How to return to factory settings on Android - clear the phone to its original state

There are two main events when you wonder how to reset Android to factory settings.

The first is associated with malfunctions and software conflicts in the system, which lead to unstable Android operation. Secondly, if you need to start from scratch. The second option is also suitable for those who decide to give away or sell their Android gadget to another owner.

Why do you need to do a Hard Reset of Android?

A hard reset means deleting all user information on the phone, except for preinstalled system programs, ringtones, pictures and starting settings of the Android OS. After a successful “hard reboot”, there will be no trace of its use left on the smartphone.

Resetting Android to factory settings helps solve many problems that arise when working with your phone. Namely:

• remove malware, especially annoying advertising (often the user downloads it along with the application on his device);
• speed up the operation of your gadget;
• delete unnecessary files that take up space in the device’s memory;
• eliminate errors in the Android OS that appear as a result of failures or incorrect updating of Google services applications and much more.

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Why do you need a hard reset of your phone?

A hard reset is a complete removal of absolutely all user data from the smartphone’s memory. That is, upon completion of the procedure, there will be no messages, no multimedia files, no contacts from the phone’s memory, no applications, no notes, etc. At the software level, the device returns to the state it was in when it was originally purchased.

Usually a hard reset is carried out in the following situations:

• After the device firmware version has been updated or changed.
• If a malfunction occurs, constant freezing or other problem that cannot be resolved by other known methods.
• Before selling the smartphone to another user for the second and subsequent times.
• Your device may be susceptible to virus attacks if you have not previously installed one of the common anti-virus programs on your smartphone (Doctor Web, Kaspersky, etc.). Anti-virus software can be either an analogue of computer programs or an independent mobile “defender”.

Reset bypassing the system

In especially severe cases, when the smartphone does not boot at all in normal mode, you can make a hard reset using the recovery menu (the so-called recovery). To do this, you need to use a special key combination on your smartphone. Some alternative versions of Android or special applications allow you to reboot into Recovery directly from the system.

Usually, to boot into Recovery, you just need to turn off the device, then hold down the power button simultaneously with one of the volume buttons. The combinations differ for different models of smartphones or tablets. So, for HTC this is power plus volume down, for LG it’s about the same, only the power button must be released after the logo appears and pressed again. We recommend that you find the exact instructions for your model.

Once you enter the recovery menu, you must erase the data (Wipe menu item). Sometimes a full reset is called a Factory Hard Reset.

After the procedure, your device will lose all personal data. If this is what you wanted, then congratulations: the hard reset did its job! If your task was to return the device to a working state, then the data will have to be restored manually or from backups.

It is often recommended to do a hard reset before installing a new version of Android or custom firmware. Then you should write the firmware image not to the internal memory of the device, but to an OTG media (connected external flash drive). This will make deleting old data more reliable. Modern Android devices support OTG even at the recovery menu level.

Resetting your smartphone to factory settings via “Settings”

The easiest way, which does not require the owner of the gadget to install additional software and connect to a computer, is to format it directly on the “problem” smartphone.

To do this you need to take the following simple steps:

• open “Settings” on the device;

• go to the “Restore and reset” section;

• click on the item “Reset settings”;

• click “Reset phone settings”;

• confirm the action by clicking “Erase everything”.

If your phone has a security lock installed, you will be asked to authenticate before resetting.

You can clear the gadget's memory in this way only if you have access to the settings. If the phone is locked, the screen is damaged, or for some other reason it is impossible to get into “Settings,” then you can use Recovery.

Using a computer

If you can’t reset the settings using traditional methods, you can try to do it through your computer by first downloading the Android System Development Kit program from the developers’ website.

After downloading the file you should:

1. Enable USB Debugging mode on the device: “Settings” – “For Developers” – “USB Settings” or “Settings” – “General” – “About Phone” – “General” – “Information Programs”.
2. Check the boxes for Tools and USB Drivers.
3. Install drivers for the device on your PC and connect it via USB.
4. Open the command line and write in it “C:UsersUsernameAppDataLocalAndroidAndroid-SDKplatform tools
5. Enter ADB reboot into recovery.
6. Wait for the system to restart.

