How to hard reset Samsung Galaxy S II?

Will performing any of these factory resets void the warranty?

Can anyone give me a step by step guide on what buttons to press if i cannot read the screen? i.e. do I need to press volume up or down. My screen is utterly destroyed, and needs to be repaired, however because of my profession there may well be confidential information in my messages and I want to reset my phone before I have it repaired.

Hey, thank you for this article! I may have to do this myself but I’m not sure…

Basically my phone went into a loop of error/force close messages, so much so I had to turn it off. When I turned it back on, everything on my phone was as it was a few weeks ago! Messages, photos etc. had disappeared and some things which I had previously deleted had come back! Now whenever I try to upload photos via USB they disappear from the phone completely. This has happened twice now and I am fed up.

Is a factory reset my best option or should I do something else, or go back to the shop and speak to them?

Please help me! I can’t find answers anywhere. 🙁

Thank you so much!

Jayce,my phone was rooted to android 2.3.4.is it it will turn to 2.3.3 android after i reset to factory default?currently my phone keep restarting during I’m browsing an internet.need your help on how to get my phone back to ori factory setting.

Thanks

I have tried to overclock my samsung galaxy S 2 but now i want to get it back to factory settings. I have performed the first way, but now the colors are weird and the odin file is still on my phone, is there a way to remove it and make my phone as if it was brand new?

Hello Jayce,
I have tried all of theses No one is Working with me
once my Samsung reboot all my old data come back again !!

i mean i can rest but with nothing change !!

every thing will come back again

plz any help I want to sell my Phone but i can’t because i have my Privet Pic 🙁 🙁

Thanks

Hi,
I have problem with my galaxy s2, the screen is unresponsive especially the bottom right hand corner such as back key on phone menu, camera mode, number 8 on dialer and flipping pages. I just have it a week ago. I bought it off someone so I don’t have the original receipt. Called Samsung Canada they told me the warranty on my phone is void because I bought it off third party. I was extremely disappointed about Samsung Canada policy. the phone just release couple months ago and it broke already. I know I don’t have the original receipt but it’s still Samsung super phone! I will never buy Samsung product again ever!

I have a sudden problem. everything was working fine and now suddenly my email has stopped working. (Stock Email). any idea how i can get it working back again. I am using XWKJ3

hi im trying to hard reset it using the keys but it comes up with a triangle and then a little green robot saying downloading??

Hi there, I was wondering if I should factory reset my phone will solved my problem. Just bought the phone 1 week ago and these are my problem:

1) camera constantly freeze or hang, need to restart
2) Sometime the Phone itself will freeze and hang

I am using gingerbread 2.3.6 and some told me it is not stable on S2, do you think it is a hardware or software problem?

Thank you Jayce for sharing your wonderfull imformative and knowledgeable comments here on your blog, a pleasure to have people like you around 🙂

hi. thanks for the tips.

I have carrier unlocked my Sgs2 and I’m wondering will it lock to my former carrier if I do a factory reset?

hi thank you for the ninfor. I have an issue

When i am in the recovery menu and press the up or down key to select factory setting my GT-I9100 volume keys are not working?? I can not make the selection? any ideas?

Hi,
today i downloaded a new software called SGS Secret, using that unfortunatly i did hard reset. i lost my all contacts . is there anyway to get the contacts from my S2. i don’t have any backup.
please reply me soon.
please help me..

Regards,
Shahir

Thanks so much mate, I was in a real pickle.
As I didn’t have a wi-fi connection, it wouldn’t let me factory reset via settings (needed to use Samsung password for inbuilt app). I had no data connection due to a bad app, hence the factory reset. Opted for keypad reset in the end, this was he only useful site I found whilst trawling the web. Excellent, thank you.

hi,,,regarding my dial pad and other problems,,,its still same bro,,,i did hard reset as per ur instructions,,but still the same when i click the soft key for dialler ,,,it goes blank and displays android.process.acore has been stopped unexpectedly. what to do now,,,please advise me,,,,thanks

Hi Jayce,

Hoping you can help with a problem i’m having with my Galaxy S2.

I’ve been locked out of my phone courtsey of a password problem (ie. its been changed and no one can remember what it is)……..

I’ve followed your insructions above for the factory data reset, but after I complete step 6 (yes – delete all user data)…… i’m still asked for a password.

