Search Results for: What to Do If Your iPhone is Stolen and How to Recover It

How to Erase All Content and Settings on Mac

July 23, 2022 by feecalculator_x6rbod

How to Erase All Content and Settings on Mac.

Apple provides various tools and methods for erasing data from Mac computers. How you reset your Mac laptop or desktop computer depends on its software version and chipset architecture. This guide covers various ways to remove all content and settings on Mac computers.

Before erasing data from your Mac, we recommend backing up its contents to an external storage device—preferably using Time Machine. For step-by-step instructions, see our Time Machine backup guide.

Use macOS Monterey Erase Assistant

macOS Monterey comes with an “Erase Assistant” utility that resets your Mac to factory settings in a few clicks. The best part is that the utility only deletes your personal data, settings, apps, accounts, etc. Your Mac’s operating system remains intact after the wipe.

The Removal Assistant is only available in macOS Monterey on Macs using Apple Silicon or the Apple T2 Security Chip. Connect your Mac to a Wi-Fi or Ethernet network and do the following:

Click the gear icon in the menu bar to open System Preferences.

Alternatively, select the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the screen and choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.

Select System Preferences from the menu bar and select Erase All Content and Settings.

Enter your Mac’s password in the dialog box and click OK to open the Erase Assistant.

You will find a list of settings, data, and files that Erase Assistant will remove from your Mac. macOS will close all active foreground and background applications when you click the Continue button. The operation also disconnects and unpairs all Bluetooth devices from your Mac.

The next step is to disconnect your Apple ID account from your Mac. This will disable Find My and Activation Lock at the same time.

Enter your Apple ID password and select Continue to sign out of your Apple ID.

Select “Delete all content and settings” to start deleting your data.

Erase Mac Content and Settings Using Disk Utility

Mac computers based on Intel processors do not support the Erase Assistant utility. If your Mac doesn’t have this tool, use Disk Utility to perform a factory reset. Unlike Erase Assistant, Disk Utility erases everything on your Mac’s drive, including the operating system. Thus, you will have to reinstall macOS from scratch when setting up your Mac after erasing data.

It’s also important to create a Time Machine backup before wiping your Mac with Disk Utility. To use Disk Utility to perform a factory reset, you must shut down your Mac and boot into recovery mode.

Disconnect all unnecessary accessories from your Mac and do the following:

Press and hold your Mac’s power button (for at least 15 seconds) until its screen turns off. Wait another 10 seconds until macOS shuts down completely. Press the power button and hold the Command + R keys if you have a Mac with an Intel processor. Keep holding these keys until the Recovery Assistant window appears on the screen.

On Macs with an Apple M1 or Apple Silicon chip, press and hold the Power button until the Startup Options page appears on the screen. Select Options and then Continue to boot your Mac into recovery mode.

Select your Mac’s administrator account, enter its password, and click Next.

Can’t remember your administrator account password? Check out our guide to formatting Macs without a password.

Select Disk Utility and click the Continue button to continue.

Select the internal drive volume where macOS is installed – Macintosh HD – Data – in the sidebar and select Erase in the toolbar.

If you don’t find “Macintosh HD – Data” in the sidebar, expand the “View” drop-down menu and select “Show All Devices”.

Use the system-recommended “Name” and “Format” and select “Erase Volume Group” to delete all data stored on the disk.

Select Erase if the Erase Volume Group option is not available for your device.

You will be prompted to enter your Apple ID password. This will disconnect your account from the Mac, disable Find My, and disable Activation Lock. On Macs with an Apple Silicon chip, select Erase Mac and Restart in the pop-up window to begin erasing your hard drive. When your Mac restarts, close Disk Utility, select Reinstall macOS [Monterey], select Continue, and follow the onscreen instructions.

By default, your computer will boot to a freshly installed version of macOS when you reinstall macOS from recovery mode. To install the version of macOS that came with your Mac, press and hold Shift + Option + Command + R during startup.

Connect your computer to the Internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet (we recommend the latter option). Charge your Mac and keep its lid open while it downloads and reinstalls macOS. Your Mac may restart and show a blank screen several times during installation. When the installation is complete, a setup assistant window will appear on the screen.

Follow the Setup Assistant to set up your new Mac. Close the Setup Assistant (press Command + Q) if you want to sell, trade, or gift your Mac.