After this, you can enter a new password and access the menu settings.

Why should this be done?

In fact, the reason for resetting all the settings of a smartphone can also be the technical failure of the device, the presence of a large number of system errors and “bugs” in the operation of the device. Simply put, a smartphone sometimes needs to be completely reset, bringing its system to its original factory state, since this not only has a beneficial effect on the quality of the device’s operation, but also significantly extends its service life.

It should be remembered that the process of depersonalizing a device is quite labor-intensive, and the smartphone will definitely need preliminary preparation for this process. For example, you need to disable all blocking settings, system security functions, and the gadget’s built-in antivirus. If the user has set protection in the smartphone settings by entering a PIN code or pattern, then he needs to carry out a number of preliminary preparatory operations, namely: reset the screen lock, cancel password protection.

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Hard reset via Recovery menu

To reset to factory settings through recovery, the gadget does not need to be loaded until it appears on the desktop screen. This solution to the problem is suitable even if the phone does not turn on.

The main condition is a charged phone and working physical buttons on it. It is with the help of the power and volume buttons that you can enter Recovery and perform formatting.

The combination of buttons that must be pressed may differ depending on the device manufacturer. On some phones (for example, HTC), you need to hold down the volume down, volume up, and power buttons at the same time.

On Samsung brand phones, just hold down the volume up and power button.

In order to perform a hard reset on Samsung smartphones via Recovery, you need to:

• With the phone turned off, hold down the combination of buttons: volume up and power on. We wait until the phone vibrates, and then we throw the power button, while making sure to hold down the volume up button;
• when the list appears on the gadget screen, go down to “wipe data/factory reset” and press the power button;

Using hardware keys

Does your gadget freeze when loading? Can't navigate the menu? Forgot your password? Perform a full clean through Recovery mode. How to activate it? First you need to turn off the device, and then hold down a certain combination of buttons. It differs from one manufacturer to another:

Asus, Acer:

— volume down + power button.

Huawei

— Offers a couple of options for different models:

— Press and hold the volume up and power keys for at least 10 seconds;

- The same thing, only the first one needs to be pressed in the middle. Wait for the logo to appear and release only Power. When you see an Android robot with gears, slide your finger on the volume up and press until the green loading bar appears.

Lenovo. There are also several combinations:

— Volume “+ and -” together with the power key;

— Hold the last button until vibration, and then increase the volume;

— Volume up and start button at the same time.

— Power + volume down. When you see the logo, release the buttons for a second and press them again until the recovery mode turns on.

Prestigio:

— Volume “up” or “down” and “Power”.

Samsung:

— “Home” + volume up + power or the latter and volume down.

— Volume up + power;

— Connect the gadget to the network. When the charging indicator appears, press the Reset button using a paper clip. As soon as the display lights up, hold down the “Power” button for a couple of seconds.

Xiaomi, Meizu:

— Turn on + increase volume. When you see the picture, release only the first one.

What to do when you enter the Recovery menu?

• Navigate to the Wipe data/factory reset section.

• Agree that the information will be erased.
• When the reset is complete, click on Reboot System to restart the device.

If the sensor refuses to work, navigate through the menu using the volume keys and select an action using the power button.

Formatting a smartphone via PC

There is an option to reset Android to factory settings, which involves installing an additional utility on a PC and using the command line.

This Android formatting option is more complex than formatting through recovery, and is mainly intended for experienced users.

Most of the time will be spent installing the ADB utility itself. After downloading the archive with the application to your computer, you will need to unpack it and make sure that there is an executable file named adb in the “platform-tools” folder. If there is no file in this folder, you need to launch the SDK Manager, which is located in the “Android-sdk-windows” folder and download Android SDK Tools and Android SDK Platform-tools to your computer.

