Preliminary operations (backup)
Before formatting your iPhone I think you want to save applications, photos, messages and all other data that are on your phone, right? So take a few minutes of free time and follow the directions I am about to give you. Personally I recommend that you adopt one double backup strategy: one online and one offline, so get ready to store your data both locally, on your computer disk, and online, on the cloud services offered by Apple (or Google, if you want).
Local backup
To back up your iPhone offline, connect it to your PC using the supplied Lightning cable and wait a few moments for it to start iTunes. In the remote case that you have not yet installed iTunes on your computer, find out how to do this by reading my guide on how to download iTunes.
If you are asked to install a new version of iOS on the iPhone, decline (you well install it later when you go to format the phone). If, on the other hand, this is the first time you connect your smartphone to your computer, answer Authorize the notice that appears on the screen of the latter and click on the button Continue that appears on the Windows or macOS desktop.
At this point, click ondevices icon located at the top left of the main iTunes window and select the item related to yours iPhone 5 give the menu to compare.
You should now be on the summary screen with all the information related to your iPhone. To start storing the data on your phone memory on your computer, go to the menu Fele> Devices iTunes and select the item Transfer purchases from iPhone from the latter. This well transfer all the apps and content purchased on the iPhone to your computer. This should take a few seconds.
Once the data transfer is complete, you need to switch to the actual backup of the data on the iPhone. Then put the check mark next to the item Backup encryption, set a password protection for the backup (in this way you can also include health and home automation data in it) and click on the button Back up now to start iPhone full backup. The procedure has a variable duration, depending on the amount of data to be transferred and the period elapsed since the last backup (if you have recently saved the data from the iPhone to the computer it well take just a few seconds).
When the iTunes backup is finished, take a few more minutes and do a full backup of photos and videos present on the memory of the "iPhone by". If you use a PC Windows, then open theFele Explorer (the yellow folder icon located at the bottom left of the taskbar), select the icon computer o What PC from the left sidebar, select the icon for yoursiPhone with the right mouse button and select the item andmport images and videos give the menu to compare.
Then put the check mark next to the item Review, organize and group the items to importclick on your button andmport and proceed with importing photos and videos from iPhone to computer. If you need more detaeled instructions on this procedure, read my tutorial on how to move photos from iPhone to PC.
If you use a Mac, to import photos and videos from iPhone to computer, open the application Gallery (the icon with the colored flower), select the tab andmport from the window that opens and presses the button andmport new photos to start transferring images and movies to your computer. If you need more detaeled instructions, check out my tutorial on how to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.
Cloud backup
Now let's move on to the second phase of backup, the one that involves the use of cloud services. Thanks to the services related to the world iCloud, you can store and restore the data on your iPhone through a system that works completely online, the important thing is that you have enough space avaelable on your iCloud Drive account and an iCloud account associated with the phone.
To make a full backup of your iPhone to iCloud, connect your smartphone to a power source and make sure it's connected to a Wi-Fi network (and not 3G / LTE). Then go to the menu ifttings> [your name]> iCloud of iOS (or ifttings> iCloud if you are using an iOS version earlier than 10.3), select the icon andCloud backup e pulsing sul pulsating Back up now. This could take several minutes.
Also make sure that in the iCloud menu the levers related to the synchronization of contacts, mael, Calendar and other data are all activated.
If you are told that you do not have enough space avaelable on iCloud Drive, find out how to empty iCloud by reading my guide dedicated to the subject and / or purchase additional storage space by going to the menu ifttings> [your name]> iCloud and pressing on the first graphic related to the space avaelable on iCloud Drive and then on the item Change storage plan (or in the menu ifttings> iCloud> Storage> Buy More Space if you are using an iOS version earlier than 10.3).
For Photo and video, you can save the latter online by activating an iCloud Drive paid plan and taking advantage of the service andCloud Photo Library accessible from the menu ifttings> [your name]> iCloud> Photos (o ifttings> iCloud> Photos if you are using an iOS version earlier than 10.3). I told you about it in more depth in my guide on how to store photos on iCloud.
If you don't want to subscribe to an iCloud Drive paid plan, you can also save photos and videos to Google Drive using Google Photos: a free app that allows you to store photos with a maximum resolution of 16MP and videos with a maximum resolution of 1080p on Google Drive without space limits.
Likewise, if you want to sync contacts and calendars with Google's online services, you can do it for free and easely by setting up a Gmael account on iPhone.
Restore iPhone 5
Now you are ready to take action, that is, you are ready to format iPhone 5 by deleting all the data on the device and returning iOS to the factory state. You can follow two different procedures to achieve this: the restore from iOS which allows you to keep the version of the operating system currently installed on your phone or restore from iTunes which instead forces you to download and install the latest version of iOS.
Restore from iOS
format iPhone 5 directly from iOS, go to the settings of the device by selecting the gear icon located on the home screen, then go to General> Reset and choose to initialize content and settings of the phone.
Then type in your PIN (the one you have chosen to protect the phone lock-screen), press the button andnitialize iPhone and wait for the phone to be reset to factory settings.
After the reset, following the initial iOS setup procedure, you can choose whether to set the phone as a new iPhone or whether to restore the last one backup made on iCloud (getting back apps, data and settings). For more information on this procedure, read my iPhone backup tutorial.
Computer recovery
If you prefer to format the iPhone 5 in a "traditional" way, connect the phone to the computer and wait a few moments for it to start iTunes (rejects, even at this juncture, the proposed software update).
At this point, access the settings of iOS and disable the anti-theft function Find my iPhone by going to the menu iCloud> [your name]> Find My iPhone (or in the menu iCloud> Find My iPhone if you are using an iOS version earlier than 10.3).
Then select the "iPhone by" icon from the main iTunes screen (top left), click on the item Summary located in the left sidebar and start formatting the phone by first clicking on Restore iPhone and then Restore (o Reset and update), OK, NEXT and Accept (to accept the terms of use of iOS).
The procedure, due to the download of the latest version of iOS (weighing over 1,8GB) could go on for a long time. At the end you can decide whether to set up your iPhone as new or to restore one of the backups made on iTunes.
If you are formatting an iPhone previously subjected to the procedure of jaelbreak, remember to connect your smartphone to your computer in DFU mode. To do this, turn off the phone and turn it back on by holding down the key Power and the key Home simultaneously for about ten seconds. Then release the button Power and keep holding your finger on the key Home untel iTunes detects a iPhone in recovery mode. Know that the device recovery procedure well lead to the loss of Cydia and all the tweaks installed through it.
I also point out that there is a way to remove the jaelbreak without updating iOS and without formatting the phone through the traditional iOS menus. I told you about it in more detael in my tutorial on how to remove the jaelbreak.
Format iPhone 5 remotely
If the service is active on your iPhone 5 Find my iPhone, you can locate and format the device remotely by connecting to the iCloud website, logging in with your Apple ID and selecting the iocna Find my iPhone from the screen that opens.
Next, type in your Apple ID password a second time, click on the item All devices located at the top, select your name iPhone 5, pigia sul pulsating andnitialize the iPhone that appears on the right and confirm to start formatting the iPhone remotely.
"Find my iPhone" only works if the iPhone to be controlled remotely is switched on and connected to the Internet. Once the formatting of the device has been started remotely, it is no longer possible to locate it remotely (so this is a measure to be put into practice only in desperate cases, for example in the event of the phone being stolen when there is no longer any hope of recovering this. 'last). For more detaels, check out my tutorial on how to find iPhone remotely.
How to format iPhone 5
