How To Reboot and Reset Android Devices

Smartphones have become ubiquitous today. Every single person you come across seems to have an Android smartphone nowadays. According to statistics, currently, there are over 2 billion smartphone users globally. Majority of smartphones in use today have Google’s Android OS. Android technology is touted as being one of the most simple, efficient and effective smartphone technologies.

Why Do You Need to Reboot or Reset your Android device?

Although smartphones are packed with anti-virus and other security apps, much like any other commercial electronic computing device, Android smartphones and tablets can hang at anytime. There are numerous reasons as to why you Android device may have stopped working all of a sudden. In such cases, you may have heard of someone suggesting that you ‘reboot’ or ‘reset’ your Android device.

In this article, you will learn the differences and advantages to reboot Android devices and to reset Android devices. It is most helpful for troubleshooting issues in your Android phone or tablet, without having to visit the service center.

[irp][irp]

Difference between Reboot and Reset

First off, there seems to be a common confusion amongst Android users regarding the terms ‘reboot’ and ‘reset’.

Reboot – A reboot will simple restart your Android device, especially when it is lagging in its functions.

Reset – A reset will erase all data from your phone, apart from the built-in apps, to remove bugs.

Soft Reboot and Hard Reboot

Although you may confuse the terms ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ as referring to the intensity/limit of the rebooting procedure, there is slight truth in it. Simply speaking, ‘soft reboot’ is derived from software reboot, whereas ‘hard reboot’ is derived from hardware reboot.

Hence, soft reboot will restart your software applications while hard reboot will restart your hardware applications in the Android device. Normally, when you reboot your smartphone it is a soft reboot. However, if you take out the battery directly, without switching off the phone/tablet first, then it is called as a hard reboot because you are using hardware to reboot the device.

[irp][irp]

Hard Reboot Android Devices

To hard reboot Android devices in phones which have built-in batteries, the simple trick is to press the Volume Down + Power keys for a few seconds. In this time, your screen will go blank and you will see the rebooting animation being displayed on it.

Reset Android Devices to Factory Settings

There are numerous reasons as to why you might need to restore your Android device to its factory settings. Most commonly, it is needed when you are upgrading to another smartphone. There are mainly two methods to reset Android devices to their factory settings.

Soft Reset Android Devices

Every Android device has a built-in option in the phone’s settings menu to reset Android devices to their original settings.

Step 1 – Go to ‘Settings’
Step 2 – Select ‘Backup & Reset’
Step 3 – Choose ‘Factory Data Reset’
Step 4 – Confirm when prompted

Following these four simple steps, your Android device will have all additional and personal data/setting removed from it. It will eventually be in its original state that it came in when you opened the box.

[irp][irp]

However, it is important to note that when you reset Android devices to factory settings, only the data in the phone’s memory will get erased. Any data on the SD card will be left untouched. So if you have reset Android devices to sell them then make sure to remove any SD cards in your phone beforehand.

Hard Reset Android Devices

The other method is to hard reset Android devices. As mentioned earlier, Android devices are prone to hanging, lagging or simply freeze on you at times. At such times, hard reset comes as a last resort.

Step 1 – Switch off your Android device.
Step 2 – Hold down the Power Key and Volume Down key together till you see an Android bootloader menu.
Step 3 – Use volume button to toggle between options in bootloader menu and highlight ‘Recovery Mode’.
Step 4 – Use the Power Key to select/enter your choice.
Step 5 – Phone screen displays message ‘No Command’.
Step 6 – Press and hold the Power Key and then press once on Volume Up key.
Step 7 – A list menu gets displayed. Use the Volume key to highlight the option for ‘Wipe Data/Factory Reset’.
Step 8 – Confirm your choice when prompted to initiate the reset Android devices to factory setting process.

We hope that these simple tips were helpful enough. So the next time your Android smartphone or tablet begins to lag or you are planning to sell your current phone for another one, make sure to do the reset Android devices process and ensure that your personal data and settings are safe forever. When you reboot Android devices using these tips, you will notice improved performance by your smartphone.