There are a couple of different ways to do a factory reset on the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus, and today I’m going to show you both of them.
Along with teaching you the ins and outs of your new smartphone, I also write out a few tutorials about how to troubleshoot various issues too. Previously, I’ve done a guide on how to boot the Moto G4 into Safe Mode, and I also did one about how to Wipe the Cache Partition of the Moto G4.
Both of these troubleshooting steps can be used to resolve issues that are directly related to applications.
Sometimes though, there was an issue with the install of the Android OS from the factory. There are also times when we simply cannot boot up into the Android OS because of a modification that we install on our device. This could be a modification that is outdated, it can be one that simply wasn’t tested on our Moto G4, the version of Android we’re running, or that it’s having a conflict with another app or modification.
So I’m going to cover two different methods of how to do a factory reset on the Moto G4 and the Moto G4 Plus. If you can boot into Android, then you should simply do the Soft Factory Reset method. If you are unable to boot up into Android, then you should opt for the Hard Factory Reset method.
Moto G4 Soft Factory Reset
- Launch the Settings application
- Scroll down and tap on the ‘Backup & Reset’ option
- Tap on the ‘Factory Data Reset’ option
- Choose whether or not you want to erase your personalized content
- Tap on the ‘Reset Phone’ button at the bottom
- Then tap on the ‘Erase Everything’ button at the top of the screen
Moto G4 Hard Factory Reset
- Boot the Moto G4 into Fastboot Mode
- Then boot the Moto G4 over into Recovery Mode
- Press the Volume Down button 4 times until the ‘Wipe Data/Factory Reset’ option is highlighted
- Press the Power button to select this option
- Press the Volume Down button to choose whether or not you want to erase your personalized content
- Press the Power button to select one of the Yes options to confirm the factory reset
- Wait for the Moto G4 Factory Reset to be completed
- Then press the Power button after it takes you back to the Recovery Mode menu
Explanation
The Soft Factory Reset and Hard Factory Reset methods mentioned above will do the same thing to your phone. One is not better than the other in terms of how it’s erasing the contents of your Moto G4 or Moto G4 Plus. As mentioned above, if you’re able to boot up into Android, then you should definitely opt for the Soft Moto G4 Factory Reset method. The only reason the other method is available, and the only reason why I include it here, is because sometimes a phone cannot boot into Android and that method is required.
Naturally, you should realize that you will be losing all of your data when you do either of these methods. As shown in the video above. I went from having my apps setup and account connected, to having nothing there and needing to activate Android again. The only thing that will be left on your phone is the Android OS itself. Anything you have downloaded to the internal storage will be gone
During both of these Moto G4 Factory Reset methods, you will be asked if you want to erase all of the personalized content that was shipped on your smartphone. This is talking about the personalized stuff you setup with Motorola’s Moto Maker. If you opt for the soft Moto G4 Factory Reset method, you’ll see the image above. Checking this option before tapping the Reset Phone button will delete the personal content you choose with Moto Maker.
For the hard Moto G4 Factory Reset method, it will be an extra menu option that appears in the confirmation screen. Motorola makes it very clear in both cases, so it shouldn’t be hard to pick the method you want to go with. If you choose to erase the personalized content by selecting this checkbox, or by choosing the other option within Recovery Mode, you will lose your custom wallpaper and power-up graphic.
There will be no way to get the custom wallpaper or power-up graphic back unless you know a way to add it in manually.
