How to Setup iPhone 6S & iPhone 6S Plus and Bring Your Stuff With You in 2 Easy Steps

If you’re getting a new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, you’ll want to be sure to set it up properly so that everything from the phone it’s replacing is brought along for the ride. To setup an iPhone 6S correctly and to successfully transfer your stuff over to the new phone, you’ll want to walk through a few specific steps. We’ll show you how to this in the quickest way possible so that you can get on and enjoy your new iPhone.

And yes, this works to migrate to an iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus from any prior iPhone model, whether it’s an iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, or an iPhone 6, it doesn’t matter.

Step 1: Back Up the Old iPhone and Your Stuff to iTunes

The first thing you’re going to want to do is make a fresh backup of the old iPhone you’re replacing. This is fastest to do with a computer and iTunes because of USB 3.0 speeds, but technically you can use iCloud too if you have a very fast broadband connection. We’re going to focus on iTunes here since it’s usually the quickest method but if you go the iCloud route, just make a manual iCloud backup from Settings > iCloud > Backup > Backup Now from the old iPhone and when it’s finished jump to step 2.

1. Open iTunes and connect the old iPhone to the computer with the USB cable, whether it’s Windows or Mac OS X doesn’t matter
2. Select the iPhone and go to the summary screen in iTunes
3. Under the Backups section, choose “This Computer” and then be sure to check the box for ‘Encrypt Backups’ – encrypting iTunes backups insures all passwords, logins, and health data will be backed up too
4. Click “Back Up Now” and let the entire process complete

When the backup is completed to iTunes, you’re ready to move everything over and setup the new iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus.

Step 2: Setup the New iPhone 6S / iPhone 6S Plus and Transfer Everything Over

Now that you have a fresh backup made, you’re ready to start setting up the new iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus.

1. Turn on the new iPhone and start the setup process as usual, choosing a language, joining wi-fi, configuring Touch ID and a passcode, and setting a few preliminary settings
2. When you get to the “Apps & Data” screen, choose “Restore from iTunes Backup”



3. The iPhone 6S / iPhone 6S Plus screen will turn black and show a “Connect to iTunes” message with the iTunes icon, now connect the new iPhone 6S to the computer you had just previously used to make a backup of the old iPhone



4. Enter the Apple ID and password when requested, select the most recent backup that was just made from the prior iPhone in iTunes, and let the transfer of all data from the old backup to the new iPhone 6S complete

When the migration is complete, the new iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus will reboot itself and startup complete with all of your older iPhone stuff now on the new iPhone.

Note that sometimes apps will need to re-download from the App Store on the new device, this starts automatically when the iPhone 6S boots up again and can be quick or a while depending on your internet connection speed and how many apps need to be downloaded.

You’ll probably want to double-check that everything is there and that all of your stuff is in order. Take a look at your photos to be sure they’re in place, open Mail app, flip around on the Home Screens to be sure your apps are there, check your Contacts, etc. Everything should be there, but if it’s not, don’t flip out, we’ve got you covered with the troubleshooting steps below.

Troubleshooting Moving Your Data and the Setup of an iPhone 6S / iPhone 6S Plus

Wait, already I started using the iPhone 6S already and didn’t move my stuff over yet! – Don’t worry, this isn’t the end of the world. You can start over the setup process by resetting the iPhone to factory default settings, this allows you to easily restore the new iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus from a backup.

I completed the restore but my email passwords and health data aren’t showing up on the new iPhone 6S! – This happens when the original backup made was not encrypted with iTunes (iCloud encrypts backups by default), you’ll want to connect the old iPhone to iTunes again and enable encrypted iPhone backups in Tunes, complete a back up again, and start over. This is fairly common, and if you find that no passwords or health data is on the new iPhone 6S, this is why.

My Photos app says I have thousands of photos but none of them are showing up! – If you open Photos app and discover that every image thumbnail is blank, but the Photos app shows the proper number of images that should be there, this is because you chose to restore from an iCloud backup and all of the photos must download from iCloud to the iPhone 6S. This can be quick, or take a while, depending on the speed of your internet connection and how many pictures and videos are needed to download. For many users with many GB of media, it can take a while, which is why we recommend using the iTunes backup and iTunes restore method outlined above.

Any other questions? Have any tips for setting up a new iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus? Let us know in the comments, otherwise enjoy your new iPhone!