How to Factory Restore Your iPad

I have nothing but good things to say about my iPad, however, since I have never had any problems with it yet, I was thinking what I would do if it suddenly stopped working on me for some reason. I decided to try to do a factory restore to my iPad and test how the process works, and backup my existing files from my iPad. Then if something does ever happen I will be prepared and can easily restore my iPad to factory settings, but not lose my files. In this article I will explain how to backup your iPad and factory restore it.

First thing to keep in mind when doing a factory restore: all of your songs, files, videos, apps, etc... Everything will be deleted off your iPad and the system will be set back to the default factory settings. You will be able to do a backup of all of your content via iTunes before the restore takes place, but make sure you choose to backup your files before you perform a restore, otherwise the files are gone!

In order to Factory Restore your iPad follow these steps:

1- Download and install the latest version of iTunes on your PC
2 - Connect your iPad to your PC with the USB connector
3 - Select your iPad when it appears in iTunes
4 - Right Click the iPad
5 - Click Sync Option
6 - Click Summary (once sync is complete)
7 - Click Restore
8 - Click Backup (when prompted)
9 - Click Restore (when prompted, if you have done sync and backup you shouldn't lose any data)
10 - Click OK (once the restore is done)

Now your iPad should be restored to the factory settings, and when you attach the device again you should go back through the initial setup of the iPad where you re-register the iPad. You should have the option to restore from a backup, click the drop down and choose the one with the most current date, should be the same day you just did the backup on. Once you sync your iPad again, all of your data, music, etc...should be put back on the device.

I wanted to also point out that a factory restore is much different from doing a Full Recovery of your iPad. I wrote an article on how to do that "How to Fully Recover an iPad" which is a complete reinstall of the iPad operating system vs. setting the system back to factory settings, which is what the factory restore does.

Well I hope this guide helps you to factory restore your iPad.