im trying to restore an iphone and it says it was previously in DFU mode what is DFU mode?

Hi tx-slaton,

It sounds like your iPhone will need to be placed in recovery mode in order to restore it. You can do this by performing the following steps:

1. Be sure you that your macOS or iTunes is fully up to date.
2. Open Finder or iTunes and connect your iPhone to the computer
3. Put your device in recovery mode by doing the following depending on your iPhone model:

iPhone 8 or later, including iPhone SE (2nd generation): Press and quickly release the volume up button. Press and quickly release the volume down button. Then, press and hold the side button until you see the recovery mode screen.

iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPod touch (7th generation): Press and hold the top (or side) and volume down buttons at the same time. Keep holding them until you see the recovery mode screen.

iPhone 6s or earlier, including iPhone SE (1st generation), and iPod touch (6th generation) or earlier: Press and hold both the Home and the top (or side) buttons at the same time. Keep holding them until you see the recovery mode screen.

If you can't update or restore your iPhone or iPod touch - Apple Support

Once in recovery mode, you can select restore to continue the process.

Hope that helps!