How To Salvage Your iPod Touch Instantly

The iPod Touch is a great device for those looking to enjoy apps and more on the go but without having to enter into an expensive smart phone data plan. The iPod Touch can provide the user with Facebook and Tweeting on the go so long as a WI-FI connection is present. Speaking of apps, over time your iPod Touch will be filled with them, some used every day like the finger dancing J-Lo app and others used rarely, like The Weather Channel. Either way, it took time and in some cases money to acquire all these apps and you want to be able to preserve these programs in the case that your iPod becomes corrupted.

There are two ways to restore an iPod Touch, either by resetting everything to factory settings or by proactively backing up your data before a crash. When you reset your iPod to factory settings, you’ll lose all your apps, music, photos and other data but will regain functionality in the device. By restoring from a backup, your iPod will return almost identically as it did before corruption.

Do A Reset First

Before even attempting to restore or backup your iPod Touch when a glitch occurs, first try a simple reset that will ‘shake the cobwebs’ out of your iPod Touch. Sometimes when adding music or downloading an app snags occur and quick reset sometimes brings your iPod Touch back to normal functionality.

To do a reset:

1. Go to Settings, General, then Reset.

2. Now proceed onto “Reset All Settings” and when you select this the iPod Touch will ask you twice if you’re 100% absolutely positive you want to reset.

3. Select yes and the iPod Touch will restart. As stated, you won’t lose any of your media and hopefully full functionality will return. If not, try and do a restore from backup…

Restore From Backup

Obviously before you can restore from a backed up iPod Touch, you’ll need to actually back up the data on board. To do this, you’ll need to hook your iPod Touch up to iTunes via a desktop computer or a laptop. Once you’ve got the iPod Touch hooked up through a USB port, open up iTunes and right click on your device in the left side bar. A side bar will open up and when you select ‘Back Up’ all your apps, media, and details will be saved on this particular computer. It’s important to back up your iPod Touch often as you add more pictures, songs, and apps to your library.

Now to restore the iPod Touch from backup if it corrupts some day, hook up the device to that same computer you’ve got all the backup data stored on. When you plug the iPod into the computer through the USB, an iPod management screen will automatically pop up where you should choose the ‘Restore’ option. You’ll have to click through some introductory screens and enter your iTunes account information but after completion you’ll be presented with all the various back ups you’ve performed by date. Once you select the preferred date, the iPod Touch will show a progress bar as your backed up data returns to life. It’s important to remember that the iPod Touch backup will attempt to restore as many data settings as it can but some will fail for various reasons. You may have to tweak an app or two but it’s much better than downloading everything all over again. Hopefully you’ll have full functionality restored in your iPod Touch but if not, it may be an unfortunate time to do a full restore…

Restore an iPod Touch To Factory Settings

Restoring an iPod Touch to factory settings is not only a viable option when attempting to salvage the device, it’s also important when you go to sell your iPod Touch so that your personal information doesn’t fall into a stranger’s hands.

To restore your iPod Touch to factory settings

This will erase all the songs, pictures and apps on the device.

1. Go to Settings.

2. General. Reset.

3. From here select the “Erase All Content and Settings” selection.

4. The iPod Touch will ask you if you’re super-duper sure you want to do this and you should select ‘Erase iPod’ to restore all factory settings to your device as if you’re opening up the iPod Touch for the first time…minus all the scratches and dings.

If you’re like many people, your iPod Touch is on you at all times for when you want to listen to a cool jam or an interesting podcast or want to capture a cool moment. Heck, I use my iPod Touch photo roll to help put the pieces together of a wild Saturday night. Some of those pics get instantly deleted but others I want to be with me forever…like the time I served a rival dance crew on the J-Lo finger dancing app, and thus the importance of backing up and restoring your iPod Touch.