Wondering how to hard reset your Samsung Captivate phone? You may need to know how to perform a hard reset if you’re parting with the device and don’t wish for any of your data to go with the phone. It can also be used as a last step in the troubleshooting process if you’ve been experiencing malfunctions on the device that can’t be solved by other means. Either way, you can use these steps reset the phone to factory default settings and clear all the data off the phone.
Note: There is no backup of data on the phone unless you have created one. Be sure you know what you are doing and that you don’t have any data on the phone that you must have in the future. SD card data should be preserved after these steps, but to be sure, you may want to backup that data as well. Better safe than sorry!
There are two ways you can perform a hard reset on the Capivate. This is the hardware button method. It’s usually preferred if the device will not boot properly.
1. Turn the power off. Pull the battery out and replace it if the Power button doesn’t work.
2. Press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons.
3. Release the Power button while continuing the hold Volume Down until a menu appears prompting you to select Fastboot, Recovery, Clear Storage, and Simlock.
4. Select Delete all user data using the Volume Down button.
5. Press the release Power button.
6. Select Volume Up for Yes.
Optionally, if the device start properly, you can use the software method if you prefer to go that route.
1. Open Settings.
2. Select Privacy.
3. Select Factory data reset.
4. Select Reset phone.
5. If you set a password on the device, you will be prompted for it. Enter it, then tap Erase everything.
The Samsung Captivate will then take a few minutes to complete the hard reset process. Once completed, it will restart and look like it did when it was taken out of the box and started for the first time. SD card data is preserved after this process, so you may want to remove the SD card or format it if you are getting rid of the device.
Last modified March 21, 2012
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so, my friend put a password on my phone.. how do i reset it to completly erase everything, including the password?
How do you do the other reset? I can boot fine, just locked in landscape mode and too many strange errors since upgrading to 2.3 GB. Also computers will not recognize my phone.
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