After installing Android Debug Bridge, you can begin deleting all data on your phone. To do this we do the following:

1. Launch the command line using the cmd command.
2. We connect the phone to the computer (first enable the “USB Debugging” option on the gadget in the “For Developers” section). To make sure that the phone is connected to the PC, you should use the “adb devices” command.
3. Go to the ADB directory by entering the “cd” command. To do this, you need to put a space after “cd” and indicate the path to the directory.
4. Enter the command “adb reboot recovery” in the command line (without quotes) and wait until the phone starts in recovery mode.
5. Using the physical buttons on the phone, first select the “wipe data/factory reset” option, and then “Reboot system now”.

Using this utility is important when the device is blocked or faulty (for example, the sensor does not work).

Method 3. Through Fastboot mode

The implementation of this method involves the use of a PC. Before resetting to factory settings on Android , you need to install the Fastboot utility on your computer and switch your phone/tablet to the fastboot mode. To do this, hold down the “Power” and “Volume Down” buttons on the device.

Next, you need to issue the appropriate command via the command line or PowerShell. Among the necessary ones:

• adb reboot bootloader – transfer the device to firmware mode;
• fastboot erase userdata – deleting user data;
• fastboot -w – reboot the device.

It is worth considering that to execute a command in PowerShell, you must add “.” at the beginning.

Often, to solve software problems with the functioning of modern smartphones or tablets, you should perform a Hard Reset (hard reboot) or factory reset of Android. In many cases, this helps to get rid of device freezes due to incorrect operation of some applications, junk system files, viruses, etc.

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Is it possible to return the phone to factory settings?

The ability to reset data is supported by any Andriod device, so every owner of this system can do it. Before you return the factory settings to your Android, you should understand that at the same time you will completely lose all data except for those recorded on the memory card. It will no longer be possible to restore their capabilities; a rollback of such actions is impossible. If you decide to reset the device to its factory state, then you will lose:

• phone book entries;
• applications;
• photographs, music, books;
• saved logins and passwords for accounts.

How to reset settings on Android

Before carrying out this procedure, it is strongly recommended to copy important files and information (photos, videos, music) to the computer via a cord. It is better to make a full backup (copy) of the system, so that if the reset is unsuccessful, you can restore the functionality of the device. There are 3 main options for how to return Android to factory settings:

1. through the phone menu;
2. using a combination of buttons;
3. service codes.

Reset in phone settings

The easiest way to reset settings on Android to factory settings is through the gadget menu. To do this, the device must work and be able to go to the main section of the system. For all smartphones running Android 4.0 or older, the procedure is as follows:

1. Go to the main menu.
2. Click on the "Settings" section.
3. Find the "Backup and Reset" section.
4. Scroll down the page and find the “Reset settings” section.
5. The system will inform you that the data will be deleted from the smartphone. Click on the line “Reset phone settings” and confirm the desire to “Erase everything”. The items may vary slightly between different phone models, but the names are always the same.

Using service combinations

This method also requires that the device be turned on and be able to proceed to dial a number. Each manufacturer programs their devices with special combinations that help return them to the factory state. This applies to both global brands (Samsung, HTC, Sony) and Chinese inexpensive models. Codes may change over time, they need to be clarified on the manufacturer’s website, sometimes they can be found in the manual for the smartphone. Below are examples of such combinations for your reference:

• *2767*3855#;
• *#*#7378423#*#*;
• *#*#7780#*#.

Key reset using Recovery

The most radical method of how to reset settings on Android to factory settings is the Recovery menu. This is the best way to return your smartphone to its original state if it freezes on the screensaver with the company logo and does not turn on. Each device model has a standard button combination that switches it to the Recovery menu. Sometimes you have to use recovery if:

1. The phone's stuttering has become too severe;
2. the system does not allow you to delete, move or change anything.

First, you should completely turn off your phone. Wait until the buttons and screen go out. Next, you need to find a suitable combination for your model (the combination for HTC and Samsung will definitely be different). You can use one of the options:

• “volume down” + “turn on” button, also known as “Power” (the most common combination);
• on some LG phones you need to press the keys described above, wait for the logo, release “power on” and then press it again;
• “volume up” + “volume down” + “turn on”
• "Power" + "Home".