Any ideas what else i can try?

Performing a factory data reset using phone buttons
1. Turn off SGS2.
2.Press and hold down Volume Up + Home + Power buttons at the same time.
3.Release all buttons when you see SGS2 Logo.
4.Android system recovery will be loaded then.
5.Select wipe data/factory reset. (Volume buttons to go up or down, select with Home button)
6.Select Yes — delete all user data.
7.Finally, select reboot system now.

hey bro,
I have samsung galaxy S2. WHen I try to switch on my phone in morning it was showing just samsung galaxy s2 GT-I9100 & display disappear it is continuing the same even the I am not touching the phone & unable to start my phone can please advise what is to be done in order to rectify this problem
Regards,

HI..IF HARD RESET BY Key in *2767*3855#

SUPERUSER WILL VOID?

TQ

Hey bro i tried to upgrade the os in my samsung galaxy s2 i777 and i ended up with two error as mentioned below and i am not able to start my mobile.
1. Deleting cryption meta data
2. Kernel panic upload mode
Now i am not able to put my mobile on download mode as well. Now what is to be done. Right now i am in india i visited samsung service centre in surat but they straight away refuse to repair mobile since i purchased the same from usa with att connection.
Can you help me out to solve this problem ?
I will be highly thankful to you if you can.
Regards,

Ok so i try the factory reset but it yet again asked me for a code? i have no idea what it is. any suggestions? ive tried so many other ways but im locked out of my phone. and i really need to reset everythinng..

Hello my. Friend let me ask something when I try to factory reset all it does is blink att world phone what is up with that

Hey, i want to reset my phone but will it lose al the files(messages, foto’s vids etc..) if i do this?

Hi I don’t know if people still comment here but here goes.

my uncle just got the galaxy s2 and as he is a bit older never really had a screen lock password.
but while drunk one a few nights ago he managed to set a password and put the screen lock on and now he can’t remember the pin.
we have tried every code that has some meaning to him.
no luck. is there a way to hard reset to bypass the pin lock code?

Many thanks Jayce, you saved my damn – albeit brand new – phone from being chucked in the rubbish!

kind regards

Mike

hi there ive had my galaxy s2 i1900 for 1 month and tried to flash my phone through odin and i pressed down vol key start key and home key then it came up with a yellow triangle and now i cant do anything not even switch it on i was connected to my netbook via usb but the site i got odin from gave my netbook viruses which caused my netbook problems so i had to restore that bk to factory settings so lost eveything in phone and netbook plz help need to know if my bricked samsung s2 can b fixed phone did say custom binary download 2 b4 it stopped working so warranty voided so need to find a way to fix it if u can pls help any advice appreciated

thanx for ur help all is fixed now it was my bootloader that wasnt workn on my phone once i fixed that i just had to factory data reset my phone then the yellow triangle disappeared so all is well and im well happy keep up the good work lots of people need your help

im on checkrom hd4.do i need to flash stock rom first?

hi, i just got a samsung galaxy s2 off ebay, this phone has been unlocked so can use any carrier, my question is if i do factory reset, will it take fone to be locked to carrier before it was unlocked

thank u man i love u i just got my brand new galaxy s 2 and forgot this damn pattern it asked me to enter my google mail i was stuck didnt knew wht to do until i came across ur article
u rock bless u muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuah

Hey Jayce,
Your blog is my S2’s lifeline now… 🙂
Quick Question: Does Factory Reset, erases everything? I did Factory Reset on my S2, it resets and I had to provide my gmail account details again.
BUT… Pics, videos and all older folders in phone memory remain as is.
Is it intended? If yes, how can i delete all user data?
Does it got to do anything with Settings –> Privacy –> Automatic Restore setting?

While resetting my galaxy fit i lost all contacts please suggest me any way to retrieve those contacts thanks

Hello, I installed the software via blackmarket phonelocator pro. And the sofware blocked my phone, even though I know the password registered. I sent email to the guy, and he said he gotta buy sotware via the android market. I wish I could uninstall this sotware, but not via Kies (Samsung software, I have a S2) can not access, the connection is blocked. What can I do besides having to pay for this software? The fuck is that I could not test other sofwares security …. this was the first one installed.

I tried resetting by pressing the volume + Home + power … and security software asks such a password.

