If you’ve been lucky enough to get an iPhone 14 for Christmas – whether it was a treat for yourself or a gift from someone else – you’ll need to set it up before you can start using all of its excellent features.
In our iPhone 14 review, we praised the iPhone 14’s TrueDepth camera, emergency satellite communications and impressive battery life, among other things, so there’s a lot to get stuck into – and luckily, getting the new iPhone 14 up and running is pretty easy.
Below, we’ll guide you through that process, whether you’re new to iPhone or upgrading from an older model, or from Android. And while we’re focusing on the iPhone 14 here, the setup process is pretty much the same for other iPhones as well.
1. Turn on iPhone 14 and select setup method
You’ve probably solved this bit already, but the very first step is to turn on your iPhone 14. Do this by pressing and holding the power button on the right edge until you see the Apple logo.
You will then see “hello” written on the screen and the screen will scroll through different languages, but just swipe up to get started.
If you are visually impaired, you can turn on the Zoom or VoiceOver accessibility features here. You will then be prompted to choose whether you want to use Quick Start or configure the device manually.
You should choose the former option if you have access to an old iPhone or iPad, while you should choose the latter if not.
The process is similar in both cases, but where there are differences, we will highlight them below.
2. Connect to Wi-Fi
If you’re using Quick Start, turn on the old device, make sure both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are enabled, place the device next to the new iPhone 14, then follow the initial instructions.
Whether you use Quick Start or manual setup, you should soon be prompted to connect your iPhone 14 to Wi-Fi or a cellular network, so do this by tapping on the appropriate Wi-Fi network and entering the password.
Or, if you’d rather use a cellular network (and your new iPhone 14 has an active SIM card or eSIM), you can tap “Continue without Wi-Fi”.
3. Set up security
Next, you’ll be prompted to set up Face ID on your iPhone 14, so you can unlock it just by looking at the screen.
Follow the on-screen instructions for this, after which you’ll be asked to create a six-digit passcode, which is sometimes used as an extra layer of security, and as a backup if Face ID fails.
You can also tap Passcode Options to use a four-digit passcode, a custom passcode, or no passcode – although we wouldn’t recommend the latter option.
4. Restore or transfer your data
The most time-consuming part of setting up an iPhone 14 is restoring or transferring apps and data from either your old device or the cloud.
You’ll be presented with a number of options, including transferring from an iCloud backup, transferring from another iPhone, transferring from a computer backup, or moving data from an Android phone.
Most of these options will ask you to sign in with your Apple ID, and in the case of iCloud, your data and apps will be downloaded in the background, so you can start using your iPhone 14 before all the content is restored .
If you’re restoring it from an old device or a computer, you’ll need to wait while the process takes place.
Whichever method you choose, there will only be a few simple instructions to follow, but please note that if you are restoring data from an old phone, you should keep it next to your iPhone 14, and that if you are restoring from Android, download the Move to iOS app on your Android phone.
If in doubt, check out our full guide on how to switch from Android to iPhone or how to transfer data from iPhone to iPhone.
If you don’t have a device to restore data from, or you want a clean slate on your new phone, select “Don’t transfer apps and data” instead.
5. Complete the setup
If you haven’t already been prompted to sign in with your Apple ID, you’ll be prompted to do so now. So do this, or choose “Forgot your password or don’t have an Apple ID?” to make one.
Then there are just a few final steps that the on-screen instructions will guide you through. These include allowing iOS to update automatically, choosing whether to enable location services and analytics, and setting up Siri, FaceTime and iMessage.
Finally, you will be asked if you want to enable Screen Time, which provides information about how much time you spend using your iPhone. You’ll also be able to switch or customize various display options at this stage, such as Display Zoom, which adjusts the size of icons and text on the home screen.
Of course, you can change any of these settings after you’ve finished setting up your phone.
Once that is done, you will be presented with the home screen of your iPhone 14 and you are free to start using it. If you’re not sure where to start, check out our iPhone tips and tricks guide, or head over to our best iPhone apps and best iPhone games guides to load up your iPhone with content.