Hold down one of the combinations until you are transferred to recovery mode to reset the device to its factory state. The menu is controlled using the volume up and down buttons. If the Recovery version is touch-sensitive, then you can reboot in the standard way (by touching the screen). To confirm your choice, press the “Power” or “Context Menu” button. Next, to reset the phone to its initial state, you need to:

1. Find the item “Clear eMMC” or “wipe data/factory reset”, sometimes it is also called “Clear Flash”.
2. Set the selection on it and confirm the action “yes - delete all user data” to reset the data.
3. Once the process is complete, select “Reboot System”.

Find out how to transfer contacts from iPhone to Android.

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Reset android settings.

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Article updated: 05/13/2019

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photo: reset settings on Android to factory settings

If you are an experienced smartphone user, you have probably noticed that over time any phone begins to slow down and glitch. This can't help but irritate. But don’t rush to buy a new phone, but rather find out how to reset your Android to factory settings. This will make your phone faster!

Reasons for resetting settings

There are many reasons why you might need to reset your Android. Most often, the user decides to take such a step if the mobile device begins to slow down and freeze. The Android operating system is considered a stable software environment, but unexplained errors and system conflicts may occasionally occur. They may be related to the installation of applications, but even experienced users are not always able to detect the cause of such failures. Sometimes deleting some applications helps in such cases.

Another possible reason is the sale of a smartphone. With a factory reset, the user returns his device to an optimal state and removes everything unnecessary from it. Thanks to this, all personal data will be erased and will not fall into the wrong hands.

A reset to original settings will also be needed if the phone stops turning on. When working with a mobile device, the user may make a serious mistake due to which the system will no longer start. In this case, resetting is the only way to return the phone to working condition.

You may also have problems unlocking your smartphone. Sometimes users simply forget pattern keys and passwords to access their gadgets.

Saving data

To create a backup, the user will need the MyPhoneExplorer application. You also need to have USB debugging enabled on your smartphone.

To create a backup you need to do the following:

• launch the MyPhoneExplorer application;
• connect your smartphone to your computer using a USB cable;
• press F1 or select “File” and “Connect” from the menu;
• wait a while;
• after connecting the smartphone, select “Miscellaneous” and “Create a backup copy”;
• select the folder in which the backup data will be stored;
• mark all types of data that need to be saved;
• select “Create a backup”;
• to return to the original Android after resetting the settings, go to “Miscellaneous”, “Restore from backup”.

An alternative way is to save important information using the Google cloud service. To use this method, synchronization must be enabled on your smartphone or tablet. The mobile device must be associated with a Google account. If your account is connected, you should select “Backup and Restore” in your phone settings. This is the simplest method, but it cannot save text messages, programs, etc.

Without preparation you can't go anywhere

Before you do a Hard Reset Android, some preparations are required in order to save important data (phone book, accounts, passwords, etc.). This is done in different ways:

• synchronize with your Google account via mobile Internet or Wi-Fi;
• we connect to the PC via USB, after which we save all the data on the device using a special program (it can be either from the manufacturer or from unofficial developers);
• You can also save contacts from the phone book by importing them to a memory card.

In addition to the internal data of the mobile device, it is advisable to copy files from the memory card to the computer. The fact is that Android Hard Reset erases not only all personal data, but also information about the location of files on the SD card. Therefore, on a full memory card inserted into the gadget after the reset, the new file system will be displayed on top of the old one (the files on the flash drive will physically remain, but will not be displayed).

Now that all important information is saved, you can do an Android Hard Reset. It is done in three ways:

1. Programmatically, i.e. from the system settings.
2. In Recovery mode.
3. Using a PC.

Reset

If the user is interested in how to reset Android to factory settings, then there are several possible methods:

• through the settings menu;
• using service codes;
• through hardware keys;
• by correcting errors in the engineering menu;
• via a personal computer.

The best way to reset the system is through the settings menu, but this is not always possible. If the Android operating system is severely damaged, the user will not be able to open the settings and perform the necessary actions.