Erase All Content & Settings Using Find My

Erase Assistant Tool remains the fastest, safest and best way to erase data from Mac computers. However, if you no longer have access to your Mac, Find My offers the option to delete your data remotely. Only use this tracking app/service to erase your Mac’s content and settings if it’s stolen or lost.

Open the iCloud Find My web portal and sign in with the Apple ID account associated with your Mac. Expand All Devices and select your MacBook from the list.

Select the “Erase Mac” icon in the trash.

You will receive a warning that the operation will delete your Mac’s content and settings. Select Erase to continue.

You can also erase your Mac from the Find My mobile app on iPhone or iPad. Follow these steps if your phone and Mac use the same Apple ID.

Open the Find My app, go to the Devices tab, select your Mac and click Erase this device. Select Continue and enter the message you want to appear on the screen if someone finds your Mac. You can leave the message field blank if you wish. Click “Erase” to remotely erase your Mac’s content and settings.

Restore Erased Content and Settings

If you have a Time Machine backup, you can recover deleted data if you find or restore your Mac. Contact Apple Support if you’re having difficulty deleting all content and settings on your Mac using these tools.

How to Erase All Content and Settings on Mac

The best way to Erase your iPhone data for sell

June 21, 2022 by feecalculator_x6rbod

The best way to Erase your iPhone data.

Are you planning to sell your iPhone, give it as a gift or exchange it for a new model? First, you should erase your iPhone to make it easier to switch to a new device. Similarly, disconnect your Apple account from the iPhone so that the new user can activate the device without any problems. This guide shows you how to properly erase your iPhone before selling or giving it away.

Before You Erase Your iPhone

Here are three important things you should do before you erase your old iPhone.

If you have an Apple Watch, turn off a couple of watches before resetting your iPhone or watch. This will disable Activation Lock and unlock your Apple Watch for use on another iPhone.

Launch the Watch app on iPhone and tap All Watches in the upper right corner of the My Watch tab. Tap the information icon next to Apple Watch.

Click “Unpair Apple Watch” and select “Unpair [name] Apple Watch” in the window that appears.Enter your Apple ID password and click “Unpair” in the upper right corner.

This will unlink the watch from your account, disable Activation Lock, and remove Find My Watch.

2. Unregister iMessage and FaceTime

If you’re switching to a non-Apple device, deactivate iMessage before wiping your old iPhone. Otherwise, your new phone (Android) may not accept SMS/MMS sent through the Messages app on iOS devices.

Before proceeding, make sure the SIM associated with your iMessage phone number is in your iPhone. Then connect your iPhone to a cellular network,

go to Settings > Messaging, and turn off iMessage.

Go back to the Settings menu, select FaceTime and turn off FaceTime.

If you no longer have access to your iPhone, you can deactivate iMessage and FaceTime online.

Visit this Apple self-service solution portal on your mobile device or PC web browser. Select your country code and enter the iMessage/FaceTime phone number you want to unregister in the dialog box. Select Submit code to continue.

Enter the 6-digit verification code sent to your phone number via SMS and select Send. If the information provided is verified, Apple will remotely disconnect your phone from iMessage.

3. Turn off Find My iPhone and Activation Lock

Turning off Activation Lock is the most important thing you need to do before you erase your iPhone for a trade. This disconnects the iPhone from your Apple ID so that anyone who buys it can use the device without problems.

Open the Settings app, tap your Apple ID name, select Find My, and turn off Find My. Then enter your Apple ID password and click Turn Off.

1. Factory Reset iPhone from iOS Settings

If you manually reset your iPhone to factory settings, you may miss certain steps. The iOS 15 factory reset tool will guide you through the entire process so you don’t miss anything. The tool will disable Activation Lock, disable your Apple ID account, and back up your data before resetting iPhone.

If your iPhone is running iOS 15 or later, here’s how to perform a factory reset safely:

Open the Settings app, tap General, and select Transfer or reset iPhone.Tap Erase all content and settings.

The tool will display a summary of the apps, personal data, accounts, and services that will be removed from your iPhone.

Click Continue and enter your iPhone passcode to continue.Connect your iPhone to a Wi-Fi network and wait while the tool creates an iCloud backup. Otherwise, click “Skip Backup” to erase your iPhone data without uploading it to iCloud.Enter your Apple ID password, click “Power Off” and follow the instructions on the next page.

