HTC 10: How to Factory Reset

You can follow these steps outlined below if you need to perform a soft factory reset, or a hard factory reset on the HTC 10.

There are a number of reasons why someone would want to do a factory reset on their smartphone. Some like to do one right when they get the phone out of the box because there are some cases when an initial Android install from the factory went wrong. Others might need to do one after a couple of years because they feel performance has started to slow down.

Then there are the cases when we install a root modification that puts our HTC 10 into a bootloop or makes it get stuck while trying to boot.

Now, there are two different methods for performing a factory reset on the HTC 10. The first, easier, method is generally referred to as the Soft Factory Reset. Then the second method is generally referred to as the Hard Factory Reset. Both of these methods will erase and reset the HTC 10 exactly the same, but we’re given two different ways to access the feature. Most will opt for the Soft Factory Reset, but if your HTC 10 is in a bootloop, or you can’t boot into Android, then you’ll need to go with the Hard Factory Reset method.

I’ll be covering both methods in the steps below, as well as the embedded video.

Soft HTC 10 Factory Reset

1. Launch the Settings application
2. Scroll down and tap on the ‘Backup & Reset’ option
3. Tap on the ‘Factory Data Reset’ option
4. Then tap on the red ‘Reset Phone’ button at the bottom
5. Enter your PIN/Pattern/Password
6. And tap the ‘OK’ button to confirm you want to erase all of the data off the HTC 10

Hard HTC 10 Factory Reset

1. Boot the HTC 10 into Download Mode
2. Then boot the HTC 10 into Fastboot Mode
3. And lastly, boot the HTC 10 into Recovery Mode
4. Press the Volume Down button until the ‘Wipe Data/Factory Reset’ option is highlighted
5. Press the Power button to select this option
6. Press the Volume Down button to highlight the ‘Yes’ option
7. Press the Power button to select this option
8. Wait for the HTC 10 to erase all of the data
9. Then press the Power button when you get back to the HTC 10 Recovery Mode menu

Explanation

As mentioned, both of these HTC 10 Factory Reset methods will result in the same amount of data being erased from your smartphone. Everything from applications to contacts, and your Android settings will all be erased after you do this. So make a backup of your data beforehand if you are able to. HTC, and most Android OEMs just give us two different methods of doing a factory reset in case we (or their repair techs) are unable to get back into the Android OS.

So for the Soft HTC 10 Factory Reset, we just need to launch the Settings application and then scroll down until you see and can tap on the Backup & Reset option. In this menu, look at the very bottom and then tap on the Factory Data Reset option. Then you will see a screen that gives you a little information about the data that will be erased on your phone once the process is completed. You’ll then want to tap the red Reset Phone button at the very bottom of the screen.

Tapping the red button will bring up this dialog box that you see above. Once you tap on the OK butt, your HTC 10 will reboot and it will begin the factory reset process. The process only takes 30 – 60 seconds to erase the data. Once that is complete, you’ll see the HTC 10 reboot again and then you’ll go through the typical boot sequence. This first boot will be longer than normal since it’s setting up the Android OS from scratch.

Now, if you are unable to boot into Android from the start, then you’ll need to power down the HTC 10 and then boot up into Download Mode. From here, you need to boot over into Fastboot Mode (also known as Bootloader Mode), and then from there you need to boot into Recovery Mode. If you’re unfamiliar with how to do any of this, please check the links in the guide above as they will walk you through the process.

Once you get into recovery mode, you’ll see a menu that look similar to the image above (minus the Mount /system option). You’ll want to continue using the Volume Down button to scroll through the menu and highlight the Wipe Data/Factory Reset option. Then you can press the Power button to select this option. You’ll be asked to confirm whether or not you actually want to follow through with the HTC 10 Factory Reset process.

So just press the Volume Down button once, and then press the Power button to select the Yes option. You will see some text appear at the bottom of the screen that talks about the doing the reset and formatting a partition. Once the process is complete, you’ll be taken back to the main menu of the HTC 10 Recovery Mode. It will highlighting the Reboot System Now option by default, so you just need to press the Power button to reboot the HTC 10.

Like I mentioned above, this first boot cycle will take longer than normal. Once it finally boots into Android, you’ll see it go through the app optimization phase just like it shows in the embedded video I recorded.