Galaxy S II: The Missing Manual

Resetting the Galaxy S II

IF ALL ELSE FAILS, you may need to reset your Galaxy S II—that is, delete all of its data, and return it to the state it was in before you bought it, with all the factory settings replacing your own. Your contacts, social networking accounts, email and Gmail accounts, and so on all get deleted.

Note

A factory data reset doesn’t delete files you have on your SD card, which means that your photos, videos, and any other files stored there will stay intact after the reset.

Before you perform a reset, when you’re on the privacy settings screen, tap “Back up my data,” as described on Privacy. Your settings and other application data get backed up to Google’s servers. Make sure that the Automatic Restore option is also chosen. That way, after the factory reset, the Galaxy S II automatically restores the data and settings.

To perform a reset, press the Menu key from the Home screen or a pane and select Settings→Privacy→Factory Data Reset. That erases all the data on your phone. (Now you see why it was so important to back up first.)

Tip

If you’re worried that someone else may delete all your data by performing a factory data reset without your knowledge, you can set a password so that only someone with the password can do it. From the Home screen or a pane, press the Menu key and select Settings→“Location and security,” then scroll to the “Factory data reset password” section and tap “Set up/Change password.” You can then create a password so that only someone who knows ...