Hi

Just done with the code reset

Will it void warranty ?

hi i have a problem…my Galaxy S2 was working fine yesterday till it went flat. on charging it i noticed that it never asked for a pin number. when it was up and running i noticed that most of my apps i downloaded and the the factory apps were grey. on selecting them an error message popped up saying that ( this app isn’t downloaded to your phone. so i did a factory reset and the apps came right, however, my phone still doesn’t see my sim card. tried another sim card and its the same story. did the factory reset three times still no luck…pls help don’t want to send it away.

Hi,

Not sure what’s wrong with my Galaxy S2. Every time I turn off and then turn on my phone, all my widgets in the home screen will be gone, then I cannot open my application page at all. It will just stuck with a blank home screen with the wallpaper.

However, the ‘Phone’, ‘Contacts’ and ‘Messaging’ button can still be used. Not sure if I should perform a Factory Reset? Is this because of some apps installed that resulted this?

hi,,, I just want to ask if the hard reset will remove the network lock key appearing when i open my samsung galaxy s2. I just got it a month ago it was working perfectly fine with any other sim cards but but yesterday i tried sending messages it failed. so i restarted the phone and it is requesting for e network lock key. It was bought overseas so I can’t just send it for warranty or repair.

After i used factory data reset using phone buttons
1. Turn off SGS2.
2.Press and hold down Volume Up + Home + Power buttons at the same time.
3.Release all buttons when you see SGS2 Logo.
4.Android system recovery will be loaded then.
5.Select wipe data/factory reset. (Volume buttons to go up or down, select with Home button)
6.Select Yes — delete all user data.

BUT it is asking me to put in a password now…?
Please help!?

Hello Jayce,

My mobile galaxy s2 was facing hang problem, I reset the mobile?

Is their any possibilities to get it back my data which is always on sync mode with samsung account?

Please let me know the procedure?

I am trying to factory reset my Samsung Galaxy S2 and I followed all the steps for method 2 but after pressing, ‘Yes – delete all user data’, it asks me for a password. I don’t know what password it wants me to put in, can you help me?!

– Jack

I went through all the steps, they were helpful until the last step. I clicked on “Yes – delete all user data”, then it sent me to a confirm password screen. I have no idea what the password is. I need help.

Armani

Hello Jayce,

My mobile Samsung Galaxy S2 skyrocket facing a problem that I can’t access the market. When I click the market icon, it’s still loading. Sometimes it asks authentication log in. So I put it, then it’s always loading. After a few minutes later, it disappears and go back to market icon. Whenever I try, it’s always like that. I do need your help.

HI jayce, I have SGS2 ,when i purchase the ph at that time i have paste one gmail id(FREIND ID) just to subscribe market thing, but now i want change this mail id want to put my own one, Please let me know if i can do this other than by factory setting because i dnt want to do factort reset.
Arun

ok what if when you do all of this it says “Comfirm Password”? what can i do since i found the galaxy s2 a day ago and cant get into it cause it has a word password

Hello,
My SGS2, is rooted using CF-ROOT to v..2.3.5. XWKJ3, Baseband v. BUKI1. If I do factory reset from ClockWorkMod Recovery ? Do I lose the root access ? Does the ROM stay the same to 2.3.5? Will my phone still have an operating system?
I’m trying to prepare to install ICS, that’s why I’m asking.. What are the best steps I should follow ?

Hey mate,

I have a small problem that i thought you may be able to help me with.
Basically i have a stock SGS2, few different launchers and stuff like.
But as off today i cannot add a widget,application or anything to a page by using the long press method.

I long press to add and in the status bar it says “screen locked”

Also i cannot switch between launchers anymore via the home button press?
Long press gives me recent apps, triple press gives me voice control.
Single press……nothing.

Any help would be much appreciated mate.

Thankyou

Matty

after rooting my s2 its stuck on startup with the ‘yellow triangle’, i try to unroot it using odin but fail, now my s2 hang on startup not with the ‘yellow triangle’ picture but with ‘phone without connection to pc’ oicture…..what happen to my phone?……can it be reset…..help pls

Hi
My mobile’s speaker suddenly stopped working. That means when someone calls me, I cannot hear it ring! I have tried everything that other forums said, such as testing to see if speaker is working using some code via keypad, uninstalling the most recent apps, etc, but its still not working.

