All phones have a soft reset function,
which is similar to restarting your computer. Beware that a soft reset will
cause you to lose data that isn’t saved, but you will retain information
previously stored on your smartphone.
Android.
Most Android models use a simple power cycle to perform a soft reset. Just turn
the phone off and then back on again.
BlackBerry (QWERTY). Press and hold the ALT-CAP-DEL keys. The display goes black and
your phone resets.
BlackBerry
(QWERTY). Press and hold the ALT-CAP-DEL keys.
BlackBerry (SureType). Press the ALT-CAP and Right Shift-DEL keys. When the screen goes
blank, release the keys.
BlackBerry (touchscreen).Turn the BlackBerry off and remove the battery for at least 30
seconds. Reinstall the battery and turn the device back on.
iPhone 4 and earlier. Simultaneously press and hold the Sleep/Wake button on the top of
the iPhone and the Home button. Hold both buttons for approximately 10 seconds,
until the screen goes blank. You’ll see the Apple logo as the iPhone reboots.
iPhone 4S/5.Simultaneously
press and hold the On/Off button on the top of the iPhone and the Home button.
Hold both buttons for approximately 10 seconds, until the screen goes blank.
You’ll see the Apple logo as the iPhone reboots.
iPhone
4S/5.Simultaneously press and hold the On/Off button on the top of the iPhone
and the Home button.
Microsoft Windows Phone 7 (all models).Power the phone off and then back on. If the power cycle doesn’t
correct the problem, try removing the battery and replace it after 30 seconds.
Nokia (all models). Power the phone off and remove the battery for 30 seconds.
Reinstall the battery and power the phone on. Alternately, you can enter the
code *#7380# and select Yes.
Palm Pre. If
the phone’s menus are active, select Device Info, Reset Options, then select
Soft Reset. If it is locked or frozen, hold the power button and cycle the
ringer button on and off three times. If that doesn’t work, press and hold the
Orange, Sym, and R keys until the device reboots. Turn the phone off, remove
the battery for 10 seconds, reinstall the battery, and power the phone up.
T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide. Unlock the display. Press and hold the Power/Lock button and then
tap Re-start. When asked to confirm, tap Restart again. If the phone does not
restart, re-move the batteries for 30 seconds.
All other smartphones. You can generally perform a soft reset by powering the phone off,
removing the battery for 30 seconds, and powering the phone on.
Hard Reset
A hard reset is a last-ditch option that
returns your phone to its factory set-tings, which means you will lose all data
and installed applications. Before you perform a hard reset, remove the memory
card from your phone; that way you can recover data from the card later.
Android (all models with functioning
menu systems).One of the following menu based systems
for performing a hard reset should work, depending on the phone and version of
Android. Open the application menu. Tap Settings, SD and Card Storage, Factory
Data Reset, and follow the on-screen instructions.
From the Home screen, you’ll want to tap
Menu, Settings, Privacy, and Factory Data Reset, and then follow the on-screen
instructions.
From the Home screen, you’ll want to tap
Menu, Settings, Security, and Factory Data Reset, and then follow the on-screen
instructions.
When the menu system isn’t functional,
follow these phone-specific options to perform a hard reset.
BlackBerry (all models). Remove the battery for 30 seconds. Reinstall the battery and turn
the phone back on.
BlackBerry Style, Bold, Storm, Curve, Tour,
Torch. Click the Options icon on the Home screen. Select Security and then
Security Wipe. Select all three of the available checkboxes to perform a
complete wipe and reset the device to factory condition. Type the word
BlackBerry and click Wipe.
Dell Venue.
With the device turned off, press and hold the Volume Up and Volume Down
buttons. Without releasing the buttons, press and hold the Power button. When
the device configuration screen appears, release all buttons. Use the Volume Up
or Down button to move to Factory Reset. Press the Camera button to select the
Factory Reset option and start the reset process.
Google Nexus One, Nexus S. Turn the phone off. Press and hold Volume Down while you press and
release the Power button. Use the Volume Down button to select Clear Storage
from the list of options. Press the Power but-ton, and confirm your selection
by pressing the Volume Up button.
HTC Arrive, HD7, Surround. Press Start and tap the right-facing arrow. Tap Settings, About,
and then tap Reset Your Phone. Tap Yes, and then tap Yes again. If the screen
is frozen, turn the device off. Press and hold the Volume Up-Down buttons and
briefly press the Power key. When the screen displays instructions for
resetting the device, release the Volume Up-Down buttons.
iPhone (all models).From the Home screen, tap Settings, General, Reset, and Reset All
Settings. This resets all preferences but retains applications and data. If
that doesn’t work, from the Home screen, tap Settings, General, Reset, Erase
All Content And Settings. This will delete all data and applications and return
the iPhone to factory conditions.
Microsoft Windows Phone 7 (all models).Press Start and tap the right-facing arrow. Tap Settings, About,
and Reset Your Phone. Tap Yes, and then tap Yes again.
Motorola Droid. Turn the phone off. Press and hold the Power-X keys to force the
phone into recovery mode. Next, press and hold the Volume Up-Camera key, select
Wipe Data/Factory Reset, and then select
Reboot Phone.
Motorola Droid Pro, Droid 2 Glob-al,
Droid 3, Droid Bionic, Droid Razr. On the Home
Screen, open the App menu and select Settings, Privacy, and Factory Data Reset.
When prompted, tap Reset Phone to erase all data and return phone to factory
conditions.
Motorola Backflip. Power the phone off. Press and hold the Power and Cam-era buttons.
When the phone turns on, release the Power button but continue to hold the
camera button until prompted to release it. Next, press the Volume Down button.
After about 15 seconds, a yellow triangle with an exclamation point will
appear. With your phone closed, tap the bottom-right corner of the display and
select Wipe Data/Factory Reset. Press OK and follow the on-screen instructions.
Nokia (all models). With your phone powered on or in standby mode, type *#7370# and
select Yes, when prompted. You may need your Lock Code for confirmation. The
de-fault lock code is 12345. If your phone doesn’t turn on, try pressing the
On/ Off button, *, and 3 simultaneously.
Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Android 4.0).Turn off the phone. Press the Volume Up and Power buttons. When the
Recovery Menu appears, use the Volume Down button to select Recovery, and then
press Power. The phone will reboot; this process can take a bit of time. If the
phone fails to reboot, remove the battery, wait about 30 seconds, and then
reinsert the battery.
T-Mobile G2x. If possible, back up your data to Google’s servers by selecting
Privacy from the Settings screen. Select the Back Up My Data option. When the
backup is complete, power off the phone. Press and hold the Power/Lock-Volume
Down keys for at least 15 seconds. The phone should turn back on and perform a factory
reset. If the screen is frozen, or the phone doesn’t turn back on, remove the
battery, wait 30 seconds, then rein-stall the battery and try again.
