How to Clean Install iOS 11 GM on iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

Uzair Ghani
Clean install iOS 11 GM

Here’s how you can clean install iOS 11 GM on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch right now. A fresh copy of iOS 11 GM ensures peak performance on any given hardware.

Clean Install iOS 11 GM and Start Fresh on Apple’s Brand New Firmware

The arrival of iOS 11 GM is a stepping stone for everyone’s excitement in the world of Apple’s ecosystem. There are a lot of features just waiting to be tried out and app updates are rolling out en mass to take advantage of Apple’s new software for mobile. But all of that goes partially to waste if you don’t take a proper route of installation of the available update.

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If you’re an avid iOS user, then you know that a clean install offers a ton of advantages which an over the air installation does not. For instance, better battery life in some cases, and even better performance. So, if you wish to stay on top of your game, then perform a clean install rather than anything else.

Backup Everything Before Proceeding

Since a clean install will wipe your device clean therefore backup everything in a safe and secure location before proceeding. You can either choose the iTunes route or iCloud. Whichever seems better for you, go for it.

Make Sure Your Apple Developer Program Membership is Active

This step is extremely important. Make sure that your Apple Developer Program membership is live and well. If it isn’t, then you might want to renew it right away. It will set you back $99 on an annual basis. Head over to this link to sign in: developer.apple.com

Register Your Device’s UDID with Apple

Once you have made sure that everything is up and running, make sure your device’s UDID is registered with Apple otherwise you won’t be able to restore the iOS 11 GM firmware.

Just follow the ‘Register Your Device’s UDID’ section in this guide on how to do so. It’s a simple process and will barely take a few minutes.

Return to this guide once the registration process is complete.

Download & Clean Install iOS 11 GM

  • Sign in to your Apple Developer Program account and visit this link: developer.apple.com/ios/
  • Click on the Download button at the top.
  • Source the iOS 11 GM IPSW file that is meant for your device. Make sure you get this right otherwise the installation process will fail over and over again.
  • Once the download is complete, connect your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch to your computer and launch iTunes.
  • Simply select your device from upper left hand corner of iTunes, and click the ‘Restore iPhone’ button while holding down the left ‘Shift’ Key (Windows) or the left ‘Option’ key (Mac).
  • Select the iOS 11 GM IPSW file you downloaded the from the Apple Developer Program website and let iTunes restore it.

The entire installation process won’t take that long given you followed the entire process exactly as outlined above. Once done, you will boot straight into the iOS 11 welcome screen, all ready to set up your device from scratch or restore from a backup, if you so wish.

Looking to downgrade? Check out our guide posted here: How to Downgrade iOS 11 GM to iOS 10 on iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

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