Factory reset guide
A factory reset is the command that erases the phone and returns its software settings to the manufacturer defaults. The button names change by model. The consequences are mostly the same.
Use the model lookup when you need the menu path for one handset. This page is the part that applies to every phone in the library.
What the reset changes
On most phones, a factory reset, master reset, or "restore factory settings" command deletes apps, accounts, photos, messages, and settings stored on the device. The phone then starts with the setup screens it had when it was new.
A soft reset is a different action. It restarts the phone. It does not delete your data. Some model pages on this site list both, because a frozen phone often only needs the restart. Read the heading above the steps before you hold any buttons.
What the reset does not change
It does not repair hardware. A cracked screen, a dead battery, or a port that will not charge is still broken after the menus are back to default.
It does not unlock a phone that a carrier locked to its own network, and it does not change whether a carrier will activate the phone.
It does not remove an account lock. If the phone asks for an Apple ID or a Google account after the wipe, the reset worked, and a different protection is still on.
Prepare the phone
- Copy photos, contacts, and messages somewhere other than the phone. A reset does not keep a private copy.
- Charge the battery, or leave the phone on a charger. A reset that loses power can stop halfway and fail to start.
- If you use a security code, know it before you open the reset menu. The menu often asks for it.
- Remove any memory card you want to keep unchanged. Some phones offer to format removable storage as part of the reset. Read that prompt before you confirm it.
Default security codes
Older phones often shipped with a default security code such as 12345 or 0000. A model page may list that code beside the menu path. It works only when nobody changed it.
If the code was changed, the printed default will fail. Do not keep entering guesses. After several wrong codes, many phones block the security menu or ask for a longer unlock code that is not printed on this site. This site does not publish ways around that block.
Apple Activation Lock
On an iPhone, Find My iPhone can leave Activation Lock on after a wipe. The phone starts, then asks for the Apple ID and password that were on it before the reset. The reset steps did not fail. Apple is checking that the person setting the phone up is allowed to.
The Apple ID owner can remove the device from their account, or you can use Apple’s own recovery if you can show that you bought the phone. Nothing on this site bypasses that prompt.
Google Factory Reset Protection
Many Android phones ask for the Google account that was used on the phone before the reset. That check is Factory Reset Protection.
When the prompt does appear, the Google account owner has to sign in, or you have to use the recovery Google offers for that account. The menu steps on a model page do not remove it.
When the menus do not match
Carriers sold the same model under different names, and some phones in the library were stored under the name printed on the box rather than the name in the software. If the first menu on the page is not on the phone, go back and try another model from the same make before you reset anything.
Software updates also rename menus. A step written when the phone was sold can be one screen off after an update. If you finish a reset and the page was wrong, send the model and the menus you saw so the page can be corrected.
Corrections
If a step is wrong, or a phone you own is missing, write from the contact page with the make, the model, and what the phone shows.