Safe mode can help you troubleshoot your
Android, but sometimes you’ll need to wipe
everything and restore your device to its factory
state.
You can even perform a factory reset when
your Android phone or tablet won’t boot normally.
Ensure you have any important data backed up
before doing a reset. This includes your Google
Authenticator credentials, which will be lost during
the reset. Disable two-factor authentication on
your accounts first or you’ll experience some
trouble afterwards.
If You Can’t Boot
If safe mode doesn’t help fix your device, you can
perform a hard reset by booting into a special
recovery mode. First, ensure your device is fully
shut down.
Press and hold the correct keys to boot the device
into recovery mode. This will vary from device to
device. Here are some examples:
Nexus 7: Volume Up + Volume Down + Power
Samsung Galaxy S3: Volume Up + Home + Power
Motorola Droid X: Home + Power
Devices With Camera Buttons: Volume Up +
Camera
Similar devices will likely use similar key
combinations. For example,theNexus 4 also uses
Volume Up + Volume Down + Power.
If your device isn’t on this list and none of the
above methods work, do a Google search for the
name of your device and “recovery mode” – or
look in the device’s manual or support pages.
Release the buttons when the device powered on.
You’ll see an image of an Android lying on its
back with its chest open and its internals
revealed.
Press the Volume Up and Volume Down keys to
scroll through the options until you see Recovery
mode on the screen.
Press the Power button to restart into recovery
mode. You’ll soon see an Android with a red
triangle.
Hold down the Power button and tap Volume Up.
You’ll see the Android system recovery menu
appear at the top of your screen.
Select wipe data / factory reset with the volume
keys and tap the Power button to activate it.
Select Yes – erase all user data with the volume
buttons and tap Power. Your device will be reset
to its factory state and all your data will be
erased.
If your device freezes at any point, hold down the
Power button until it restarts.
If You Can Boot
You can reset your Android phone or tablet
normally from its Settings screen. Tap the
Backup & reset option on the latest versions of
Android or tap Privacy if you’re using Android 2.3.
Tap the Factory data reset option and to through
the reset of the steps to confirm the factory
reset.
If the factory reset process doesn’t fix your
problems – or doesn’t work at all – it’s likely
that there’s a problem with your device’s
hardware. If it’s still under warranty, you should
have it fixed or replaced.
(There’s one exception to this: If you’ve been
flashing custom ROMs and messing with your
device’s low-level software, it’s possible that you
could have overwritten the stock recovery
software. In this case, it’s possible that you have
a software problem and not a hardware problem