Reset iPhone without iOS 15

To reset an iPhone running iOS 14 or earlier, go to Settings > General > Reset. Enter your iPhone password, Apple ID password and click “Erase All Content and Settings”.

2. Erase Your iPhone from a Computer

If you can’t factory reset your iPhone directly from the Settings app, use your Mac or Windows computer instead. Your Mac must have at least macOS Catalina 10.15 installed. If you’re using a Windows device, make sure your iTunes is up to date.

Reset iPhone to Factory Settings on Mac

Connect your iPhone to your laptop or desktop Mac using a USB cable. Unlock your iPhone and, if prompted, give your computer access to your data and settings.Open Finder and select your iPhone in the sidebar.

Back up your apps and personal data on your computer so you can restore them to your new iPhone. Continue to the next step to back up your old iPhone. Skip to step 6 if you don’t want to back up your iPhone.

Click the General tab, select Back up all data on your iPhone, and select Back up now.

Choose whether you want to encrypt the backup with a security password.

If you choose to encrypt your backup, enter your password on the next page and select Set Password.

Enter your iPhone passcode (on your iPhone) to start the backup.When the backup is complete, scroll to the Software section and select Restore iPhone.

Select “Backup” to create a copy of your iPhone’s settings on your computer. Select “Don’t back up” to continue without backing up your settings.

Restoring iPhone to factory settings in Windows

Connect your iPhone to your Windows PC, open iTunes and select the iPhone icon in the top left corner.

If you want to back up your iPhone before you erase it, select “Summary” in the sidebar and then select “Back Up Now”.

Select “Restore iPhone” to restore iPhone to factory settings.

Optionally, choose whether you want to back up your iPhone settings to iTunes before restoring iPhone.

3. Erase iPhone via Recovery Mode

If you can’t remember your iPhone passcode, enter recovery mode and then erase your device from your Mac or Windows computer. Recovery mode is also a great way to erase an iPhone that won’t boot up properly.

Connect iPhone to your computer, open Finder or iTunes, and follow these steps to enter Recovery Mode:

iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2nd generation), and other iPhone models with Face ID: Press and release the volume up button . . After that, press and release the volume down button. Finally, press and hold the side button until the phone boots into recovery mode.

iPhone 7 and iPod touch (7th generation) models: Press and hold the Side (or Top) and Volume Down buttons until the recovery mode screen appears.Older iPhone and iPod touch models: Press and hold the ” Home” and the side button (or at the top) until your device loads the recovery mode screen.

When your device boots into recovery mode, Finder or iTunes should display a pop-up about a problem with your iPhone. Select Restore to continue.

If your computer is connected to the Internet, Finder or iTunes will install the latest version of iOS on your iPhone after a factory reset. Select Restore and Update to continue.

Ready to Be Sold

We do not recommend remotely wiping the iPhone you want to turn in. Apple will erase the iPhone but leave Activation Lock on because it assumes your device is lost or stolen. Always factory reset your iPhone from the settings menu or use a computer. After that, use the “Find” service to confirm the status of iPhone Activation Lock.

If Activation Lock is still active after factory resetting iPhone, contact Apple Support to request Activation Lock support.

The best way to Erase your iPhone data

Restore your Contacts on iPhone

May 25, 2022 by feecalculator_x6rbod

Restore your Contacts on iPhone.

Backing up contacts on your iPhone gives you the option to restore them if you accidentally delete them. Backing up your contact details will also help if you ever lose your iPhone or need to reinstall iOS.

You have three ways to backup and restore contacts on your iPhone. The first and second methods are based on native tools using iCloud and iTunes, while the third method is based on third-party contact backup tools.

Sync and Restore iPhone Contacts via iCloud

The most convenient way to back up contacts on your iPhone is to upload the data to iCloud. This not only syncs your contact details between Apple devices, but you can also retrieve any missing contacts by restoring them from previous archives.

Sync iPhone Contacts to iCloud

You must enable iCloud Contacts to sync your iPhone contact information with Apple servers.

