Bug in iOS 8's 'Reset All Settings' Option Also Erases iCloud Drive Documents

It appears that there may be a serious bug with the "Reset All Settings" option in iOS 8, causing users who activate the feature to lose all of their iWork documents stored in iCloud Drive. According to multiple posters on the MacRumors forums, using the "Reset All Settings" option under General --> Reset has caused documents to be permanently deleted from iCloud Drive.

resetallsettings

Because iOS 8 was so sluggish on my iPad 3 I reset all settings (No data or media will be deleted) and sped it up BUT deleted my iWork data! Then promptly synced and deleted it in iCloud.I have public beta of Yosemite so can't roll back via time machine. I have no pre iOS 8 backups in iTunes or iCloud to revert to (well iCloud device backups don't contain cloud documents and I should have iOS 7 backups in iTunes but can't find any. iCloud has no trash like dropbox. They seem gone forever.

The "Reset All Settings" option explicitly says that "No data or media will be deleted," and it is meant to reset all user preferences to the default out-of-the-box settings. That the option is deleting iCloud Drive documents appears to be a serious bug, though it may be limited to Apple's own iWork apps like Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. One user had all of his iWork documents wiped by using "Reset All Settings," while other app information remained in iCloud.

In our own testing, using "Reset All Settings" deleted all iWork documents stored in iCloud Drive on the iPhone and on iCloud.com. After allowing time for syncing to a Mac running OS X Yosemite, all of the documents disappeared from that machine as well. Preview and TextEdit documents, which cannot be accessed on the iPhone, remained untouched on the Mac.

There appears to be no simple way to recover iCloud Drive documents that have been erased by "Reset All Settings" in Yosemite, and several people who have been affected by the bug are now in contact with Apple support in an effort to retrieve their documents. A Mavericks user was, however, able to recover his files from a backup folder, and OS X Yosemite users may also have luck with recovering files via Time Machine.

One user said that Apple was waiting on engineers to investigate the issue, while another said his account had been placed in troubleshooting mode to attempt to recover the data.

Introduced with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, iCloud Drive is Apple's answer to cloud-based storage services like Dropbox. iCloud Drive allows users to store a variety of documents like spreadsheets, PDFs, images, and more, accessing them on any device. Currently OS X Mavericks users can access iCloud Drive documents via iCloud.com, but iCloud Drive will be fully functional in October, after OS X Yosemite is released.

Users who have iCloud Drive enabled may want to refrain from using the "Reset All Settings" option on their devices for the time being, in order to avoid accidentally erasing important documents stored in iCloud Drive.

Related Forum: iOS 8

Popular Stories

iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Aiming to Release 'Breakthrough' New iPhone Accessory

Wednesday February 18, 2026 12:43 pm PST by
Apple is looking for a "breakthrough" with its push into wearable AI devices, including an "AirTag-sized pendant," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report this week, he said the pendant is reminiscent of the failed Humane AI Pin, but it would be an iPhone accessory rather than a standalone product. The pendant would feature an "always-on" camera and a microphone for Siri voice...
Apple Watch 15 Tips Every Owner Needs to Know Feature

Apple Watch: 15 Tips Every Owner Needs to Know

Thursday February 19, 2026 7:38 am PST by
Apple Watch is now eleven generations in, and packed with useful features that are easy to miss at first glance. To help you get more out of your new device, we've rounded up 15 practical tips you might not have discovered yet, including a few that long-time users often overlook. Bounce Between Two Apps On your Apple Watch, double-press the Digital Crown to see a deck of all currently...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

10 Reasons to Wait for Apple's iPhone 18 Pro

Wednesday February 18, 2026 5:12 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
iphone 17 pro green

iPhone 17 Pro Max Curiously Becomes Most Traded-In Smartphone

Wednesday February 18, 2026 9:13 am PST by
New trade-in data indicates that Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max has rapidly become the single most traded-in smartphone. According to a new report from SellCell, Apple's latest flagship iPhone has quickly risen to the top of the independent trade-in market, accounting for 11.5% of all devices appearing in the top-20 trade-in rankings just months after release. The analysis is based on SellCell...
Multicolored Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature

Low-Cost MacBook Expected on March 4 in These Colors

Wednesday February 18, 2026 5:42 am PST by
Apple will announce its rumored low-cost MacBook at its event on March 4, with the device coming in a selection of bold color options, according to a known leaker. Earlier this week, Apple announced a "special Apple Experience" for the media in New York, London, and Shanghai, taking place on March 4, 2026 at 9:00am ET. Posting on Weibo, the leaker known as "Instant Digital" said that the...

Top Rated Comments

MacLawyer Avatar
149 months ago
Quality Control???

What's going on with Apple lately?
Score: 100 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Medic311 Avatar
149 months ago
Wow, iOS 8 just keeps getting worse and worse
Score: 71 Votes (Like | Disagree)
149 months ago
Your erasing it wrong
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Orlandoech Avatar
149 months ago
Lovely, just lovely.

I would be screwed if I didn't read these forums so frequently.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Orlandoech Avatar
149 months ago
Your deleting it wrong

It's "you're" for "you are" not "your" for being possessive.
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FSMBP Avatar
149 months ago
What the hell happened to waiting to release stuff because "Details matter"? I know Apple wasn't perfect under Jobs but it wasn't this bad. The company seems too lax.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)