Should I factory reset and see if this works?

Thanks.

iv tried every reset and format for my samsung galaxy s fone but all my apps keep re appering iv formated internal sd card but keeps coming back with the same apps iv tried factory and master reset and still get the same problems i also went as far as deleteing my google account from google itself still nuthin please please can someone give me any other solution i can tri that i already havent….

I installed a few firmware,all officially, and then I broke down my sd card ext. and I think he left something in the phone because when I turn on the screen are some lines,and always I install any rom as I see first option in Chinese language , I live in spain (i try hard reset,factory reset,clockworkmode full wipe…..but all times is sturt in china language)PLZZZ hellpppp!!!

I installed english firmware,and spanish,and france..etc, but still, same problem(i try full wipe,hard reset from code,reset from settings…:(((()
Thx for reply Jayce.

My SGS2 randomly loses connectivity and gives me this message: not registered on network. It can happen during calls, when the phone is sitting doing nothing, when I am using apps…any time. The first one I got the store had no idea what to do with and so warranty replaced it. Within a month the second one started doing it. Many times I can reboot or remove sim card and battery and then re place them and reboot. Twice in the last two weeks I’ve had to do factory resets to get the connection back. Last night it happened again and this time I cannot get it back. Again the store could see it wasn’t working but had no idea what to do, so now I have another replacement coming. Does anyone know what is wrong and would I could do? I’m trying to muttle through with this tiny flip phone the ATT store loaned me.This is all very frustrating…..Juls

Performing a factory data reset using phone buttons worked greatly. Thanks

i updated my samsung galaxy s2 software from the settings -> about phone ->update software…. however, after updating my phone refuses to switch on. Only “Samsung GALAXY S II GT-I9100G” appears on the screen… I have tried hard factory reset. Even after hard reset, it fails to reboot and gets stuck at “Samsung GALAXY S II GT-I9100G”. what do i do?

excuse me,my galaxy s2’s wifi is error,any way to solve it?

Hi, i bought a used samsung s2 from my ex, now he kees showing up wherever i go. can I do a hard reset? After this will he be abler to track my phone down?

I Have ‘firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again’ message on my screen. Kies is not recognising my phone when i connect to the computer. And now i cannot get this message off. I have tried a hard reset. But just keep getting this same message. Please help!

Hi,

I would like to know how much time does it takes to Hard reset the Galaxy S2 ,

Regards

thanks a ton.. this really helped me out…

This procedure worked (#1 and #2) for the Epic 4G Touch version of the phone I bought used, but I noticed that it didn’t wipe that person’s account info in Status in Settings. Is there a way to get rid of that too?

i have problem with my sgs2..when i change the simcard and i need to log in my email and password…when i sign in it cant work…can you tell me how to delate my old email and create new email for my sgs2???need your help…tq

Thanks Jayce!

The method 2 worked like a charm. My friend is selling her s2 to get a s3. Needed to wipe all data and account links, but she had forgotten her samsung account password. This method worked.

However, it also means that a thief could have done the same on stealing a phone.

Hi Jayce,
Can I reset without a SIM card? I’ve tried through the settings menu but doesn’t seem to work. Should I try toggling the buttons?

Hi! My problem is my Galaxy S2 had some force closures issue (happened after I updated Google Play store). Now all the apps I downloaded (including my Gmail and Google Play, Google search) are grey. Upon selecting them, an error message popped up saying that “this app isn’t downloaded to your phone”.
My Yahoo mail is however fine. Apart from that, the phone is functioning ok. I can still make calls, surf the net etc. Should I do a factory reset? And should I remove the SIM card before doing so?

tnx mu firend it is work on my gs2

Many Thanks for your info, It was very helpful.

