Factory Reset your Samsung Galaxy S3

I am having the problem where it cycles thorugh the samsung start up screen, so i tried the power and volume down to do a restart and the phone just shuts down.

Hi there.

Like many others, I found the latest firmware update for my S3 (GT-19300) wasn't that great - more annoying than actually non-functional, but definitely no improvement overall. It seemed a bit glitchy. I thought this might be because it updated itself over the air when my wireless connection wasn't particularly strong, so I thought I'd try re-installing it via a cable connection through Kies.

I backed everything up in Kies and did a factory reset, but it's come back with the latest firmware still installed. Is this because I had 'Back up my data' and 'Automatic restore' checked in 'Backup and reset', and if so, has the firmware been re-installed exactly as was or re-downloaded?

I could try this again, or go for a hard reset instead, but I'm not sure if this would actually fix anything. Almost everything re-installed from backup OK, but I did lose a few settings - currently not getting incoming email, for example, and lost small things such as ringtone choices and wallpaper, as well as at least one paid-for app - so I don't want to do that all again if it won't fix the bugs in the firmware.

It looks like this phone won't be supported for Android updates from now on, so I suppose I need to tweak it to get the best out of the current latest version for as long as possible.

Any advice welcome, thank you.

Hello,
My s3 is not booting. It is stuck on main screen and will not go any further. I am not able to use the phone in any manner or connect to PC. It is charging though. I have tried clearing cache, and removed replaced battery several times. I have been told I can try the factory reset. However, I am hesitating to do that as I don't want to loose my pictures. I unfortunately never used a sd card in the phone so all the pictures are in the internal memory. I never setup data backup anywhere as well. Is there any hope I can save or retrieve my pics if I do the factory reset?
Thanks for your help

Thanks for the help Kris. When I connect to PC it says unknown device, and is not recognizing it. If I buy and place a new sd card in the phone could that possibly help? Unfortunately I did not setup any auto uploads either. I foolishly kept saving all the pics in the internal memory ever since I got the phone. I never tried to connect to the PC even once while the phone was functional.
I do recall seeing "running low on of memory" messages about a week ago. But the phone stopped working before I could work on moving the pictures out.
Right before the phone stopped working, I tried to change the wallpaper on the main screen. As soon as I attempted that the phone froze. I powered it down, but after that I could never boot it properly. When I turn it on it shows the samsung logo with the blue light flashing, and next it displays a black screen with time, date, and icon for phone, and messages. The screen says "swipe to unlock." However, when I do that nothing happens.
Please advice if there is anything I could possibly do to still save the pictures somehow.
Thanks again

Mine does the same. I did a factory setting about three weeks ago, and now it started to switch off and on on its own again, and then it is stuck in this loop. It feels as if the battery gets warm, and then it switches off. is it possible that the battery is the problem? What else can I do?

Hi, My phone was lost/stolen two nights ago and I don't have a password to unlock. It may have been in airplane mode when retrieved by someone. Is a factory reset possible when in airplane mode? I'm super anxious about someone having access to all of my information. There has been no recent activity on the phone (e.g. calls, messages, data) so I'm guessing this could be because either: 1) it's dead or 2) it's in airplane mode with or without wifi access. I'm holding off on activating a new phone b/c i'd like to use Lookout Security or Android Device Manager to wipe the data if it's turned on anytime soon.

Thanks in advance!!

— modified on May 28, 2014, 11:42:18 AM

hi admin,
i just updated my firmware to 4.3 jelly bean, and i noticed that the device temperature in not normal it get hot and the android operating system consume most of the battery, i tried many tips but it still get hot and the battery drained fast.
so plz if u have a solution tell me cause i think i will reset the factory settings to get the old firmware which is 4.1.2 jelly bean

Ehab Al Badry

hi admin,
i just updated my firmware to 4.3 jelly bean, and i noticed that the device temperature in not normal it get hot and the android operating system consume most of the battery, i tried many tips but it still get hot and the battery drained fast.
so plz if u have a solution tell me cause i think i will reset the factory settings to get the old firmware which is 4.1.2 jelly bean

you can't go back to 4.1.2 from 4.3 this will damage the EFS folder which stores the IMEI number. if you are using s3
to solve this problem go to recovery and clear cache then factory reset
if this doesn't solve the problem use kies to update your phone

