iPhone did a factory reset overnight by itself

So I use iPhone 14 Pro Max. I've only been using this phone since September 2023. Last night, my phone just did a factory reset by itself. When I woke up, the alarm went off at 6:50, and I remember seeing some message, although I vaguely remember as that was the first thing I saw after I woke up, asking if I wanted to keep my iCloud data and all. I believe I pressed cancel. However, it then went black and displayed the loading screen (the screen you see when you update iOS). As I wasn't updating to the most recent iOS, I thought that's what's up. However, after a while, when it finally restarted, I saw the "hello" screen (the screen you see when you first buy the iPhone or reset the iPhone), which led me to the basic configuration page... meaning that it was not about the update, but it somehow just did a factory reset. And as I don't regularly back up any of my data (including images, videos, files, etc.), they're all gone. Several years' worth of contacts, images, and message history, all gone. So I was curious if there's any way of bringing those data back to life...

iPhone 14 Pro Max, iOS 18

Posted on Oct 15, 2025 1:26 PM

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Posted on Oct 15, 2025 1:40 PM

I suspect you already know that a backup must be performed BEFORE a data loss.


That said, are you SURE that you don’t have any Automatic iCloud backups?


It’s the default setting; as is iCloud sync’ing of the commonly used Apple apps.



Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support



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iPhone did a factory reset overnight by itself

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