You’re using your favourite Android app game, watching a YouTube video or having a browse of Facebook when suddenly everything grinds to a halt. The screen is completely unresponsive and you can’t close the app or go back to your home screen. Or maybe the phone won’t seem to come on at all. These issues will sometimes happen without rhyme or reason but it’s usually easy to escape by pressing a few of the device’s physical buttons. This is called a Soft Reset.
A Soft Reset (or Forced Restart) differs from a Hard Reset (or Factory Restore) in that it doesn’t delete any essential data from the smartphone or tablet but you may lose some RAM or temporary data, for example any unsaved game progress or the page you were viewing on a website. A Hard Reset on the other hand would only be required when you want to wipe all data from the device, starting it over.
To perform the Soft Reset on an Android device varies depending on the device. Sometimes it can involve holding just the Power/Lock button or some combinations can also use the Volume Up / Volume Down and Home buttons. Here are a few popular ones we’ve come up with while helping out our Gadget Helpline members.
HTC ONE:
Hold Power/Lock button for 8 – 10 seconds.
Phone will start automatically, release when start up logo appears.
HTC ONE (M8):
Hold Power/Lock + Volume Up button for 8 – 10 seconds.
Phone will start automatically, release when start up logo appears.
LG G3:
Hold Power/Lock button for 8 – 10 seconds.
Phone will start automatically, release when start up logo appears.
MOTOROLA (GOOGLE) NEXUS 6:
Hold Power/Lock button for 15 seconds.
Phone will start automatically, release when start up logo appears.
MOTOROLA MOTO X (2ND GEN):
Hold Power/Lock button for 8 – 10 seconds.
Phone will start automatically, release when start up logo appears.
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 3:
Hold Power/Lock + Volume Up buttons for 8 – 10 seconds.
Tablet will start automatically, release when start up logo appears.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S5:
Hold Power/Lock button for 8 – 10 seconds.
Phone will start automatically, release when start up logo appears.
SONY XPERIA Z3:
Hold Power/Lock + Volume Up buttons for 8 – 10 seconds.
Phone will vibrate three times. Release buttons and power on as normal.