I highly recommend formatting usb in case you upgrade to ics, I had sync problems and high data consumption until I performed factory data reset with usb format option enabled.

i seemed to be having the same problem with my Galaxy s2, except, the phone constantly keeps rebooting over and over again, even before the phone is fully on again. at time when it turns of, it just repetitively keeps vibrating every one second. none of the hard reset methods work because the phone doesn’t even let me do any of them, I’m not sure of what to do, the only thing i can think of is taking it to t-mobile and let them check it out. but first I’d rather see if there’s a way to fix it at home if possible.

hi, i have a SGS2 and have been using it perfectly for approx 6months now. I have recently got a problem its been there for 3 days. i am connected to the internet via mobile network as always and connection status shows excellent but none of the internet linked programs work. whatsapp,viber,email,google play etc all give error message saying ‘not connected’.

what should i do? should i restore to factory settings though i havent changed anything in this phone , i have been sing it the way it was.

help!!

hi jayce, thanks for the info. I tried various network providers which work on other phones but donot work on my SGS2. I did the factory reset too. Still the same problem exists when i put in the sim card and activate package.

what can i do now? i want my phone back to normal its an important part of my life you know being a student. 🙁

thanks jayce, seems the phone is abit slow in realising its rebirth!
i tried restarting and works perfectly.. thanks J. 🙂

When you do the factory reset via using the phone buttons is a password asked for or confirmation?

I’m curious how easy it is for whoever stole my phone to factory reset it.

Hi Jayce,

GPS is not working in my SGS2. It keeps refreshing the screen and is very frustrating. So I want to try my luck with ‘Factory reset’. I have the ‘Back up my data’ & ‘Automatic restore’ options checked before. If I reset my phone and would like to retore the contacts, message and log information, how can I restore it?Please help!

Thanks,
Jyothi

how long is this factory reset meant to take? mines been going for about 30 minutes now

I’ve been upgraded my s2 to ics. Can I make it to ginger bread using dialpad code?

hi..can use this method at smsung TAB 10.1 P7500 ?

Hai…after having a hard reset on my SGSII,the phone reboot n then nothing happen..the screen appear only the logo…i’ve waited for such a long period, but it seems nothing happen..please help me..

noted with thanks

need to reset for downgrade FRom ics to Gb

after reset ..can i flash GB stock firmware via ODin for tab 10.1 P7500 ?

No…just a normal hard reset…setting=>reset factory setting..thats all..until now,my phone didnt make any change…still same…any suggestions???

hey jayce…
plz help me…
i m having a galaxy fit phone wid android 2.2..later i updated to 2.3.
bt now this software hangs if i us my phone continously and my phone gets switcged off. whn i turn it onn a blank screen comes wid samsung logo and it hang dere. and nothing happens further.
i have wasted thousands of ruppees on reinstalling this freaky software in care cntr. plz help me m in deep trouble.
give me solution so i can reinstall android on my pc if my phone further hang or corrupt.
plzzz
plzzz

hell.I have a sgs2 and its ubpdated with 4.0.4.After this update my battery its not hod so much.I’m charging it in the mornig and ithe afternoon ot altmost empty battery.now some people are saying that if i will do a factory reset the battery will be restored and some bugs wil dissapear.do you have anyy ideea how to increase life battery? do you think that method wil work?I’m quite afraid to do a reset factory.I accept a good adice.Thank you verry much.

hey bro i have some problem in my galaxy s 2 google account nd any account does nt responding please help me 🙁

my phone always informs me that has low space in device memory! what should I do?

Have a question? how do you do any of that if you are locked out of youre phone because i currently am and ned help bad!

Hi, I´ve just upgrade to Android 4.0.3 in my Samsung Galaxy S2, through Samsung apps in the phone. But I want to go back to the 2.3.4 that originally came installed. How can I do it? Is this possible with the Factory reset? or Hard reset?
Thank you very much.
nicolas

Hi Jayce. During uploading pic to facebook, some series of system error occurred and my phone got hanged. I turned power off and turned it on but its dead now. SGSII start up screen is coming but nothing else. I kept it in charging after 2-3 hours 2nd screen with vodafone & sgs2 came but not moving after that.
I have tried rebooting by vol up+home+power but nothing happened. No menu, no option..nothing. It just every time showing start up sgs2 screen and hang up. Last month I upgraded to ICS via Kies. Even Kies and windows not able to recognize the phone and not able to connect to Kies. I am stuck, what to do? Please guide me.
Thank you

Hi Jacye. I ve a problem with my s2. It happen whenever i put my phone on standby for more than 5 minutes it will sleep without i cant do anything. Its like forever in standby mode. I can only hard press on the power button to restart it or take off my battery. Any suggestion from u? I tried method no 1 and by using keypad to reset it. Really appreciate if u can help me on this.

