How to Restore a Phone on Samsung Galaxy

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: June 17, 2019 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to restore from a backup or perform a factory reset on a Samsung Galaxy.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:
Restoring from a Samsung Cloud Backup

1
Open your Galaxy’s Settings. Swipe down from the top of the screen to pull down the notification bar, then tap the gear
at its top-right corner.
2
Scroll down and tap Cloud and accounts. It’s near the center of the menu.
3
Tap Backup and restore. It’s the last option in the list.
4
Tap Restore. It’s the second option in the “SAMSUNG ACCOUNT” section.
5
Select your phone or tablet. If you created a backup on a different Samsung, it will appear as an option here. Tap the down-arrow, then select the backed-up Galaxy.
6
Select the data you want to restore. A check mark will appear next to all selected data.
- To skip restoring a type of data, tap its check mark to remove it.
7
Tap RESTORE NOW. It’s at the bottom-center part of the screen. The selected data will now be restored to your Galaxy phone or tablet.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:
Performing a Factory Reset

1
Open your Galaxy’s Settings. Swipe down from the top of the screen to pull down the notification bar, then tap the gear at its top-right corner.
- This method will erase all of the data on your Galaxy. Make sure to only do a factory reset if you’ve backed up all of the data you want to restore.
2
Scroll down and tap General management. It’s near the bottom of the menu.
3
Tap Reset. It’s at the bottom of the list.
4
Tap Factory data reset. This restores your device to its original, out-of-the-box state. Remember to create a backup of your data as this will be deleted, along with all files and downloaded apps. The next screen will show you what data will be deleted.
5
Scroll down and tap RESET. It’s the blue button at the bottom-center part of the screen.
6
Enter your password and tap NEXT. This is to confirm your identity.
7
Tap DELETE ALL to confirm. Your Galaxy will power down and restart.
8
Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your Galaxy as new. When asked to restore apps and data, select a backup, or choose Don’t Restore.

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About This Article

Written by:

Nicole Levine, MFA

Tech Specialist

This article was written by Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been viewed 4,306 times.

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Co-authors: 3

Updated: June 17, 2019

Views: 4,306

Categories: Samsung Galaxy