What Is Factory Reset?
An Android factory reset lets you erase your data and cache partitions, which removes all user data, settings, applications, and their data.
A factory reset is typically performed when:
- The owner of the Android device decides to sell it to someone else.
- The device becomes infected with mobile malware.
- Low storage space issues become common due to accumulated leftover data.
- The device stops being reliable, with apps randomly crashing and freezing.
- The performance of the device begins to degrade and affects the overall user experience.
In these situations, a factory reset can be initiated directly from the Settings app. Like this:
- Open the Settings
- Navigate to System > Advanced.
- Select Reset options.
- Choose the Erase all data (factory reset)
- Confirm your decision to perform a factory reset.
The problem is that you can’t open the Settings app when you forget your PIN, pattern, or password and get stuck on the lock screen. Fortunately, there are other ways to initiate the factory reset process and we describe several of them in the next section.
5 Ways to Factory Reset a Locked Android Phone or Tablet
Android is all about having options. You can choose from multiple web browsers, keyboard apps, launchers, dialers, phone manufacturers, and so on. Likewise, there are several ways to perform a factory reset and most of them work even if your device is locked.
Method 1: Factory Reset Android in Recovery Mode
Android recovery mode is a special mode for installing software updates and performing various admin tasks, including factory resetting.
To enter recovery mode, you need to turn off your device and press and hold a special key combination:
- Asus: volume up + power button (hold until you see the bootloader options then select recovery mode using volume buttons and confirm using the power button)
- Google: volume down + power button (hold until you see the bootloader options then select recovery mode using volume buttons and confirm using the power button)
- Huawei/Honor: volume up + power button (release the power button when you see the Huawei/Honor logo)
- LG: volume down + power button (release the power button when you see the LG logo)
- Motorola: press and hold volume down only for a few seconds before also pressing and holding the power button (release the power button when you see the Motorola logo)
- OnePlus: volume down + power button (release the power button when you see the OnePlus logo)
- OPPO: volume down + power button (release the power button when you see the OnePlus logo)
- Realme: volume down + power button (release the power button when you see the Realme logo)
- Samsung: with your device connected to a computer using a cable, press and hold volume up + power button (release the power button when you see the Samsung logo)
- Sony: volume up + power button (release the power button when you see the Sony logo)
- Vivo: volume up + power button (release the power button when you see the Vivo logo)
- Xiaomi: volume up + power button (release the power button when you see the Xiaomi logo)
Once you’re in recovery mode, use the volume keys and the power button to select the wipe data/factory reset option (the option may be called slightly differently).
Method 2: Factory Reset Android Using Find My Device
Find My Device is a useful feature that lets you remotely locate, ring, lock, and factory reset your Android device. For this feature to work, it must be enabled on the locked device. If it isn’t, use a different method instead. If it is, then you can follow these steps to factory reset your device:
- Go to: https://www.google.com/android/find
- Sign in with your email address and password.
- Select the device you want to factory reset.
- Click the ERASE DEVICE
- Confirm your decision to erase the device.
- Sign in to your Google account if asked to do so.
Assuming the locked device is connected to the internet, it should factory reset in a short while.
Method 3: Factory Reset Samsung Using Find My Mobile
Samsung provides its own Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution that works much like Google’s Find My Device. In fact, even its name is similar: Find My Mobile. To factory reset a Samsung device with it, you need to:
- Go to: http://findmymobile.samsung.com/
- Sign in with your email address and password.
- Select the Erase data
- Confirm by clicking Erase.
- Enter your Samsung account password.
For the Find My Mobile feature to work, it must be enabled on the device you want to remotely erase.
Method 4: Factory Reset Using ADB
Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a software tool for the debugging of Android devices. The tool supports many different commands, including a command for performing a factory reset.
To use ADB, you need to:
- Have USB debugging enabled on the locked device.
- Have ADB drivers installed on your computer.
- Download Minimal ADB and Fastboot Tool.
Once you have everything ready, you can:
- Connect your device to your computer.
- Launch Windows Terminal.
- Navigate to the folder with the Minimal ADB and Fastboot Tool executable.
- Use the adb devices command to a list of connected devices. You should see something like xxxx device detected. If you don’t, it means adb doesn’t see your device, and you should double-check if your drives are installed correctly.
- Type adb shell and then type recovery –wipe_data (or you can try wipe data). Your device should factory reset and restart.
ADB can also be used to enter recovery mode using the adb reboot recovery command. You can then use the volume keys and the power button to select the wipe data/factory reset option.
Method 5: Reinstall the Android Operating System
When you perform a factory reset, the Android operating system remains intact—only user data gets deleted. That can be a problem when FRP (Factory Reset Protection) is enabled because you will need your Google account password to use your phone again.
To bypass FRP after factory resetting a locked Android phone or tablet, you need to reinstall the entire Android operating system (and wipe all system and data partitions in the process) by flashing a factory or custom image (ROM).
The installation of factory and custom images is a topic for another article, and you can learn more about it here and here.
Conclusion
Just because you don’t remember your PIN, pattern, or password doesn’t mean you won’t be able to use your device ever again. You can always perform a factory reset to wipe all user data, including your security settings, and we’ve described five different methods to do so in this article.
