How to Factory Reset Android Phones and Tablets

James Davis

Sep 01, 2023 • Filed to: Mobile Repair Solutions • Proven solutions

For those who treasure their Android devices, it's common knowledge that each one of them wishes their Android device would run smoothly, without any glitches. However, this is not the case for most Android users.

As a matter of fact, a good deal of Android device users have issues with their devices constantly hanging, and running considerably slow. In the most acute of incidences, users often have to shut down their phones to start afresh.

With the booming of Android phones and tablets in the market, all sorts of players in the mobile phone manufacturing industry are expected. This is bad news for Android users, now that the fake Android devices have also started infiltrating the market.

These substandard devices are notorious for being extremely low on memory and really slow. To avert this, users must be ready to constantly factory reset their phones in order to free up the device’s memory and restore performance.

Part 1: When do we need to reset Android Phones and Tablets
Part 2: Backup your Android data before resetting it
Part 3: How to reset Android Phones and Tablets using PC
Part 4: What does the Android backup service back up and restore

Part 1: When do we need to reset Android Phones and Tablets

Here are the five most common situations that would necessitate you to factory reset your Android device:

To free up some memory. This is perhaps the most common reason why you would resolve to factory reset your Android device. Instead of installing each app individually to free up memory, a factory reset would save you a lot of trouble and time. After all, a fresh start is a better option than sorting out the apps with issues, and then uninstalling them individually.

If your applications are constantly crashing. This can be noted through the visible home screen widgets and animations. Moreover, if the Android device keeps popping up 'force close' notifications and warnings that some apps have stopped working, then it’s time to give that device a factory reset.

Similarly, if the Android device takes longer than the normal time to launch applications, then it means that the apps might have some issues with their installations, and a factory reset would be a good way to correct the issues once and for all.

Battery life is also another indicator that your Android device needs a factory reset. Normally, Android devices have shorter battery life. However, if your device drains its battery faster than expected, a factory reset could help restore normal performance, and reinstate the phone’s battery to normal working state.

If you have decided to give your Android device to someone or to sell it, a factory reset is advisable so as to erase all the information synced from your mails and applications in your phone.

Part 2: Backup your Android data before resetting it

However, before factory resetting your Android phone, it is paramount that you back up all your important data. This may include all the media files such as the photos and music stored in your Android device’s internal storage, and also phone messages and your browser history. This is where having a tool like Dr.Fone - Backup & Resotre (Android) comes real handy.

Dr.Fone - Backup & Restore (Android)

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Step 1. Launch the program and choose "Backup & Restore"

Before doing anything, launch the program on your computer and choose "Backup & Restore" from its primary window.

backup android data before factory reset android

Step 2. Connect your Android phone

Connect your Android phone to the computer. Make sure you have enabled USB debugging mode on the phone. After the phone is connected, click on Backup.

factory reset android

Step 3. Choose the file types to backup

Before backing up, you can choose any file type that you want to backup from your Android device. Just check the box in front of it.

select data types to backup

Step 4. Start to backup your device

After checking the file type, you can click "Backup" to start backing your Android device. During the whole process, keep your device connected all the time.

factory reset android

Part 3: How to reset Android Phones and Tablets using PC

Apart from the most common ways of resetting Android phones, using multiple buttons on the phone or tablet, you might as well hard reset your phone using your PC.

There are two methods of doing this. Firstly, you can use a PC reset tool for Android, or you can easily use the Android debug bridge commanding utility, to boot the recovery image on your phone.

Method 1

In the first method, follow the below given steps.

factory reset android

Step 1 - Download the latest version of a Universal hard reset tool.

Step 2 - Now navigate through the application and click on the option that you want to use. Preferably, click on 'wipe to reset the phone'.

Method 2

This method is a bit technical, although there’s nothing difficult in it.

Step 1 - Firstly, download the Android development kit from the Android developers’ website, and extract the folder. Now, rename the extracted folder; you can name it as ADT.

factory reset android

Step 2 - Afterwards, click computer in your file browser, choose properties and select advanced system settings, and from the window named system properties, click on environmental variables.

Step 3 - Open the path and click on edit in the system variables window, and move the cursor to the end of the selection.

Step 4 - Type "C:Program FilesAndroidADTsdkplatform-tools*" without quotes. Launch command prompt and connect your phone through a USB cable to your computer.

factory reset android

Step 5 - Make sure your tablet or phone is switched on. Type 'adb shell' and press enter. When ADB is fully configured in your device, type 'wipe data' and click enter. Your phone will restart in recovery mode and you will have restored your phone's factory settings.

factory reset android

It is to be noted that these factory restoration processes require you to back up all your files before erasing everything.

Part 4: What does the Android backup service back up and restore

The Android back up service safely backs up your media files like photos, music and videos, and can also back up call logs, contacts, and messages. The service is designed in such a way that it can be used to restore all the backed up files.

So, why would you want to, or rather, need to use Wondershare Dr.Fone for Android? Well, here are the main reasons you should consider.

To begin with, this app can be used to recover lost data on all Android devices.

Most importantly the app can be used to connect to cloud resources to back up recovered data.

The app supports over 90% of all Android smart devices and can be tweaked to a wide range of languages.

So, there you have it, with the best tool i.e., Wondershare Dr.Fone by your side, to create backups for your Android device, you can now go ahead and reset your Android phones and tablets, whenever and wherever you need to, without worrying at all about going wrong with it.