clicking the “Restore...” button, the “You need to turn off Find My iPhone...” window appears, follow these steps:

  • go to “Settings” of your mobile device;
  • go to the “iCloud” section;
  • Set the Find My iPhone option to Off. (turned off);
  • Return to iTunes and again in the Browse section, click the Restore button.

All file directories on the device will be cleared. In fact, it will already be possible to sell or transfer it to another owner without fear for the confidentiality of personal data.

But if there is a need to get rid of only contacts,

How to get rid of Apple ID?

In practice, you cannot delete an account using standard functions either in iTunes, or on your phone, or in any other third-party services. There are two ways to solve this problem.

Method number 1: contact technical support

Note. To implement this method you will need knowledge in English or the “services” of a translator program (requests with machine texts are also considered on the service).

1. Open the page in your browser - apple.com/support/feedback (fields for formatting a letter to technical support companies).

2. Fill out the form fields. Data marked “required” must be specified. Otherwise, the letter will not be sent.

  • In "Email" enter the address mailbox, to which the account was registered;
  • in “Subject”, succinctly formulate your request to remove the ID;
  • In the “Comment” indicate the reason why you want to get rid of the identifier.

3. To send a letter to the Apple server, click “Submit Suggestion”.

If the text of the request was compiled correctly and all steps to complete the letter were completed correctly, after 7-30 days a letter will be sent to the specified email from technical support with a link to confirm the deletion of the ID.

Method number 2: “freeze” the identifier

When performing this method, the existence of the ID does not cease, but only its functions are deactivated by changing the settings.

1. Open on your PC, in a browser, the web page - appleid.apple.com (offsite of the company).

2. Click on the “Manage Apple ID” button.

4. Change all existing data in your account from true to fictitious, including your current email.

Upon completion of this procedure, the modified Apple ID will have only a formal relationship with you.

How to delete photos?

Removal from film

1. To get rid of one photo, in viewing mode, tap on the “Trash” icon in the lower right corner.

2. To delete many photos at once:

  • go to the “Camera Film” section;
  • In the lower left corner, tap the “arrow” icon;
  • touch the thumbnails of the photos you want to remove with your finger;
  • click the "Delete" button.

Deleting photo albums

1. Launch the Photos app.

2. In the submenu, go to the Albums section.

3. Activate the Edit function.

4. Tap the album you want to remove. And then click the “Delete” button that appears.

5. In the additional panel “Are you sure...” (are you sure), confirm the action: touch the “Delete Album” inscription with your finger.

Cleaning up a photo album in iTunes

1. Install the iTunes manager on your PC, launch it and log in.

2. Connect your iPhone via USB connection to your computer.

3. Click on the device icon in the manager panel.

4. Click on the “Photos” folder.

5. In the adjacent panel, in the “... photos from:” drop-down menu, select the folder that needs to be cleaned.

6. Uncheck the box next to the “Synchronize photos...” option.

7. In the additional window, click “Delete photos...”.

8. In the lower right part of the manager window, click the “Apply” button.

9. Wait for the operation to complete.

How to delete SMS?

1. Tap “Messages” in the phone menu.

2. Open the history of correspondence with a specific subscriber (tap on his name).

3. Click the "Edit" button.

4. Tap your finger to select unnecessary SMS messages.

5. Tap the “Delete” button.

Delete music and videos

2. Click the device icon that appears in the manager’s control panel.

3. Click the mouse to open the “Review” tab.

4. In the next panel, in the “Options” block, enable the “Process music and video manually” option.

5. Confirm the action: click “OK” in the new window.

6. At the bottom of the panel, click the “Apply” button.

7. Go to the Music tab and delete all unnecessary songs:

  • select them by clicking the left mouse button: selectively - holding down the “CTRL” key, in a row - holding down “Shift”;
  • or right-click on a specific track, and then context menu click "Delete".

In the same way, you can get rid of videos in the “Movies” and “TV Shows” sections.

How to remove a ringtone using iTunes?

1. In the iTunes window, on the “Browse” tab, in the “Options” section, enable the “Manually process music and videos” add-on (check the box).

2. Go to the “Sounds” (ringtones) tab.

3. Check the box next to “Synchronize sounds”. Click the radio button in the Selected Sounds add-on.

4. Uncheck the box next to the ringtones you want to get rid of.

Note. The ringtones will be deleted from the iPhone, but will remain in the iTunes library.

Enjoy your iPhone! Let it always contain only useful content.

Articles and Lifehacks

What unites all owners of Apple mobile devices who are thinking about selling them second-hand? Each of them will need to figure out how to delete everything from iPhone. We are talking about all personal information, contacts, photographs, user installed applications, recordings, and so on. Our article will tell you how to clean your device.

How to delete everything from iPhone?

If we still have a smartphone running iOS, before selling or transferring it to another user, we need to make sure that we have deleted all personal information from it. It is strongly recommended that you take care of backup important data for us. After this, we will proceed to return the smartphone to its factory state.

We go to the “Reset” item through the main iPhone settings and select the “Erase settings and content” menu. This will help us delete all personal data, including data on bank cards, electronic wallets, passwords social networks, contacts, messages, photos and so on. This will also disable various services (including iCloud and iMessage).

If our smartphone has iOS version 7 or higher and we have a service called Find My iPhone activated, we are asked to provide our Apple ID and password. This will help erase all information from the device, as well as remove the device itself from our account. After this, the new owner of the smartphone will be able to easily activate it.

If we want to ensure that the deletion of information does not affect iCloud, we should under no circumstances delete any data while we are connected to this storage. It is also recommended to contact your mobile operator, who will help you switch all services to the new owner. The Setup Assistant will help you complete this process.

Many users are also interested in how to delete everything from an iPhone that they lost (or had it stolen from them). It's obvious that mobile operators offer a temporary number and SIM card blocking service. But what about the contents of your smartphone? Apple took care of this.

Is it possible to delete everything from an iPhone if we no longer have it, and how?

If we have the Find My iPhone feature enabled above and we use iCloud, we can remove everything we need from this account by going to icloud.com/fin. Select your smartphone and click “Erase”. After that, select the “Erase from account” option.
After all information has been deleted from the device, we wait a day and proceed to activate iMessage on the new device.

If nothing works out for us, you can try changing your Apple ID password. This will not affect the safety of information on the device, but the new owner will not be able to delete it from iCloud.

Let's add that if we use Apple Pay, we can go to iCloud.com and delete information about our bank cards. Click the “Settings” section and view the smartphones that use this service. Choose mobile device and press the delete button.

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