You’ve got your hands on an iPhone 13. You want to jump right in and explore all the new features, from the brighter screen to improved cameras. But first you need to transfer everything from your old iPhone. Apple’s Quick Start feature can make this less of a hassle.

Introduced in iOS 11, Quick Start may be a new feature for you if you’re the kind of person who has been focusing on their old iPhone for a long time, but it’s handy for moving and setting up your new device. This is not the only method: you can also install backup of your iPhone data from iCloud or transfer backup of your data from Mac or PC. But I like Quick Start for its straightforward, straightforward approach.

Here’s a guide on how to use Quick Start to set up your new iPhone, whether it’s an iPhone 13 or one of the other iPhones that Apple sells. We will also briefly discuss other methods of transferring data to your new iPhone.

Back up your old iPhone before you start

It’s always a good idea to start the process of setting up a new iPhone by backing up your old one. Not only will this give you a fresh backup no matter what configuration method you use, but it will also give you a safety net if something goes wrong.

We have complete instructions on how to backup your iPhone using iCloud, Mac, or PC. You can back up to iCloud from the Settings app on your iPhone. With a Mac, just plug your iPhone into a port on your Mac and go to Finder (if you’re using macOS Catalina or later) or iTunes (if you’re still using an older version of macOS like Mojave). Windows users can also turn to iTunes for backups.

Use Quick Start to Transfer Data to Your New iPhone

With a backup in place, you’re good to go. Place your old iPhone and new iPhone close to each other, making sure the old one is running iOS 11 or later. Turn on your iPhone and swipe up from the Hello screen to get started.

1. Choose your language.

2. Choose your country.

3. The Quick Start option now appears and once you’ve reconciled your old phone to your new device, you can continue. Alternatively, you can tap on the Configure Manually option at the bottom of the screen.

It’s a really good idea to plug both of your iPhones into a power source during this process, as it can take a while, especially if you have a lot of data to transfer. You certainly don’t want either phone to run out of power mid-transfer.

4. A moving image will appear on the screen of your new iPhone. PRemove your old one and line up the image in the circular window. This authenticates the Quick Start transfer.

5. You will be prompted to enter your old iPhone password on your new device.

6. Tap Continue when prompted. You will be asked on a subsequent screen to accept Apple’s terms and conditions before continuing.

7. The quick start feature will alert you to what it is and even give you an estimate of how long it will take. You can also choose to customize your settings, but that defeats the purpose of a quick start feature.

Note: If you’re like me and you’re running iOS 15 beta on your old iPhone, you’ll either need to download the beta to your new device or tap the box that exits the beta program. If you stick to the beta, your transfer will be interrupted while your new iPhone downloads the latest beta and reboots.

8. And now the transfer can begin. A progress bar shows you the estimated time remaining in the process.

Set up your new iPhone with an iCloud backup or backup from your computer

What if QuickStart isn’t for you? No problem. If you choose to configure manually in step 3 above, you will be prompted to connect your iPhone to a Wi-Fi network.

Follow the onscreen instructions until you get to the Apps & Data screen. Choose the Restore from iCloud backup option.

If this is your choice, you will be prompted to sign in to iCloud using your Apple ID and password. Then you will choose a backup – that’s why it pays to back up your old iPhone in advance. Follow the on-screen prompts and wait for the process to take its course.

Set up your new iPhone with backup from Mac or PC

If you prefer to use a backup stored on your computer, just be sure to plug your new iPhone into one of the ports on the computer. Follow the setup process up to step 3 above, where you will choose to configure manually. From there, follow the onscreen prompts until you reach the Apps & Data screen, at which point you’ll select Restore from Mac or PC.

In iTunes or Finder, you select your new device. Next, you’ll select Restore Backup, choosing the backup you want (ideally, the one you took just before starting this process). From there, it’s a matter of biding your time, until all of your data is transferred.