Factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge

What is factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge?

When you got the new phone before you do anything on it, you can call it in factory state.

Factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge means you wipe all your data, settings and apps from the phone. All your traces on the phone will be removed (with a few exceptions, read on).

After factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, you have to setup the phone just like a new phone before you can use it.

In all Android devices, there is an option for you to perform factory reset. Sometimes, factory reset is named as factory data reset because only user data are actually removed.

When you need factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge?

You need factory reset Galaxy S7 or S7 edge:

• if you want to give the phone to your friends or relatives.
• if you want to sell your Galaxy S7 or S7 edge.
• if you get the phone from others.
• if your mess up phone settings and you cannot find a way to undo the wrong settings. You should try Settings— backup and reset — reset settings first.
• if the phone is too slow after a major update.  You should try to clear cache partition first.
• if the phone have so many problems.  You should try to clear cache partition first.
• if you want to refresh Galaxy S7 or S7 edge.
• if your phone is infected with virus or malware.
• if your phone cannot even boot into Galaxy S7 safe mode.

How to turn off factory data reset protection before factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge?

Since Android Lollipop 5.1, an anti-theft feature of factory data reset (FDR) protection has been introduced. After a factory reset, to re-activate the device, you have to provide a Google account that existed on the phone before it is reset.

Samsung fully implemented this device protection feature in Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.

This means that unless you turn off factory data reset protection before you factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, you will have to use the Google account that existed before you reset it to re-activate the phone.

This can be problematic if Galaxy S7 will change hands after factory reset.

So, in such cases, you should turn off factory data reset protection by:

• set the Galaxy S7 lock screen security as none; or
• remove all Google accounts on the phone.

Please check this guide on how to turn off factory data reset protection (device protection) for Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.

Checklist before factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge

Because  factory reset Galaxy S7 or S7 edge means that you will lose all data, app and settings, you should check the following list before proceed to factory reset Galaxy S7:

• you have backups of your important data and files.
• you have sufficient time for the Galaxy S7  factory data reset. It may take a few hours to set the phone up or restore the phone.
• you have no other options. For freezing, crashing restarting issues on Galaxy S7 or S7 edge, you can try to clear cache partition first to see whether the problems are solved. Factory data reset is always the last option.
• you should turn off factory data reset protection if you plan to give the phone to others after the reset.
• you can NOT roll back Android udpate through factory reset. Factory reset Galaxy S7 will still keep the firmware that is on the phone when you choose to reset. There are no official ways to uninstall Android updates in Galaxy S7. You should visit local Samsung service center to flash the phone if you want to get older versions of the firmware.
• factory reset Galaxy S7 or S7 edge will NOT solve any hardware problems.
• your phone is fully charged. You may damage your Galaxy S7 or S7 edge if battery dies when formatting is in progress.

There are two different ways to factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge with identical results:

1. if you can access Galaxy S7 Settings on the phone, you can factory reset Galaxy S7 or S7 edge from Settings menu.
2. if you cannot access Settings on Galaxy S7, or the factory data reset is grayed out, you can factory reset Galaxy S7 and S6 edge in Galaxy S7 recovery mode.

The following two sections will show you both methods separately.

How to factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge from phone settings?

In your Galaxy S7 or S7 edge, enter Settings.  You can access Galaxy S7 setting through notifications panel or through Apps screen or through Home screen as explained in this page.

In Settings page, tap Backup and reset as shown below.

Tap Factory data reset as shown below to reset Galaxy S7 or S7 edge.

You will get a warning page explaining to you the consequences of factory data reset as shown above.

Tap Reset device as shown above to proceed.

You cannot undo the operation after this point.

How to factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge when the phone cannot boot up properly?

If your Galaxy S7 or S7 edge cannot boot up normally, or if you cannot access Settings on the phone, or if factory data reset is grayed out, you can still factory reset Galaxy S7 or S7 edge in recovery mode.

You may follow these steps to factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge in recovery mode.

Step 1: Boot Galaxy S7 or S7 edge into recovery mode

You can follow this guide to start Galaxy S7 and S7 edge into recovery mode.

Step 2: Select Wipe data/factory reset

In Galaxy S7 recovery mode, navigate to Wipe data/factory reset  with volume up and down keys as shown below.

Press power key to select it.

Remember, in Galaxy S7 recovery mode, you cannot use touchscreen gestures. You have to use volume buttons to navigate and power button to select and confirm.

Step 3: confirm the selection

In the new screen, navigate to Yes as shown above with volume rocker.

Press power button once to confirm the selection.

Step 4: Formatting /data and /cache partitions

Once you press power button in last step, Galaxy S7 will start to format /data partition where your data, files, apps are stored, and /cache partition where system caches are stored.

You can check the progress of the factory data reset in the bottom part as shown below.

The process should take less than 5 mins normally. But you MUST wait till it finishes.

Don’ power off the phone when Galaxy S7 or S7 is being formatted.

Can you factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge now, through galaxy S7 Settings, or through Galaxy S7 recovery mode?

If you have any questions or encounter any problems on factory reset Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, please let us know your questions or problems in the comment box below.

The community will try to help you.

You can get the official Samsung Galaxy S7 user manual (user guide) in your local language here, and Galaxy S7 edge user manual (user guide) in your local language here.

For other guides on using Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, please check Galaxy S7 online manual page.

For detailed Galaxy S7 how-to guides, please check Galaxy S7 how-to guides page.

For more Galaxy S7 camera guides, please check Galaxy S7 camera guide page.