Through settings

To perform a Hard Reset, you need to go to Android settings and open the “Backup and reset” item. Next, you need to make sure you back up your important information. If a copy has been created, select “Reset settings” and click “Reset smartphone (tablet) settings.”

If a password or pattern was previously set, then it should be entered. After this, you can click on the “Erase everything” button. As a result, all data from the internal storage of the mobile device will be completely reset.

Using service codes

The easiest way is to reset your smartphone to factory settings using service codes. To do this, you need to open the calling application on your phone and dial a special code consisting of numbers and the symbols “#”, “*”. These combinations are not suitable for all mobile devices. There may be a situation where these codes will not work. You can try the following combinations:

• *2767*3855#;
• *#*#7780#*#*;
• *#*#7378423#*#*.

If these codes do not work, you can try to enter them through the “Emergency Call”, because some smartphone models do not accept combinations in standard mode for calls.

Using hardware keys

There is another option for Hard Reset. This method is suitable for those whose smartphone or tablet does not turn on. First you need to get into Recovery mode. To do this, you need to press and hold some keys until an image appears on the screen. The key combination may differ depending on the smartphone manufacturer. You should try the following combinations:

• Volume +, Power;
• Volume -, Power;
• Volume +, Power, Home;
• Volume -, Power, Home;
• Volume +, Volume -, Power.

The volume buttons are used to navigate through the Recovery menu. You can confirm your choice using the Power button. In some smartphone models, the Recovery menu can be controlled using the touch screen.

You must select Wipe Data/Factory Reset, then Yes, Delete All User Data. With the last command, the user agrees to clear the internal memory of the smartphone or tablet. At the end you need to select Reboot System Now.

The device reset process takes no more than 1 minute. After an automatic reboot, the default settings will be restored and the phone will be the same as it was when you first started it.

Correcting errors in the engineering menu

Some system errors can be corrected through the engineering menu, and this does not require a Reset (Factory Reset). For example, the message NVRAM WARNING: Err = 0x10 may appear in the list of available Wi-Fi connections.

This message is accompanied by various problems with the device. This alert is the result of an error that occurred as a result of resetting the MAC address, IMEI, or serial number. The cause may also be a faulty radio module. To fix the error, you will need Root rights and a file manager that works with system directories.

Via PC

To perform a reset via a PC, you must first download the Android System Development Kit, right-click on the archive and select “Extract All”, click on “Browse” and select the “C: Program Files” directory.

You need to go to the folder with the extracted files and press F2 to rename it. Any name can be used. Now you should right-click on “My Computer” and select “Properties”, “Advanced system settings”, “Advanced”, “Environment Variables”.

In the “System Variables” window, you need to select “Path” and “Edit”, scroll the line to the very end and specify the path to the unpacked archive. You should add a “;” symbol at the beginning of the path. Click “OK” to save the changes.

Now you need to connect your smartphone to your computer, launch the command line, enter adb shell and press Enter. After that, enter -wipe_data and use Enter again.

What to do if the password is not reset

If you reset your device in order to remove a password from it that you forgot, and after finishing the procedure the system still asks you to enter it, then there are two ways out of this situation. The first is to enter the wrong password five times, a message will appear on the screen stating that the device is locked for 30 seconds, as well as a “Forgot your password?” button. Click on the button that appears, you will be asked to log in to your Google account, which was previously linked to this phone or tablet. If you log into the correct account, you will have the opportunity to reset your existing password.

Recovering the device password via Google account

Reset password via ADB

The second option is to reset your password using ADB. How to install this program is described above in the “Via a computer” subsection. When you are done with the installation, launch a Command Prompt as an administrator and run the following options:

• adb shell
• cd /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases
• sqlite3 settings.db
• update system set value=0 where name='lock_pattern_autolock';
• update system set value=0 where name='lockscreen.lockedoutpermanently';
• .quit

If these commands do not help, then use the command adb shellrm /data/system/gesture.key or adb shell rm /data/system/gesture.key.