Safwan

Hello,

I have S3 GT-I9300. My phone is also going thru a boot loop. I have tried clearing the cache but no use. I guess i have to do wipe data from recovery. Is there a way i can backup my data (pictures, videos etc.) before i proceed with the wipe? Its not getting connected with my PC as well.

you cannot backup your apps, games when you are in bootloop. you can make an nandroid backup with CWM but restoring it will result in boot loops

KDS

Hi, My phone was lost/stolen two nights ago and I don't have a password to unlock. It may have been in airplane mode when retrieved by someone. Is a factory reset possible when in airplane mode? I'm super anxious about someone having access to all of my information. There has been no recent activity on the phone (e.g. calls, messages, data) so I'm guessing this could be because either: 1) it's dead or 2) it's in airplane mode with or without wifi access. I'm holding off on activating a new phone b/c i'd like to use Lookout Security or Android Device Manager to wipe the data if it's turned on anytime soon.

Thanks in advance!!

in this case you need to register a complain before he starts to mess things up

this can be a battery problem
you can tell if your phone's battery is bad by putting it on a flat surface and trying to "spin" it . If it spins, supposedly the battery is swollen and needs to be replaced.

Hi...this seems to be going on for so long and did not realise an inadvertent upgrade would cause so many issues. Now i read the problems are over 6 months old and i just happen to upgrade in May and not that no steps have been taken to resolve the problems that users are experiencing.

My question here - i did a factory reset, but it still is the 4.3 version and not the 4.1..how can i revert to the original firmware. will a hard rest help?

Eagerly wait to hear from you....and thanks for your help up until now

unable

— modified on Jun 26, 2014, 9:51:53 AM

I have had this exact same problem...were you able to resolve yours? the firmware updated is not the one with the factory settings..it is back to 4.3 which has really messed up my phone experience on a perfectly good phone.

Thanks

Carl Marsh

Hi there.

Like many others, I found the latest firmware update for my S3 (GT-19300) wasn't that great - more annoying than actually non-functional, but definitely no improvement overall. It seemed a bit glitchy. I thought this might be because it updated itself over the air when my wireless connection wasn't particularly strong, so I thought I'd try re-installing it via a cable connection through Kies.

I backed everything up in Kies and did a factory reset, but it's come back with the latest firmware still installed. Is this because I had 'Back up my data' and 'Automatic restore' checked in 'Backup and reset', and if so, has the firmware been re-installed exactly as was or re-downloaded?

I could try this again, or go for a hard reset instead, but I'm not sure if this would actually fix anything. Almost everything re-installed from backup OK, but I did lose a few settings - currently not getting incoming email, for example, and lost small things such as ringtone choices and wallpaper, as well as at least one paid-for app - so I don't want to do that all again if it won't fix the bugs in the firmware.

It looks like this phone won't be supported for Android updates from now on, so I suppose I need to tweak it to get the best out of the current latest version for as long as possible.

Any advice welcome, thank you.

heyy i factory reset my samsung galaxy s3 but now it will just stay at the inro samsung logo w/a flashing blue light??

Damaris Trujillo

heyy i factory reset my samsung galaxy s3 but now it will just stay at the inro samsung logo w/a flashing blue light??

you are on bootloop
Re-Flash your phone vie ODIn

I have the same problem right now did u ever fix it

mobile crackers

Damaris Trujillo

heyy i factory reset my samsung galaxy s3 but now it will just stay at the inro samsung logo w/a flashing blue light??

you are on bootloop
Re-Flash your phone vie ODIn

Greetings, everyone.

I had a great S3 phone until the 4.3 pach came and cracked everything: in a matter of hours It went form turning off all the time to simply not booting up ( it stayed in the intro logo without the blue effects).

I tried the "Android system recovery < 3e>" to do the factory reset and cache cleaning, but all I got was more error messages such as
"E:format_volume: make_extf4fs failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p12"
"E:format_volume: make_extf4fs failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p8"
"E:failed to mount /cache (Block device required)"

I believe there is something to do with the blocking mentioned in the error message, but I cannot find within the forum what it relates to - nor how to fix it.

