Reinstall, Clean Install, or Factory Reset iOS 9 From iTunes
What’s a clean install?
Let’s clear one confusion: You can say reinstall, restore, clean install, or factory reset… all of them are the same.
Basically, a clean install is a simple way of installing iOS firmware on your iPhone / iPad so that everything is deleted. All your apps, games, photos, WiFi settings, documents are gone forever.
Your iOS 9 device will be fresh and brand new with only native Apple apps!
If you think your iPhone / iPad is corrupted, freezes, or is probably bricked… and you don’t care about the data anymore, then clean installing iOS 9 is the right step forward.
How do I clean install iOS 9?
You can do it from your iPhone or iPad by going to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.
In case, if your iOS 9 device is stuck in recovery mode, shows spinning wheel with Apple logo, or any other errors that stop you from accessing the Settings, then you can use your computer to perform a clean install.
For this, you need the latest version of iTunes installed on your computer (Windows or Mac), a USB cable, and the device. Let’s look at the complete process of reinstalling iOS 9 to its factory settings.
How To Reinstall iOS 9 To Factory Settings
What It Means
When you restore to the factory settings, you are asking Apple to do the following:
- Delete all the data and content from the device.
- Request iTunes to download and install the latest iOS firmware.
How To Do It
Open your iTunes player, and plug your iPhone / iPad to your computer via USB cable. Now select your iOS device from the iTunes player.
Look at the right side of your computer’s screen, and you will find the option to “Restore iPhone…” or “Restore iPad…”
When you click on this button, iTunes will show a pop up asking you to backup your current data. You can chose to backup locally or on the iCloud – the decision is up to you.
Next, you will get another pop up message:
“Are you sure you want to restore the iPhone “iPhone” to its factory settings? All of your media and other data will be erased.”
Here, you have two options: to select Update or Restore.
When You Select Update: iTunes will start downloading the latest iOS firmware – iOS 9.0, in this case – and install it automatically without deleting your existing data.
When You Select Restore: iTunes will restore to your current iOS firmware and remove all the data from your device.
Choice is yours! You can go with “Update” or “Restore.” You can also Restore first – which deletes everything – and then select the Update button to perform a clean install.
What Happens Next:
After you have restored your device to the factory settings, your iTunes will show you a new “Welcome to Your New iPhone” screen. Below this, you have two more options: Set up as a new iPhone, or Restore from this backup (with a drop-down menu of all your backups).
If you are going to set it up as a new device, then you need to redownload all the old apps, games, add WiFi details, and configure every minute detail.
Even your iPhone / iPad will startup with a “Hello” screen and you will be asked to setup the device.
You can sign in to your iCloud account and retrieve the backup, if you have any. Alternately, you can use iTunes player to get your backup files restored.