How to Setup Touch ID on the iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus (Video)

One of the first things your new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus will ask you to do when you turn it on (besides beg to be caressed softly) is to setup Touch ID, aka the fingerprint scanner, and with good reason. Setting that up (or at least a PIN) is one of the few things that stops someone from accessing all that data you’re about to add into the phone should you ever lose it, so it’s probably a good idea to do it right away (and with the addition of new apps in iOS 8 like Health, there’s even more personal info besides those compromising photos you took in the mirror to send to that girl you met).

As part of our new tips & tricks section on the site, figured I’d show you quickly how to set that up, and do it in a way that it actually works well. Here’s the video I did for the iPhone 5S, but same concept applies:

I. Add a New Fingerprint

1. Tap on Settings.

2. Tap Add a fingerprint.

3. Put the majority of your dominant hand thumb on the home button and make sure to cover the entire home button with your finger.

4. Keep it there until it scans.

5. Now for the next few scans, think of your finger print in four quadrants (top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right). Move it slightly to the right and down and press down. Make sure to, again, cover the entire home button with you finger, even adjust the position if necessary to allow for this.

6. Once it has that, move the finger down (we just got the top left, now we’re getting the bottom left). Again, make sure to cover the entire home button with your finger when you do this.

7. After it scans that quadrant, move the finger over to the left and down (to get the top right quadrant). Again, make sure to cover the entire home button with your finger when you do this.

8. Once it has that, move the finger down (we just got the top right, now we’re getting the bottom right). Again, make sure to cover the entire home button with your finger when you do this.

9. Now that we have those quadrants, do the top center of your finger by putting it center on the home button but slightly down. Again, make sure to cover the entire home button with your finger when you do this.

10. Now do the bottom center by placing your finger center on the button but slightly higher than the first scan. Again, make sure to cover the entire home button with your finger when you do this.

11. Finally, put your finger center on the home button just as you did in the first scan. After that you should be prompted to change your grip (if not, continue to put your finger centered on the button until it is done scanning and asks you to adjust your grip). Again, make sure to cover the entire home button with your finger when you do this.

II. Adjust the Grip

1. Rotate your finger at a full 45 degree angle (see video) onto it’s right side and scan it.

2. Rotate your finger onto it’s left side in the same manner and scan it.

3. Position your finger so the top/tip is on the scanner and scan it.

4. Position it now with the lower portion (below what we scanned in section II above) and scan it.

5. Repeat steps 1 – 4 until it is done scanning (if it doesn’t finish after all 8 scans, just keep randomly positioning your finger on any edge until it does finish).

6. Once done, success! You have a finger saved!

7. Repeat sections I and II to continue adding fingers until you have enough.

Hope that helps!

For more tips and tricks, head to our iOS How To’s section.