What does a 'full restore to resolve problems' entail?

[Sheza]

Hi,

This is sort of a question of definition. I hear all the time that people solve many problems relating to battery life etc by doing a 'full restore' or a 'clean' iOS install.

I'm wondering what exactly this means?

Is it where I erase all content & settings from the phone and restore an iCloud backup?
Is it where I restore the iPhone with a manually downloaded version of iOS, via iTunes, and then restore an iCloud backup?
Is it where I erase the phone and set it up as a new one, rather than from a backup?

I want to understand what people mean by this so I can give it a go, as I've had my iPhone 6 for a year now and I think it could do with a refresh. That said, I don't want to have to set it up as a new phone and go through all that process again.

 

[Command]

You do this from iTunes. Connecting your phone and selecting 'Restore Device (iPhone)', not restore backup... https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201252
If your device is acting 'strange', this can often resolve it. You can run a Backup first, then restore the device and then you can, if you like, restore from the backup you created. What it does is a full Operating System install by erasing and formatting / preparing the device for a clean install. Generally speaking, restoring from your backup won't cause issues to persist, but it can - it just depends upon where the issues actually are. What I do... is, connect to iTunes, backup, restore device and check it out, sign in, etc. - it's going to be brand new. No data / applications on the device unless you sign in to iCloud, etc. to sync data and App Store to download apps, etc. After you're satisfied, you can connect and Restore from Backup from the file you created, thus putting your info back on it just like it was before (hopefully, sans any issue...)

There are a number of options but in general, restoring the device is a safe bet - just as long as you create a backup first. You can create a backup in iTunes at any time, just keep in mind that it only keeps one under normal circumstances. So, each backup you create is your official restore point for the device. If you backup, the options are endless. For you device and as well as anything else.