How to Factory Reset your Android phone

No matter what phone you use – whether it’s the best Android phone or an old phone – you may need to factory reset your phone because of several reasons. Maybe your phone has too many apps, runs too slowly, you have downloaded the latest update and it is causing problems, or want to reset the phone before selling it. The following describes how to factory reset the Android phone through phone settings or recovery mode.

Factory reset phone from the settings menu

Factory reset will delete all data on the phone. So If you haven’t backed up your contacts, pictures, videos, documents, and anything else (preferably in the cloud), you should back up now. If you don’t know where to back up data before a factory reset? Please read our guide on how to do this first.

Considering that there are a variety of mobile phones on Android, I will use pixel 4A and Samsung’s Galaxy A51 as examples of this guide. Pixels are a good baseline because the process is almost the same on Android One devices of other companies that retain a “stock” user interface, such as Nokia, Xiaomi, Motorola, and Oneplus.

Same as for Galaxy A51, the phone runs Samsung’s one UI. The company has become the largest manufacturer of Android systems in the world with considerable advantages. Therefore, it makes sense to see the difference. With that out of the way, let’s start.

The simplest way to Factory reset your phone is via the settings menu. The location of the factory reset option may vary depending on your phone, but you should be cleared once the Backup and reset menu is found.

Factory reset most Android devices pixel, Oneplus, Motorola, Nokia, etc.

  • Click the Settings icon on the home screen or in the application drawer.
  • Slide up to scroll down to the bottom of the setup menu.
  • Click system.
factory reset your Android phone
  • Click Reset Option.
  • Select option called Erase all data.
  • Slide up to scroll down to the bottom of the page.
factory reset your Android phone
  • Click the option called Reset.
  • Insert your device pin and select continue. (Optional)
  • Select Erase all or Erase everything.
factory reset your Android phone

Your device will restart and you can make initial settings as if you were using a new phone.

Factory reset Samsung phone

  • Click the Settings icon on the home screen or in the application drawer.
  • Slide up to scroll down to the bottom of the page.
  • Click the General management tab.
factory reset your Android phone
  • Tap Reset.
  • Click factory data reset.
  • Go down to the bottom of the page.
factory reset your Android phone
  • Click the blue Reset option.
  • Enter your device PIN and click Next.
  • Click delete all.
factory reset your Android phone

Your phone will restart and you must complete the Setup process again before restoring your data.

Factory reset your phone through recovery mode

factory reset your Android phone

If your phone encounters problems when updating, or there is a fault that prevents the device from booting up, you can perform a factory reset by entering recovery mode. At higher levels, you can enter recovery mode by pressing the volume up and power buttons at the same time.

As we’ll see later, the process will vary slightly depending on the device you use. Before we continue to reset through recovery, you need to understand the Security Mode called factory reset protection.

Google launched factory reset protection (FRP) a few years ago. Now, this function has become the standard configuration of all mobile phones running lollipops and above. Essentially, FRP ensures that someone can’t just Factory reset your lost or stolen phone and set it to a new one by booting to recovery mode. This mode requires you to log in to the Google account associated with the device after the factory reset. If it fails, you will not be able to continue the steps.

According to the situation I encountered, FRP works when resetting the device through recovery mode, but it is not a problem when resetting the device through settings. If you are interested in learning more about this feature and how it works,

Therefore, if you want to sell your device and considering a factory reset, it is better to browse the above settings page. If you cannot boot into the device and need a way to reset the data, you can go to recovery mode. Now that you understand the risks, here’s how to reset the phone through recovery mode.

Factory reset through recovery mode on pixel / Android one phones

  • If your phone is turned on, please turn off the power.
  • Click and hold the power and volume down buttons. Instead of starting normally, you see “start” in the arrow pointing to the power button. Here, you can scroll using the volume button and select options using the power button.
  • Press and hold down the volume down key until Recovery mode is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to initiate the recovery mode.
  • When your phone reloads, you will see a screen that says “no command”, and the Android robot is in trouble. Press and hold the power and volume up buttons at the same time to load the recovery mode.
  • Use the volume button to scroll through the menu and highlight wipe data/factory reset.
  • Click/press the power button to select options.
  • To confirm the reset, highlight and select Yes.
  • When the reset is complete, you will return to the same recovery mode menu. Click the power key to choose the option Reboot system now.

Your phone will power up and reset to factory settings. Your phone will restart and you must complete the setup process again before recovering data.

Factory reset through recovery mode on a Samsung phone-steps

  • If your phone is turned on, please turn off the power.
  • At the same time press and hold the power and volume up keys. You should see the Samsung logo, followed by the installing system update screen.
  • After a few seconds, you should see a flashing “No command” message on the screen. Wait for 10 to 15 seconds on this screen and the phone will enter recovery mode.
  • Use the volume button to scroll through the menu, and use the power button to select.
  • Highlight the option wipe (Erase data or factory reset.
  • Click/press the power key to select the option.
  • To confirm the reset, highlight and select Yes.
  • When the reset is complete, you will return to the same recovery mode menu. Press the power button to select restart the system now.

Your phone will power up and reset to factory settings. The next time you turn on the phone, you will complete the initial setup process as if it were a brand new phone. After set up, you can restore data from any location where you backed up the data.

As mentioned before, if you are resetting your phone through recovery mode, factory reset protection will take effect if you have not deleted your Google account from your device. Therefore, if you want to sell your device, make sure to delete your Google account and lock the screen security before hard reset through recovery mode.

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