How to Recover Data from Lost iPhone? Remember the Four Steps!

It's terrible to have your iPhone stolen or lost. Not only do you lose hundreds of dollars in smartphone costs, but you also lose all of the data. What makes matters worse is that the thief can acquire the info on the iPhone and use it for malicious purposes.

You could still try some methods to recover the data on your lost or stolen iPhone, such as an iTunes or iCloud backup. It will be considerably easier if you intend to continue using an iPhone. You simply need to restore the entire backup to your new iPhone via iCloud or iTunes backups.

Firstly, locate your iPhone via iCloud.com

If you just lost your iPhone, the first thing you need to do is you could locate your iPhone to try to find it back. Follow the detailed steps to locate your iPhone.

Step 1. Go to iCloud.com on a browser and log in to your Apple ID. Need to mention that, if you haven't signed in to your Apple ID on iCloud.com before, you couldn't use this function because it requires a twice check on your iPhone to trust the browser.    

Tips: If you only see Settings, Keynote, Numbers, and Pages, it means your account is on the web mode. You won't be able to recover your iPhone if iCloud isn't turned on.  

Step 2. Go to “Find my iPhone” and then click “All Devices”. The devices list with your iCloud account will be displayed. You could select your iPhone to see the last location if it was active in the last twenty-four hours.

Step 3. Go to “Notify me when found” and tick it if “Find my iPhone” couldn’t locate your iPhone. If the iPhone startups or is online, you will receive an e-mail.

Secondly, recover data from lost iPhone

Even if you can't find your lost or stolen iPhone back, you could still recover the data on it. You'll be able to recover your data if you have an iCloud or recent iTunes backup, and with another iOS device. If there is no available iOS device to use, you could selectively recover the data from iCloud or iTunes backups to the computer with the third-party iPhone data recovery software.

Recover data from lost iPhone via iTunes/iCloud backups

It will be much easier if you intend to continue using an iPhone. If you have backed up your iPhone recently, you could use another iPhone to recover data from the lost iPhone. Follow the steps to recover data from lost iPhone via iTunes or iCloud backups.

Steps to recover data from lost iPhone via iTunes backup

Step 1. Launch iTunes and connect your new iPhone to the computer you have backed up the lost iPhone.

Step 2. Click the device icon and select “Restore Backups…” under the Backups menu.

Step 3. Select a recent backup from the backups list.

Step 4. Wait for the recovery process to completer and keep the connection.

Steps to recover data from lost iPhone via iCloud backup

Step 1. If the other iPhone is not a new one, please erase all the existing data on it and reset it. Go to “Settings” > “General” > “Reset” > “Erase All Contents and Settings”.

Step 2. When comes to the “Apps & Data” screen, tap “Restore from iCloud backup”.

Step 3. Sign in with your Apple ID of the lost iPhone to recover data via iCloud backup. Select the latest backup to restore from the backup list. Wait for the data recovery process to finish.

Thirdly, block your lost iPhone

Even if your iPhone is lost or stolen, you can still control it to some extent. Depending on the settings of your lost iPhone, you have a few alternatives if the function “Find my iPhone” is activated.

If the "Find My iPhone" option is not activated, you will be unable to track or remove your phone remotely.

Step 1. Locate your lost iPhone as we said above.

Step 2. Activate "Lost Mode" on your lost iPhone by using your iCloud account.

Tips: This feature is compatible with iOS 6 and later. The lost iPhone is secured with a four-digit password. You can also use your iPhone to show a custom message with your contact information and track its location (if it's turned on).

Last, remotely delete the data from your iPhone

If you've recovered your data from the lost iPhone and are certain that the phone is permanently lost, you could remove all of the data from the lost iPhone if the "Find My iPhone" feature is enabled on your iPhone.

Step 1. Go to iCloud.com to sign in with your iCloud account and access the "Find My iPhone" feature.

Step 2. Select "All devices" then choose the lost device you want to erase.

Step 3. There are three options to choose from. "Play sound", "Lost Mode" and "Erase iPhone". Click on “Erase iPhone” and then input your Apple ID to confirm.

Conclusion

When you lost your iPhone or the iPhone was stolen, you could only recover data from lost iPhone via previous iTunes or iCloud backups. Please remember to activate the “Find My iPhone” feature on your iOS devices and keep it active. Making a regular backup via iTunes or iCloud could be the best way to avoid data loss. Alternatively, a freeware FoneTool could be another good choice to selectively back up important iPhone data and restore the backups to the computer.