How To Factory Reset IPad

We’ve started a new iPad course this month and in order to get ready for the class I thought it would be a good idea to completely factory reset my iPad and use it for this training. But first I wanted to walk you through the steps of backing up your iPad as well.

We figured this would be a great time to capture the process on video, in addition to sharing the step-by-step instructions within this blog.

Reasons to Back-up Your iPad…

Simply put, if you want or need anything on your iPad you will want to perform a back-up. Things you might want to keep include but are not limited to: images & videos, personal documents, apps, or downloaded software.

If you know there is nothing you would like to keep on your iPad there is no need to perform a Back-up. If this is applies to you click here to jump down to.

Or, you might be like us and there’s a strong likelihood something important is on your iPad but have no idea of what, or where it could be. 😀

What’s an iCloud?

Just in case you’re wondering what an iCloud was and what in the heck it has to do with the price of tea in China…or in this case backing up your iPad, here’s a quick summary. 🙂

Think of the iCloud as one gigantic filing cabinet that holds your most important documents. In this case, those documents are your images, videos, contacts, notes, text messages, and so much more. iCloud is Apple’s filing cabinet and you’re storing all your data from your iPhone, iPad, iWatch, or other Apple device in their cabinet, only it’s located online, in a cloud.

Storing your iPad’s information in the iCloud allows you to easily retrieve accidentally deleted content such as photos or videos. Which is important because everything you put on your iPad after you purchased it will be lost after performing a factory reset.

Watch this Video Tutorial to see how easy it really is:

How to Back-up Your iPad to iCloud

Before you begin What you will need

Apple ID Login and Password

To backup your iPad you’ll head over to your settings tap on your name (Apple ID), then tap on iCloud.

Located at the top of the “STORAGE” section you’ll notice the storage space that you have in your iCloud.

You will want to take note of the following:

How much total iCloud storage space you have?
How much storage space has been used?
How much storage space is still available?

Did you know Apple automatically provides its users with 5GB of free iCloud storage. Anything past that will cost you.

In case you were wondering, here are the different iCloud plans:

FREE – up to 5GB
$0.99/month – 50GB
$2.99/month – 200GB
$9.99/month – 2 TB

Note The listed prices are current as of the date of this Blog. However, since Apple’s prices are always subject to change, be sure to visit Apple’s iCloud Pricing webpage to verify they have not changed their prices.

***Note*** Your storage amounts will differ from the ones in the image because we pay for additional storage however, the positioning of the total storage space and total storage space available will be the same

As you scroll down you’ll want to make sure you have the photos and contacts set to back up and then any other documents you want to backup.

Tap on iCloud Backup and back sure that it is toggled on. You’ll know it’s on by the green bar. Tap on Back Up Now and let it go.

Depending on how much stuff is on the iPad will determine how long this process will take.

Okay, now that we’ve got you all backed up there is ONE MORE THING you want to do if you will be selling, trading in, or gifting your iPad to someone. You want to unlink this iPad from your iCloud

While still in your iClouds settings you want to tap on Find My iPad and then tap on the toggle switch so it’s gray, which means it’s disabled. This will unlink your iPad from your iCloud account so when you reset it, it’s no longer associated with each other.

Now, we’re finally ready to erase all the content and reset it to its factory.