1. Open the Settings app on iPhone.

2. Tap your Apple ID.

3. Tap iCloud.

4. Turn on the switch next to Contacts. If the option is already active, you don’t need to do anything.

5. Click “Merge” to merge contacts on iPhone with any contact data in iCloud.

Recover Deleted Contacts via iCloud.com

Whether you’re reinstalling macOS or setting up a new iPhone from scratch, simply repeat the steps above to redownload your synced contacts to your iOS device. However, if you delete any contacts and want to get them back, you can restore your recent archive of your contact information by submitting a restore request via iCloud.com.

1. Open Safari, Chrome, or another desktop-class web browser on your iPad, Mac, or PC.

2. Visit iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID credentials.

3. Select your name in the upper right corner of the screen and select the “Account Settings” option from the drop-down menu.

4. Scroll down the screen and select Restore Contacts.

Note. You won’t be able to access iCloud.com data recovery options if you’re using a mobile browser on an iOS or Android device.

5. On the Restore Contacts tab, select your contacts archive (use timestamps for reference) and click Restore.

6. Select Restore to confirm.

iCloud will start data recovery on your iPhone. It will also archive a snapshot of your current contacts so you can restore it if you change your mind later.

Sync and Restore Contacts From Mac or PC

If you don’t use an Apple ID or iCloud account, you can sync your contact list with the Contacts app on your Mac or PC. You can then restore contacts to your iPhone if you ever lose them. Catch? You should sync your contacts regularly in order to have an up-to-date copy of your contact information on your computer.

Note. If you’re using a PC, please install iTunes before you start.

Sync iPhone Contacts to Mac or PC

1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac or PC using a USB cable.

2. Unlock iPhone and click “Trust”.

3. Open Finder (Mac) or iTunes (PC).

4. Select your iPhone in the Finder sidebar or in the top left corner of the iTunes window.

5. Click the Information tab.

6. Check the “Sync Contacts to [Your Name] iPhone” checkbox. Then check the radio button next to all groups or select groups (select the groups you want to sync if you chose the last option).

7. Select Synchronize.

8. Wait for Finder/iTunes to finish syncing contacts.

Replacing Lost Contact Information on iPhone

If you want to recover your lost iPhone contacts, just repeat the steps above but scroll down to the “Advanced: Replace information about this device” section in step 6.

Then check the “Replace Contacts” box and select “Synchronize”. This replaces the contacts on your iOS device with the contacts on your computer.

Backup and Restore Contacts Using Third-Party App

Apart from these two methods, you can also use third-party backup tools to archive and restore contacts on iPhone. A quick search in the App Store will turn up a few apps that provide these features, but here are a few suggestions you can try.

Easy Backup

Easy Backup is a completely free download that allows you to create a complete copy of your contacts. Just open Easy Backup and select Tap to Backup to start backing up. Then select “Done” or click “Send via Email” or “Export Backup” if you want to share a copy of the contacts as a VCF (vCard) backup file. This way you can make multiple backups of your contact details.

When it’s time to restore your contacts, tap “My Backup History”. Then select a previous backup and select “Restore Contacts” to restore individual or all contacts.

Backing up contacts

Contacts Backup is a great app that allows you to backup all or selected contacts on your iPhone. Open your contacts backup and click “Back Up”. Then choose between “All Contacts” and “Select Contacts” to create a backup.

To restore contacts, go to the Archive tab and select a previous backup. Then select “Open Backup” and click “Contacts” to import the contacts to the Contacts app on iPhone.

Contacts Backup can also automatically back up iPhone contacts, but requires a subscription ($2.99 per month) to the PRO version of the app.

Back In Contact

Activating iCloud contacts is the most convenient way to protect your contacts. However, syncing your contacts to a Mac or PC and using a third-party app to manually create backups are viable alternatives. Choose the method from this guide that suits you best.

You may also want to consider creating a full iCloud or iTunes backup of your iPhone so that you have the ability to restore everything (call history, SMS text messages, etc.) should the need arise.

Restore your Contacts on iPhone

How to Factory Reset Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, or iMac

May 4, 2022 by feecalculator_x6rbod

How to Factory Reset Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, or iMac.

When you reset your Mac to factory settings, you erase your device and reinstall a new version of macOS. This may be required before selling, giving away, or troubleshooting complex issues.

