How to Sign Out of Your Apple ID Account on an iPhone

Co-authored by Chiara Corsaro

Last Updated: May 15, 2018

This wikiHow teaches you how to sign out of your Apple ID account on your iPhone. Many phone services use this account (to access iCloud, iMessages, FaceTime, iTunes, and others) and may be unavailable once you sign out.

Steps

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It’s the grey icon with gears that should be on the Home Screen.
It’s in the fourth section of the Settings menu.

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3
Select Sign Out. It’s at the end of the menu.
- The first option of the iCloud menu should be your Apple ID (with your name and email). If not, your phone is not currently signed into an Apple ID.
4
Tap Sign Out.
- Signing out will delete some basic data (photos, documents, etc.) that are associated with your iCloud account (such as your Photo Stream) from your iPhone. This information will still be available from the iCloud, but will no longer be available on your iPhone when you sign out of the account.
5
Tap Delete from My iPhone.
- When you sign back into your iCloud account, you will be able to re-download all of your cloud data.

Expert Q&A

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Question

Do I need to sign out before selling my iPhone?

Chiara Corsaro
Phone & Computer Repair Technician
Chiara Corsaro is the General Manager and Apple Certified Mac & iOS Technician for macVolks, Inc., an Apple Authorized Service Provider located in the San Francisco Bay Area. macVolks, Inc. was founded in 1990, is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating, and is part of the Apple Consultants Network (ACN).

Chiara Corsaro

Phone & Computer Repair Technician

Expert Answer

Yes, you need to do it if you are planning to sell or recycle it. Even if you securely wipe your iPhone but still leave yourself logged in, it would essentially be locked by your Apple ID. So it's always recommended to make sure that you deauthorize everything prior to getting rid of an iOS device.

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Question

How can I recover my Apple password?

Community Answer

Go to the browser, preferably Safari, and go to iCloud.com. Try to sign into your account and use Forgot Password. You will receive an email, just follow the directions in it to get a new password.

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How can I create a new Apple ID account?

Community Answer

Go to icloud.com and create a new account. You can add another email address to your phone.

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