My phone is stuck on the password page. Was using it and it locked itself and my password is not working. Just tried to do the factory reset but it still comes back to enter password. Please help

Hi, I got GT-I9100
I noticed a issue on my phone.
It has got faint lines on screen (from left to right).
When I’m using it constantly, lines are almost negligible.
But when I leave it unused (night to morning time), screen shows dark lines. N then I keep my hand on screen for about 10 sec to make it a bit warm and the lines become faint again…
Any1 faced such problem… Seems like hardware problem.. Suggestions plz!

PS: don’t have warranty card

Hi my gallery says no items is there away to get my pics back?

hey jayce im using this http://www.theverge.com/2011/10/28/2521554/amazon-kindle-fire-photos kindle fire. i dont know what my fren did, everytime i turn it on nothing come out except !Sorry the application ICS 4.0 Launcher (process android.process.acore) has stopped unexpectedly. please try again. force close button. i kept on force closing and it is still like that. can u assist please…

Hey Jayce,

Love to read your post and your different methods of hard reset S2. My model of S2 is basically same with yours. GT-I9100. Been using it for more than a year already… I am currently facing problem with my baby.. hang, keep restarting. overheated. System reboot (System unperformed). And its totally is not stable especially with my Go Launcher (Not facing this problem when I am still using Gingerbread). This happen after I updated my OS using Samsung official update. Now, I am using ICS. In your opinion, will hard reset let me get my old baby back (miss her with a perfect functioning device). I already backup everything but still thinking whether I should hard reset it or not.. Guess, S2 is not compatible (not stable enough) with ICS (at least I can said it for mine)

I done this…:
*Turn off SGS2.
2.Press and hold down Volume Up + Home + Power buttons at the same time.
3.Release all buttons when you see SGS2 Logo.
4.Android system recovery will be loaded then.*

My question is…How long I need to wait?

Hey Jayce,my samsung s2 is having media scanning error,I`ve factory reset my phone but still doesnt help. Any solutions?? Urgent…

done with the 2nd reset,everything`s fine now, Thank you very much Jayce!!!

hi there, just reading the past posts, I have just performed method 2, it worked, only the reason for doing the factory reset was because my wifi stopped working about 3mths ago, and last night my packet data has stopped, done factory reset and still no internet or wifi, please help

Great, it work perfectly,easy and fast to do. thank you so much

Thanks for code to do a reset using keypad. Worked perfectly when giving my phone to someone else.

yea i have a samsung galaxy s2 and i my phone froze so i took out the battery and tried to turn it back on then it just flashes on to the galaxy s2 screen and back off i tried to do a reset and not sure what i pushed anyway ive tooken out the battery and try resetting it once again but now flashes on then when i let go of buttons in yellow writing it says deleting cryption meta data and flashes off and back on to the galaxy s2 screen over and over and over continuously

Hi, I rooted my galaxy s2 gt-I9100 then selected reset option in the settings menu. Now all I can get is a a black screen with samsung logo in the middle and a yellow triangle with exclamation mark at the bottom. Tried all the different reset methods but still stuck with this screen. Any ideas?

I forgot my pass code, it was with the numbers. And I either need to find a way around it, like hack it, or reset it. I tried to reset it using buttons but, it’s still asking for the pass code I forgot. Can you please help me, before I take a hammer to it. :,(

In my hard reset of Galaxy S2, it goes into ODIN mode with the little Green Adroid, but it seems to take a very long time? How long should it show ‘Downloading – Do not turn off target!!’?

thanks, i was going for well over an hour, so I interrupted it and tried the other method – Vol Up and Menu button, forced the factory reset, which has now been done a couple of times, but the device will not boot up afterwards, it gets stuck at the Samsung boot up logo and will go no further…rebooting, same result.

Then redo the whole process, same result – there is a message and failure to mount ‘/data’ (Invalid argument)…

Phone is as per standard

phone purchased through a company I used to work for, no papers…its likely about 2 years old

hi. i need help 🙁 when i open my phone its only shows samsung galaxy s2 and off and on again. and i try to restart it but when i click the power, home and volume button it opens and shows password and when i type my password it just shows samsung galaxy s2 again and it turns on and off again 🙁 pls. reply and thank you 😀

i have reset my Samsung J1 Ace open it again skip Google account when i go back to Google and other staff it says confirm password