How you reset your Mac will depend on its hardware configuration and operating system version, among other things. We will show you how to wipe and reset your MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, MacPro or iMac to factory settings using various methods.

Factory Reset Mac with Apple T2 Security Chip

The T2 Security Chip is Apple’s second-generation, dedicated security-focused silicon chipset for Mac computers. If your Mac is equipped with the T2 security chip and is running macOS Monterey, follow these steps to restore factory settings.

The following Macs ship with the T2 security chip:

MacBook Air models from 2018 to 2020 MacBook Pro models from 2018 to 2020iMac ( Retina 5K, 2020)< /li>Mac mini (2018)Mac Pro (2019) and Mac Pro (stand, 2019)

For a complete list of Macs with the Apple T2 Security Chip, see this Apple Support document. Better yet, check your Mac’s chipset configuration with the System Information tool.

Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > System Information > Hardware and select Controller from the sidebar. Check “Model Name” to make sure your Mac has the Apple T2 Security Chip installed.

macOS Monterey has an “Erase Assistant” that does all the hard work required to reset your Mac with the T2 Security Chip. Just launch the assistant, relax and wait while it wipes your Mac.

Connect your Mac to the Internet and follow the steps below to reset it with the Erase Assistant.

Select the Apple logo in the upper left corner of your Mac screen and choose System Preferences to open the Apple menu.

Leave the System Preferences window open and select System Preferences from the menu bar. Then select “Delete all content and settings”.

This will launch macOS Monterey Erase Assistant.

Enter your Mac’s administrator account password and select OK, or press the Enter key on your keyboard.

To continue, select Continue.

The Delete Assistant will delete your personal data, Apple ID account, third-party apps and extensions, settings and settings, and more. The process of deleting your data will also remove Find Me and Activation Lock. So you won’t be able to find or track your Mac after the operation.

You may also be prompted to back up your Time Machine data to an external hard drive.

Enter your Apple ID password and click Continue to continue.

Select “Erase all content and settings” at the confirmation prompt to start the factory reset process.

Your Mac will turn off, turn on again, and display a progress bar. Wait a few minutes and connect your Mac to the Internet (via Wi-Fi or Ethernet) when the message “Hi” appears on the screen. This will activate your Mac. Follow the Setup Assistant to set up your Mac from scratch.

Factory Reset Mac Using Disk Utility

Disk Utility is the best tool for factory resetting Intel-based Macs running macOS Big Sur or earlier. Of course, you can also use this tool to reset Apple Silicon Macs running macOS Monterey.

You need to boot into macOS Recovery in order to factory reset your Mac using Disk Utility. If you’re using an Intel-based Mac, please reset its NVRAM and disable pairing with Bluetooth devices before resetting.

Hold down your Mac’s power button for about 10 seconds until it turns off completely. Wait 10 more seconds before proceeding to step 2.If your Mac has an Intel processor, press the power button once and immediately hold down the Command + R keys. Hold down these keys until your Mac loads the Recovery Assistant .

For Macs with an Apple Silicon or M1 chip, press and hold the power button until the Mac displays the Startup Options page. After that select “Options” and select “Continue” to enter recovery mode.

Select an administrator account on the macOS recovery page, enter the password, and click Next.

2- Select Disk Utility and select Continue.

3- Select your startup drive (Macintosh HD – Data) in the sidebar.

Can’t find the Macintosh HD – Data volume? Select View at the top of the Disk Utility window, select Show All Devices, and check again.

With the Macintosh HD volume selected, select Erase from the toolbar.

Enter a drive name and select your preferred drive format/file system – APFS or Mac OS Extended. Disk Utility will select the best file system/format for your Mac hard drive type – SSD or HDD. Select “Erase Volume Group” to permanently erase your Mac’s drive.

Select “Erase” if the page does not have an “Erase Volume Group” button.

You may need to enter the password for the Apple ID account associated with your Mac. After Disk Cleanup is complete, reinstall macOS and follow the onscreen instructions to set up your Mac.

Close Disk Utility, return to the macOS Recovery page and select Reinstall macOS [Monterey].

Remotely Factory Reset Mac on the Find My App

Find Me doesn’t just help you track and locate Apple devices. You can also use this tool to remotely wipe (read: reset) your devices. To factory reset a lost or stolen Mac, open the Find My app on any Apple device associated with the same Apple ID as your Mac and follow these steps.

