How to reset samsung galaxy s8 to factory settings

At some point, you’re probably going to have to reset your Samsung Galaxy S8+ smartphone. When it’s frozen and not responding, you will want to soft reset it. If you are having major issues with the device that normal troubleshooting doesn’t fix, you may want to hard reset it to factory defaults. Here’s how you can do both.

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How do I reset my Samsung phone to factory settings?
Does a factory reset delete everything?
How do I factory reset my Galaxy S8 without unlocking it?
Does a factory reset on Samsung delete everything?

Soft Reset

Whenever the device is frozen or doesn’t respond to commands, simply press and hold the “Power” and “Volume Down” buttons on the device for about 10 to 20 seconds. Eventually, the screen should turn off. You will then be able to turn the device back on and resume normal operation.

Hard Reset

There are two ways you can perform a hard reset on the Galaxy S8. One procedure can be done from startup, the other from within the Android OS. These steps will wipe all data from the device, so be sure to have a backup in place if you wish to keep your data. Also, if you have encrypted the data on your SD card, be sure to disable encryption before these steps. Otherwise, you will never be able to view your encrypted files again.

From Android OS

Tap “Settings” > “Backup and reset” > “Factory data reset” > “Reset” > “Delete All“.

From Startup

With the device powered off, press and hold “Volume Down“, “Bixby” and “Power“.
Continue to hold both buttons until you see the Recovery screen.
From the recovery screen, use the “Volume Down” button to toggle the selection to “Wipe data / factory reset“.
Press the “Power” button to select the highlighted option.

FAQ

How do I disable Factory Reset Protection?

Factory Reset Protection prevents access to your device without your permission. It locks the device to your Google account. If you’re changing ownership of the phone, you will want to turn this feature off.

You can disable Factory Reset Protection by removing your Google account from the device before the factory reset. This can be done under “Settings” > “Accounts and cloud” > “Accounts” > “Google” > select the account >

> “Remove account“.

This tutorial applies to the Samsung Galaxy S8+ models SM-G955 and SM-G950.

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The Galaxy S8 is a great phone, but sometimes you're put in a position where you need to bring it back to the state you found it, be it for performance reasons, bugs, or to sell.

Whatever the cause of the reset, it's fairly easy to do it. Here's how:

How to factory reset the Galaxy S8 from inside Android

The easiest way to factory reset the phone is to do it from within Android. But before you do anything so drastic, ask yourself a couple of things:

Have I backed everything up?
Have I tried every other course of remedial action, such as deleting an app suspected of causing slowdown?
Have I called technical support to work through the problem with Samsung directly?

If you've answered yes to all those questions, you may proceed.

From the home screen, swipe down on the notification shade.
Tap on the Settings button (looks like a cog icon).
Scroll down and tap on General management.
Tap on Reset.

Tap on Factory data reset.
Scroll down to the bottom and tap on Reset.
Enter your PIN, password or pattern to proceed.
Wait until reset completes.

Note: Factory resetting your phone can cause data loss if you haven't backed everything up.

How to factory reset your Galaxy S8 from outside Android

If for some reason your Galaxy S8 isn't able to boot into Android and you still want to factory reset it, the instructions are little harder, but they accomplish the same thing.

Turn off your Galaxy S8 (if it's not already).
Hold down the Volume up, Bixby, Power buttons simultaneously until the Samsung logo shows up on the screen. Lift fingers.
You'll see an Android figure with the words No command on screen. Wait a few seconds.
Once the black background with colored text appears, use the volume down button to scroll to Wipe data/factory reset.

Use the power button to select Wipe data/factory reset.
Use the volume down button to scroll to Yes.
Use the power button to select Yes.

What about Factory Reset Protection when selling a device?

If you're factory resetting the Galaxy S8 prior to selling it (which you should always do), you'll need to remove your Google account from the phone prior to resetting it.

That's because, by default, your Galaxy S8 uses a Google feature called Factory Reset Protection, which requires a new user to log into the last Google account that was used on the phone. This prevents would-be thieves from stealing a phone, resetting it and using it as new. But it also prevents would-be buyers from enjoying a new phone if they don't have you nearby to bypass that protection.

Note: Factory Reset Protection only kicks in if you factory reset your phone using the bootloader method explained above. If you go through the reset procedure by entering a PIN, password or pattern, FRP is automatically disabled, since you've essentially verified your identity to Android prior to performing the reset. You only need to manually remove a Google account if you're planning to reset the phone in the bootloader menu prior to selling.

Questions?

Some some questions about these procedures? Got a better way? Let us know in the comments!

Daniel Bader was a former Android Central Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editor for iMore and Windows Central.

How do I reset my Samsung phone to factory settings?

Turn OFF your phone and remove any charging cables..

Press and hold the Volume UP, BIXBY, and POWER buttons at the same time. ... .

Release the 3 buttons after the phone powers on and displays the Android logo. ... .

Press the Volume DOWN button to highlight Wipe data/factory reset..

Press the POWER button to select it..

Does a factory reset delete everything?

A factory data reset erases your data from the phone. While data stored in your Google Account can be restored, all apps and their data will be uninstalled. To be ready to restore your data, make sure that it's in your Google Account.

How do I factory reset my Galaxy S8 without unlocking it?

You need to enable Wi-Fi Calling manually if you want to use it..

Ensure the device is powered off..

Press and hold the. Volume up. + Bixby. ... .

From the Android Recovery screen, select. Wipe data/factory reset. . Allow up to 15 seconds for the Android Recovery screen to appear. ... .

Select. Yes. . ... .

Select. Reboot system now. ..

Does a factory reset on Samsung delete everything?

A Factory data reset from the Settings menu will permanently delete all data, including files and downloaded apps. Step 1. Go to Settings and select General management.