How To Activate New iPhone From Old iPhone Explained

It is no more a problem to activate a new iPhone from an old iPhone. Because this article will tell you the exact method.

Surely, you have a lot of data on your old iPhone, and transferring each file one by one will require a lot of time and energy. Also, you do not want to lose any of your data.

So, it is a challenging task to keep all of your data intact and find the easiest way to transfer it.

Hence, we have brought some very helpful and convenient tricks for you. Keep reading this article till the end.

Table of Contents

Step 1: Prepare for the activation procedure

There are some preliminary steps you should follow before activating your new iPhone.

1. Clean Your Old iPhone

If you want to activate your new iPhone from the old iPhone, you need to transfer all the data.

But, most of us have useless data on our phones such as a lot of screenshots, Whatsapp images, randomly saved photos, blurry pictures, useless files, etc.

You should not transfer this trash to your new iPhone. It will occupy the storage space for no reason and will create a mess in your iPhone.

Thus, keep the data only that is important for you and you want to keep it. We suggest that you should go through all the data and delete the useless things.

Just select multiple photos of files and delete them in a bunch instead of removing each one by one.

There is an app called Gemini Photos that is very useful in cleaning similar selfies, blurry shots, and older screenshots.

It will sort out and remove these photos quickly thereby saving your time and energy.

2. Back Up the Data

Now, you should back up the data of your old iPhone. If you do not do so, the data can be lost. Back up also helps restore the data on the new iPhone easily.

You can use both iTunes and iCloud to back up the data. The method is as follows;

iCloud BackUP

Connect your old iPhone to reliable internet or Wifi connection.
Next, open ‘Settings’ on your phone and click on your name.
Scroll down to tap the ‘iCloud’ and then choose ‘iCloud Backup’.
Click on the ‘Back Up Now’ option and keep your phone connected to the internet.
This will take a few minutes, do not perform any function during the process.
You can confirm Back up by going to ‘Settings’. Tap your name and then ‘iCloud’.
Next, choose the ‘iCloud Storage, then ‘Manage Storage’, and your device.
Here, the Backup information will be shown with all the details such as time, date, and size.

iTunes Back Up

iTunes is a good option to Back Up all of your data including photos, files, messages, applications, call logs, settings, memos, bookmarks, and calendar.

This means you will not lose even a bit of your data. The process is as follows;

Take a USB cable, connect its one end to your iPhone and insert the other end into the USB port on your computer or Mac.
Launch iTunes on your computer and click the ‘Device’ button that is located on the top left of the iTunes window.
Tap ‘Summary’ and then ‘Back-Up Now’. If you want to encrypt the Back-Up, click on “Encrypt [device] backup”.
It may require the passcode for your device, enter it or your computer will show the message “Trust this Computer”, follow the on-screen prompts to proceed further.
Next, choose your iPhone appearing in the list of devices on your Mac or PC.
You can see the Back-Up data by going to ‘Edit>Preferences>Devices’ on your computer.

3. Further Steps

You must have your Apple ID and password ready before setting up a new iPhone. Because you cannot activate your new iPhone if you have lost the password.

Recover it before setting the new iPhone. Moreover, save the necessary passwords of your online accounts and subscriptions.

Unpair your Apple Watch from your old iPhone, it will Back up automatically. So, you can easily restore its data and use it with the new iPhone.

Disconnect any wires or Bluetooth devices from your old iPhone.

Step 2: Activate Your New iPhone

Insert a SIM card in your new iPhone and restart it. The restart process is different for various models of iPhone.

You can check the relevant method in the user manual or on the Apple site.

If you are unable to activate your iPhone by this method, try the following method;

Connect your new iPhone to a PC or Mac using the cable that comes with your iPhone.
Make sure that your Mac has the latest iOS version and iTunes. Connect your computer to Wifi or internet connection.
When you open iTunes or Finder on your computer, it will detect and activate your new iPhone.
You will see an alert saying either “Set up as New” or “Restore from Backup”, it indicates that your iPhone is activated.

Step 3: Restore Data on Your New iPhone

Since you have backed up the data of your old iPhone to iCloud or iTunes, you can now restore it on your new iPhone. There are two methods of restoring or transferring data.

Restore from Backup

Turn ON your new iPhone by following the on-screen prompts and you see Apps & Data screen.
Make sure that your new iPhone is connected to a reliable internet connection and its battery is fully charged.
Now, go to iCloud Backup and tap on ‘Restore’.
You need to sign in to iCloud by entering your Apple ID and password.
Here, all the backups will be available, click the one you want to restore.
Check the date and size to confirm that it is the right backup. It will take a few moments to restore the data, don’t turn off your iPhone.

Transfer Data Directly from Old to New iPhone

If your old iPhone is running iOS 12.4 or later, you can transfer data without iCloud.
Make sure that the battery of both iPhones is charged. Turn ON Bluetooth on both iPhones.
Once your new iPhone is turned ON and activated, place it closer to your old iPhone.
Your old iPhone will detect the new one, tap ‘Continue’.
On your new iPhone, an animation will appear. Now, open the camera on your old iPhone and hold it over the new one in such a way that the animation comes in the center of the camera.
Once, the ‘Finish’ message appears on the new iPhone, enter the current passcode.
Follow the on-screen instructions to set up the Face ID.
Next, click on ‘Transfer’ to start the process of transferring data from old to new iPhone.
Wait for the process’s completion and keep your devices close to each other.

Step 4: Reset Your Old iPhone

So, you have set up your new iPhone and have also transferred the data to it. If you want to sell your old iPhone, reset it to delete all of your personal information.

Follow these simple steps to reset your iPhone;

First, you need to sign out of the iCloud on your iPhone. Open the Settings app on your device, tap [your name] and then click on “Sign Out.”
Next, open ‘General Settings’ and then tap on ‘Reset’.
Next, choose the “Erase all contents and settings” option. This will delete all the data on your old iPhone and will restore factory settings.

So, now you can give it to someone or sell it without any risk.

Final Words

This guide has explained all the steps to activate your new iPhone. First, you need to recharge both devices and connect them to a Wifi network.

Then, remove extra and useless data from your old iPhone. Back up the important data to iCloud or iTunes. We have also told you the method of direct transfer.

The next step is to initialize your new iPhone. Finally, restore the Backup data. So, this is the exact method to activate your new iPhone from the old iPhone.