How to do a clean installation of iOS 16

iOS 16 has arrived and with the new Operating System of the Cupertino company inevitably come doubts: Should I update or would it be better to perform a clean installation of iOS 16? All of this will fundamentally depend on the state of your iPhone, but today we want to answer all your questions.

We show you how you can perform a clean install of iOS 16 and install it from scratch. In this way you will be able to eliminate those errors or excessive battery consumption that harm the performance of your iPhone. Without a doubt, if your iPhone is not having the expected performance, this is the best option.

Preliminary considerations

We need to keep a lot of things in mind before performing a clean install of iOS 16 to avoid any issues during the process. However, the first thing we are going to remind you is that this tutorial is valid for both iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, since all mechanisms and tools are completely identical.

Taking this into account, the first advice we give you is to make a backup, both in iCloud and complete through your PC or Mac, and it is indistinct what type of computer you use to carry out this clean installation, since it will be valid in any of these.

Back up to iCloud

To back up to iCloud The first thing we must make sure of is to have a WiFi connection, since at the moment we cannot make backup copies through mobile data by default, something that, by the way, will be possible once we have installed iOS 16, since it is one of its main novelties.

With that said, we'll head over to Settings > Profile (Apple ID) > iCloud > iCloud Backup. At this point we will make sure to have this function activated and we will press the button "Back up now."

We will have to wait a long time, since this type of backup is not exactly fast. However, we can take the opportunity to make a backup of an application as important as Whatsapp, so we will make sure to continue maintaining all the chats, for this go to WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Backup > Back up now.

At this point you can encrypt the backup, include the videos and even schedule an automatic copy.

Perform a complete security on your PC or Mac

My personal recommendation is that you make a complete backup, that is, a copy that includes both the photos and the various applications and all their settings. This will allow you in case of problems, to return to have your iPhone in the same conditions that you left it just before starting the process, something you can't do with an iCloud backup.

To do this, connect the iPhone to your PC or Mac through the Lightning cable, and once you have opened the iPhone configuration tool, which in the case of macOS will appear as a new location in the list on the left area of Finder.

You must activate the option "Keep a backup of all your iPhone data on this Mac", and in the same way you must activate the option "Encrypt the backup." This encryption will guarantee that the copy will be complete, including various settings within the applications, and of course all your conversations in the messaging applications.

Now press the button "Sync up" or the one to perform the backup, depending on whether you are using the macOS tool or the Windows one. In the case of the latter (Windows), you will have to use itunes without any choice, although the user interface is identical, so you will not have problems.

Download iOS 16 or use Apple servers

You will have two ways to perform this installation from scratch. The first, and the one that we recommend the most from the team Actualidad iPhone, is that you download the iOS firmware in “.IPSW” format either from Apple's own developer website or from various web portals that allow you to download completely safely.

You must bear in mind that this does not pose any type of risk to your iPhone or your data, and is that when you perform an installation of iOS, when you start the activation process, the iPhone connects to Apple servers to verify the signature of the Operating System and therefore verify that it is facing a version created and authorized by Apple itself.

By contrast, If you prefer, you can choose to let iTunes (on Windows) or the iPhone sync tool (on macOS) search for the latest available version of the Operating System. when we choose to restore the iPhone. However, sometimes this slows down the process a lot, either because Apple's servers are saturated the first few days after the release of iOS 16, or because sometimes it does not update it and only restores it, so we have to look for updates and make the adjustment afterwards.

Install iOS 16 cleanly

Now that you have done the hard part, in case you have chosen to download the iOS firmware, you must follow the following steps:

Connect your iPhone or iPad to the PC / Mac and follow any of these instructions:
1. Mac: In the Finder the iPhone will appear, click on it and the menu will open
2. PC Windows: Open iTunes and look for the iPhone logo in the upper right corner, then tap Summary and the menu will open
On Mac Press the “Alt” key on Mac or Shift on PC and select the function “Restore iPhone”, then the file explorer will open and you must select the .IPSW file that you have previously downloaded
Now it will start to restore the device and it will reboot several times. Don't unplug it while it's done

So quickly and easily you will have installed iOS 16 cleanly, avoiding any possible errors and enjoying an iPhone like new. What we have always known as a format.