Reset Android settings to factory settings

In some situations, Android users want to erase all data from their smartphones or tablets and restore them to default. This article contains step-by-step instructions that will show you how to reset your Android and get an “empty” device.

Restoring a device to factory settings means that after this process the device returns to the state it was in immediately after purchase. This erases your Google account information, saved app settings, and files (photos, videos, and audio tracks) contained on internal or removable media.

The following four steps will help you erase all your sensitive data from Android and restore your gadget to factory settings.

Warning

Before you begin this process, you must back up all your personal data that you later want to transfer to a new device. Otherwise, your information will be lost forever. To back up your personal data to your computer, connect the device using a USB drive and save all data to a folder on your PC's hard drive. You can also transfer your personal information and application data to Google's servers, but this is a little more complicated.

Step-by-step instruction

Despite the fact that different platform distributions have differences, resetting settings on Android is similar, regardless of your software version.

1) To begin the process of deleting data on your smartphone or tablet, first tap the Menu key to open a range of available options on the screen.

3) In the “Privacy Settings” menu, click on the “Factory data reset” option, and on the next menu, choose whether you want to reset your Android and erase all data on the device, information on your external MicroSD memory card, or all media by filling in the appropriate boxes. Once you have made the desired selection, you must confirm it by pressing "Reset Phone".

4) You will be asked to confirm again that you are indeed ready to reset your device to factory settings. Click the "Remove All" button to complete the process. The device will perform a full reset on Android and after rebooting your tablet or smartphone, you will see that it is ready for use again.

Please note that the process of deleting all stored data may take 10 minutes or more to complete, depending on how much information is stored on the device and/or memory card.

Features of different versions

Speaking about how settings are reset on Android 40, you should take into account some menu features. In gadgets with this version of the operating system, returning to factory settings has its own section in the Settings menu. Go to the menu in the same way as mentioned in the previous steps and scroll down to the options about backup and data reset. Resetting settings on Android 41 occurs in a similar way.