Open the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad, go to the Devices tab, and tap your Mac.Click Erase this device at the bottom of your Mac information card.Click Continue to confirm. tip.Finally, click “Erase” to remotely reset or wipe your Mac. If your Mac is stolen/lost, send a message to anyone who finds it. Be sure to include your contact information – phone number, email address, etc. – in the displayed message.

Factory Reset Mac on the Web

You can remotely restart your Mac using the Find My tool web client. Follow the steps below to restart your Mac from another device using a web browser.

Go to the iCloud Find My iPhone website and sign in with your Apple ID.Click the All Devices drop-down icon and select your Mac from the list of devices.

Select Erase Mac.

Select Erase at the confirmation prompt.

Wiping your Mac remotely requires an internet connection, and the process doesn’t always happen instantly. The deletion starts when your (stolen or lost) Mac connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

Note. Activation Lock remains on when remotely deleting data from a Mac. Therefore, your Apple ID (email address and password) is required to reactivate your Mac.

Get Professional Assistance

Contact Apple Support or contact your nearest Apple Authorized Service Provider if you are unable to factory reset your Mac. You may have missed a step, or your Mac may have a hardware problem.

How to Factory Reset Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, or iMac

How to set up iCloud Data Recovery Service

January 21, 2022 by feecalculator_x6rbod

How to set up iCloud Data Recovery Service.

Losing access to your iCloud data is a nightmare scenario. However, in iOS 15, Apple added a new feature called the iCloud Data Recovery Service that can get (some) of your data back when the worst happens. It’s easy to set up on iOS or macOS and if you take the time, you’ll thank yourself one day.

Read:how to backup iphone to icloud

What Is the iCloud Data Recovery Service?

iCloud Data Recovery Service is an iCloud security feature that allows you to restore access to photos, notes, documents, device backups, and most other types of encrypted data.

Please note that there are restrictions. First, it must be data synchronized with the cloud. Therefore, if your device was lost or damaged before sync was possible, the data cannot be recovered.

Secondly, any data that uses end-to-end encryption cannot be recovered. The purpose of end-to-end encryption is to hide data from everyone else, even from Apple. Without your password (decryption key), your keychain, messages, and health data cannot be recovered. To access this data, you need a working device that is signed in to iCloud.

How the iCloud Data Recovery Service Works

The idea behind iCloud Data Recovery Service is that you designate a trusted friend or family member as a backup when you forget your device password and Apple ID password.

After you assign an “Account Recovery Contact”. This can be anyone over the age of 13 with their own Apple ID and an Apple device running the latest operating system.

iCloud Recovery and iTunes Backup are Different

Starting with macOS Catalina, the iTunes app has been replaced by Apple Music, Podcasts, and Apple TV. The iTunes app acted as a central hub where you could sync content to your iOS device and back it up to local storage.

iTunes still exists as a Windows application and Windows users can use iTunes to create a local backup of their device. If you’re using Catalina or later, you can still take a local backup of your iOS device using your Mac, but this feature is now available in the Finder.

Whichever local backup method you choose, it’s different from iCloud Data Recovery because you’ll have to manually create a local backup on your Mac or PC

Who Needs To Set Up the iCloud Data Recovery Service?

If you don’t have absolutely anyone you can trust, it’s probably best for each iCloud user to set up data recovery with a recovery contact. Even if you don’t feel like you need it personally, you can act as a recovery contact for someone else. If you have friends or family who tend to forget their credentials, it’s a good idea to convince them to set it up. Remember that this is not something you can activate after the fact.

The steps to activate the service are slightly different depending on the device you are using. The steps below apply to iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey.

Setting Up the iCloud Data Recovery Service on iOS

The following screenshots are taken on an iPhone 11 Pro running iOS 15, but should be similar to any iOS device running iOS 15 or later. To set up iOS Data Recovery on your iPhone, do the following:

Open the Settings app.Select your name.

Select Password & Security.

Select Account Recovery.

On this screen, you can do several things. To set up iCloud data recovery, select “Add Recovery Contact” and select a trusted person from your contact list.

After you complete the process, they will receive a message that you can edit first, and if they accept, they can help you get your data back from your iCloud account to iCloud.com if your phone is lost, stolen, or you forgot your password.

