Galaxy Note 4: How to Factory Reset

Sometimes you can experience some odd and random bugs from time to time with the Galaxy Note 4(and Android in general). One way to resolve these issues is to do a factory reset so today I’m going to show you how it’s done.

Android is a very rich and complicated mobile operating system and most of the time it runs very well. However, there are some times when the system can go bonkers and all sorts of strange and random things can act up. Recently, I have shown you how to boot the Galaxy Note 4 into Safe Mode in order to determine whether or not the issue is from a 3rd party application.

I have also shown you how to wipe the cache partition of the Galaxy Note 4, which can sometimes resolve corrupt cache data. Today though, I’m going to show you how to completely reset your Galaxy Note 4.

When all else fails, a factory reset is almost assuredly the answer to the issue for any Android smartphone, tablet or smartwatch. When I first get an Android device I try to use as many features that I typically use as quickly as possible. If something doesn’t seem right(including battery drain) then I immediately do a factory reset to it. This helps to get the issues sorted quickly, rather than after I have set up all of my applications, services, etc. A factory reset is also something that needs to be done after you update Android from one version to another(even if it’s just a small update). There are a lot of random things that can happen during an update and a factory reset will, again, almost assuredly resolve those issues.

I understand that performing a factory reset isn’t the most ideal solution. This is something that should be avoided at all cost, but sometimes you just simply cannot avoid it. You should always try to reinstall apps, restart the phone, wipe the cache partition and other troubleshooting steps for your Galaxy Note 4 before you do a factory reset. However, if those do not work, and you are thinking about taking the Note 4 to your carrier, or a repair center, they will most likely do a factory reset to it anyway. Being able to do the factory reset on your own time, in the leisure of your own home, is always a better solution in my opinion. This way you are allowed all the time in the world to backup as much information as possible.

I’m going to show you two different ways to do a factory reset on your Galaxy Note 4. The first way will be called the soft reset, and it will be done through the settings of the Galaxy Note 4. The second way is called a hard reset and it will be done by booting the Galaxy Note 4 into Recovery Mode. Both of these methods will do the same thing to your device. It’s just that sometimes if the Galaxy Note 4 is really messed up then you are unable to boot up into Android in order to do the soft reset.

Note:
Backup any and all of the data that you can think of before you do a factory reset. The only data that will be left behind are things that are inside the emulated/internal SD card and the physical/external SD card.

Galaxy Note 4 Soft Factory Reset

1. Turn on and Unlock the Galaxy Note 4
2. Open the Settings Application
3. Scroll Down and Tap on the User and Backup Option
4. Tap on the Backup and Reset Option
5. Tap on Factory Data Reset and Then Tap on Reset Device
6. Tap on Delete All
7. Wait Until the Galaxy Note 4 Completes the Reset

Galaxy Note 4 Hard Factory Reset

1. Power Down the Galaxy Note 4
2. Boot the Galaxy Note 4 Into Recovery Mode
3. Use the Volume Up and Volume Down Buttons to Navigate the Menu
4. Highlight the “Wipe Data / Factory Reset” Option
5. Press the Power Button to Select This Option
6. Highlight the “Yes” Option to Confirm
7. Press the Power Button to Select the “Yes” Option
8. Wait Until the Galaxy Note 4 Completes the Reset

Explanation

No matter which one of these tutorials that you choose to go with, the result will still be the same. As I said, we have the option to do the same task in two different ways in case you are unable to boot up into Android properly. The soft reset method is fairly straight forward. You just need to open up the Settings application and the navigate through the menus. The hard reset method is a little more difficult since you need to boot the Galaxy Note 4 into Recovery Mode. I have written up a tutorial on this previously, so you can study up on that if you are not sure how to get into Recovery Mode.

Once you are in the Recovery Mode for the Galaxy Note 4, it’s almost the same thing as the soft reset. You just need to navigate through the menu and select the factory reset option. Since you are in Recovery Mode though, you just can’t touch on the screen to select the options like you can from the standard Settings application. Instead, you have to use the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons to scroll through the menus and then press the Power button to select the highlighted option.