[Answered!]Should I Set Up as New iPhone Or Restore from Backup?

Part 1. About "Set Up As New Phone"

If you are looking to set up your iPhone as a new phone, you will want to learn what exactly it means setting up your iPhone as a new phone and what its pros and cons are.

1. What Does It Mean to "Set Up As New Phone"?

When you choose to set up your iPhone as a new phone, you basically start from scratch. All the settings will be the ones that were configured when the phone was in the factory and you will need to customize them according to your preferences.

2. What are the Advantages of "Set Up As New Phone"?

There are several advantages to setting up your iPhone as a new phone.

• No Clutter

  If you had any clutter in your backup, that will not be carried over to your new iPhone and it will be totally clutter-free.

• Avoid Issues

  If you had even the slightest issue on your old iPhone, that can be carried over to your new iPhone with a backup. Setting up your iPhone as a new phone fixes that for you.

• Customize It Your Way

  If you set up your iPhone as a new phone, you can customize everything according to how you want. You can change settings, add your own wallpapers, and so on. You do not need to be stuck to your old iPhone's preferences.

• Run Faster

  Since the new device will not have any of your old data, it will run significantly faster until it is loaded with your data.

3. What are the Disadvantages of "Set Up As New Phone"?

There are certain disadvantages to setting up your iPhone as a new phone.

• Need to Download Everything Manually

  If you set up your iPhone as a new phone, you need to download all of your old apps and data manually to your phone. This can be a time consuming task if you have loads of files to add to your device.

• Configure Settings Again

  If you customized many settings on your old phone, you will need to do the same again on your new iPhone. This can take quite a while if you need to adjust several settings options on your new iPhone.

• Your Data Will Be Gone

  When you set up your iPhone as a new phone, you lose all of your messages, call logs, and other data saved on your phone. You can never get it back until you restore a backup.

• Time Consuming

  You will spend a lot of time adjusting the options on your phone and this will take a significant amount of time before you can actually start using your iPhone as your primary device.

That should help you decide whether to set up as new iPhone or restore a backup on your iPhone.

Part 2. About "Restore from Backup"

The other option you have is to restore your iPhone from a backup. Now let's take a look at what it means to "Restore from Backup", the advantages and disadvantages of doing this.

1. What Does It Mean to "Restore from Backup"?

Restore from a backup means to restore all of your old iPhone's data on your new iPhone. This includes all your messages, calls, and other data.

2. What are the Advantages of "Restore from Backup"?

There are many advantages to using a backup on your new iPhone.

• No Downloading Needed

  Since your backup contains all your data, you do not need to download much on your new iPhone. All your data will be restored.

• No Settings Configuration Needed

  You do not need to set up or customize any options as that will be done when you restore the backup.

• No Loss of Data

  You do not lose any of your data as everything gets restored on your iPhone from your backup.

• Start Using Your iPhone Immediately

  Since basically everything gets configured when you restore your iPhone, you can start using your iPhone as your primary phone immediately.

3. What are the Disadvantages of "Restore from Backup"?

This method also has some disadvantages which we think you should know.

• Brings Clutter With It

  Restoring from a backup brings all of your iPhone’s files which you may not need. This can immediately make your newly purchased iPhone cluttered.

• Cause Issues

  If your old iPhone had issues, your new iPhone can get the same issues from your old iPhone’s backup.

• Unwanted Data

  Since iTunes does not allow you to selectively restore files, you will get unwanted files as well when you restore a backup.

• Need iTunes/iCloud

  If you restore an iTunes backup, then you need the iTunes app installed on your computer. For iCloud backups, you need an extremely fast Internet connection to retrieve your data.

That will tell should o set up my new iPhone as a new iPhone or restore from backup.

Your Best Choice: Set Up as New iPhone and Selectively Restore Data from Backup

If you are in a dilemma whether to set up as new iPhone or restore from backup, there is actually something you can do to mix things up. You can actually set up your iPhone as a new phone and then selectively restore data from an iTunes backup.

There is a software called Tenorshare UltData that allows you to selectively restore files from your iTunes backups. You can use this tool to only get the data that you actually want on your new iPhone. It will leave all your old data aside.

The following shows how you can use it.

• Install the latest version of the software on your computer.
• Connect your iPhone to your computer and open the software.

• Click on Recover from iTunes Backup File at the top, select your iTunes backup, and click on Start Scan.

  

• You will see the individual files of your iTunes backup. Select the files that you want to restore on your iPhone and click on Recover at the bottom.

  

• Click on Recover to Device to restore the files directly to your iPhone.

  

You are all set. Your chosen data should now be available on your iPhone.

Conclusion

If you now ever get the would you like to set up this iPhone as a new iPhone or restore prompt on your iPhone, you would know what to do thanks to the guide above. It tells you the pros and cons of each method and also shows how to selectively restore data on your iPhone.

FAQ on Should I Set Up as New iPhone Or Restore from Backup

1. How to Setup as New iPhone?

Setting up your iPhone as a new phone is pretty easy and you can do it as follows.

• Turn on your iPhone and select a language.
• Tap on Set Up Manually on the following screen.
• Select your WiFi network.
• Create a passcode for your iPhone.
• Tap Don’t Transfer Apps & Data to set up your iPhone as a new phone. Continue with the wizard to set up your iPhone.

2. How to Selectively Restore Data from Backup?

You need to use a third-party program like UltData to selectively restore data from a backup. Connect your iPhone to your computer, and launch the software. Click on Recover from iTunes Backup File, select your backup, and hit Start Scan. Select the files to restore and click on Recover.