Another option is to create a recovery key, which allows you to recover your account and access your iCloud data without the help of another person. However, this option has some features that will be discussed later in this article.

Setting Up the iCloud Data Recovery Service on iPadOS

The steps to activate iCloud Data Recovery on iPad are very similar to iOS. Here’s what you need to do:

Open the Settings app.Select your name.

Select Password & Security.

Select Account Recovery.

As with the iPhone above, you can now add a recovery contact you trust.

Don’t choose a recovery key until you read our important notes about it below.

Setting Up the iCloud Data Recovery Service on macOS

If you have a MacBook or Mac, the process is slightly different for iOS devices. The following screenshots were taken on a MacBook Air M1 running macOS Monterey. Here’s how to set up iCloud Data Recovery on macOS:

1 – Select the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the screen. Choose System Preferences.

2 – Select your Apple ID.

3 – Select Password & Security.

4 – Select Account Recovery.

Next to Account Recovery, select Manage.

In the Recovery Help section, select the + icon to add a recovery contact.

You can also add a recovery key here, or enable or disable two-factor authentication, but before doing so, read the next section.

Should You Use a Recovery Key?

If you choose to use a recovery key and lose it, you will not be able to restore your account using the standard Apple account recovery process. This is a safer way to protect your account because hackers cannot use your information to abuse the standard account recovery process. However, you’ll need a recovery key, a trusted phone number, and an Apple device running at least iOS11 or macOS High Sierra. Because the recovery key is so secure, you need to store a copy of it in a location that you won’t lose access to but that is also inaccessible to unwanted individuals.

It is important to note that you should not configure the recovery key option at this time if you are already using two-factor authentication (2FA). The recovery key and 2FA recovery method seem to interfere with each other. As mentioned above, using a recovery key blocks the standard recovery method enabled by two-factor authentication. It is better to choose only one of these two recovery options. If you do not have high security requirements, it is better to use two-factor authentication, which is more than enough for most users.

Don’t Just Use One Backup Solution

While it’s good to have backup access to iCloud backups, it’s never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket. The good news is that you can easily back up your data to multiple cloud services.

For example, you can install Microsoft OneDrive or Google Photos to have these apps automatically upload your information to their data centers. So even if you lose access to your iCloud backup, there are other places you can go to get your data back. With so many ways to protect your information, there is no reason to fall victim to lost data again.

How to set up iCloud Data Recovery Service

How to set up iCloud Data Recovery Service.

Search Results for: What to Do If Your iPhone is Stolen and How to Recover It

Use macOS Monterey Erase Assistant

Erase Mac Content and Settings Using Disk Utility

Disconnect all unnecessary accessories from your Mac and do the following:

Select Disk Utility and click the Continue button to continue.

Erase All Content & Settings Using Find My

Restore Erased Content and Settings

How to Erase All Content and Settings on Mac

Before You Erase Your iPhone

1. Factory Reset iPhone from iOS Settings

2. Erase Your iPhone from a Computer

3. Erase iPhone via Recovery Mode

Ready to Be Sold

The best way to Erase your iPhone data

Sync and Restore iPhone Contacts via iCloud

Sync iPhone Contacts to iCloud

Sync and Restore Contacts From Mac or PC

Sync iPhone Contacts to Mac or PC

Replacing Lost Contact Information on iPhone

Backup and Restore Contacts Using Third-Party App

Back In Contact

Restore your Contacts on iPhone

Factory Reset Mac with Apple T2 Security Chip

Factory Reset Mac Using Disk Utility

Remotely Factory Reset Mac on the Find My App

Factory Reset Mac on the Web

Get Professional Assistance

How to Factory Reset Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, or iMac

What Is the iCloud Data Recovery Service?

How the iCloud Data Recovery Service Works

iCloud Recovery and iTunes Backup are Different

Who Needs To Set Up the iCloud Data Recovery Service?

Setting Up the iCloud Data Recovery Service on iOS

Setting Up the iCloud Data Recovery Service on iPadOS

Setting Up the iCloud Data Recovery Service on macOS

Should You Use a Recovery Key?

Don’t Just Use One Backup Solution

How to set up iCloud Data Recovery Service

What Is iCloud Data Recovery Service and How To Set It Up?