How to Hard Reset a Samsung Galaxy Phone
The step-by-step guide will show you how to hard reset your Samsung Galaxy phone. This tutorial applies to all Samsung smartphones, including S, N, J, and A-Series models.
We’ll need our phones to be wiped and factory data reset at some point.
It can be because you’re changing your phone and want to erase everything so that no one can have a look at your private data.
Your phone has become slow over a period of time, and you want a refresh to make it like a new one regarding performance.
OR
You’re having some issues that might go away by factory resetting your phone.
How to hard reset a Samsung Galaxy:
The hard reset method applies to all models, including the Samsung S24 Ultra, S23 Ultra, S22, S21 Plus, S20, Note20 Ultra, Note 10, Note 9, S10 Plus, S9, S8 Plus, S7 Edge, Galaxy S6, S5, Note 5, Note 4, Note 3, J7, J5, J1, A7, A5, A3 and all other models that I didn’t mention!
Please note that once you hard reset your phone, everything is erased, including 3rd party apps (installed from the Play Store), contacts, photos, videos, and other user data. It is therefore recommended to backup your important data. You can learn how to backup your phone using our detailed guide on Android backup.
Also, be careful and don’t forget to note down your Google or Samsung account ID and password if you’ve set up the FRP lock. Not doing so will not give you access to your device after you factory reset it. It is therefore recommended to turn off the FRP lock on your phone. If you get to the Google lock screen where it asks for a Google account, then use our FRP service.
I hope you’ll be very careful and do the necessary homework even before you think about formatting your Samsung device.
Now let’s move on and get started with the practical guide.
You’ve got two options to hard reset your device.
- Using phone Settings
- Android Recovery
I will explain both in detail with screenshots so that you can easily understand the whole procedure. In reality, both methods do the same work and can be applied quickly, and in the end, it totally comes down to your personal preference.
1. Factory Reset Using Phone Settings:
Luckily, all versions of Android have similar settings options so don’t worry if you’re running Android Nougat, Marshmallow, Lollipop, Kitkat, or Jellybean.
- Go to Phone Settings.
- Scroll down and find user and backup. The backup and reset option is available under the same tab. Tap it.
- You’ll get to the below options and don’t forget to check the Automatic Restore. Whenever you reinstall an app from the Play Store, backed-up settings and data will be restored.
- Tap factory data reset.
- Read the disclaimer and tap Reset device.
You’re done now. Your phone will automatically reboot and may take some time on the first boot. You can later add a new Google account and get started with a fresh factory reset device.
If, for some reason, you don’t like the above method, you can skip to the second method as instructed below.
2. Hard Reset using Android Recovery:
To use this particular hard reset method, you’ll need to boot your Samsung Galaxy device into Android recovery mode. Here are the instructions:
- Power off your device.
- Now press and hold down the Vol-Up+Home+Power buttons simultaneously for around 5 to 10 seconds until you see the recovery options as shown in the image below:
- You’ll be using the Vol up/down key to scroll through the options and Power to select the desired option.
- Now select the Wipe Data/Factory Reset option.
- On the next screen, select “Yes” to complete the action.
- When completed, you’ll get back to the main menu options and select “Reboot system now.”
That’s it. You’ve successfully hard-reset your phone.
In case you’ve got an FRP-locked device, you may try our online unlock service to remove the Google account from your Samsung phone.
Thanks for reading. I hope you’ve found this step-by-step guide helpful. Please let us know and share your experience in the comment section below. For more quality tutorials and guides, keep visiting.