Coud @mobileCrackers or @Kris please give me some directions on how to solve it?

I believe I can live with my lost data, but I'm still trying to get the phone back to working.

GTorreti

I had a great S3 phone until the 4.3 pach came and cracked everything: in a matter of hours It went form turning off all the time to simply not booting up ( it stayed in the intro logo without the blue effects).

I tried the "Android system recovery < 3e>" to do the factory reset and cache cleaning, but all I got was more error messages such as
"E:format_volume: make_extf4fs failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p12"
"E:format_volume: make_extf4fs failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p8"
"E:failed to mount /cache (Block device required)"

I believe there is something to do with the blocking mentioned in the error message, but I cannot find within the forum what it relates to - nor how to fix it.

Coud @mobileCrackers or @Kris please give me some directions on how to solve it?

I believe I can live with my lost data, but I'm still trying to get the phone back to working.

looks like mmc is damaged , Try reflash with same original fw
i can't give any hope. this is a hardware problem

— modified on Jul 28, 2014, 6:23:02 AM

will it erase contacts?

Well @kristie factory resetting or flashing firmware always erase the device data therefore its always advise to take a backup of you data before preceding.

I get the same "Device Memory Damaged" message from time to time. I just hold the power button in, turn the phone off, wait a few minutes and turn it back on, then its gone. It only comes up every now and then but this seems to work for now.

— modified on Aug 4, 2014, 6:17:01 PM

Donny Fong

Hi Admin. I am using Samsung S3 and I had just did the Factory Reset. May I know where is all my data being back up to? I couldn't recover my data especially all my phone friends numbers and sms/ texts messages. Please help me to recover? Thanks!

Hi, don't worry. You can connect your Samsung S3 to the computer via USB, and then use Android Phone Recovery to scan the device and find out the phone numbers and text messages. Please note, you need enable the USB debugging option on S3.

I have the exact same problem. If you come across a solution, please let me know. If I find one, I will advise you. Tnx.

Hi. I just did factory reset on my galaxy s3 because I am about to sell it in less than an hour. Is it supposed to be white with at@t symbol?

Did I break it?

How do you do that?

Donna Gibson

Hi. I just did factory reset on my galaxy s3 because I am about to sell it in less than an hour. Is it supposed to be white with at@t symbol?

Is it stuck on At&T logo ?

hej hej

how are you ... i have sgs3 and i flash an 4.3 for it 6 months ago and then i lost the network i trid to downgread and every thing i didnt get a solution until i flash a modem on 4.3 and then i had my ntwork back ... but the device stuck and when sombody call me i cant answer somtimes and so on .... is ther any possibelity that i can downgread to 4.1.2 and get the network back or what ???? becouse if there is non i will throug my phone away its the last solution i will try

my phone sgs3
i am in sweden
i am wating for your help thanx ..

Hi Bianca...I'm sure you've resolved this by now, but I'm commenting here just in case someone gets the same error message and panicked big time like I did around July 5th when I was in the U.S. visiting family. I got the same error and the reason I panicked more than another person may have is that the port that we all use to charge the phone was broken. That meant I couldn't connect to backup the data like most solutions offered. So...I did a battery pull. This happened in July and I'm still doing the battery pull thing every since. I have since backed up my photos, contacts etc and I'm just waiting to get a Galaxy Note in the near future. Fyi, that's at least 20 battery pulls since July.

Kris Carlon

Performing a Factory Reset on your device is very easy. The difference between a Factory Reset and a Hard Reset is:

Factory Reset
The 'lighter' of the two reset options. It can be done either in settings or via recovery menu. It wipes all user data and firmware settings but leaves the contents of your internal SD Card intact.

Hard Reset
Restores a smartphone to its basic factory settings, which erases all applications that were installed by the user as well as all user data. Hard Reset wipes everything including the contents of your internal SD Card. Whatever firmware you last flashed will be the firmware you get back, but everything else will be wiped.

Clear? Ok, let's proceed with the Factory Reset of a Samsung Galaxy S3 from within the menu settings:

Settings > Personal > Back Up and Reset > Factory Data Reset > Reset Device > Delete All.

Please remember to back up any data you want to keep first! In the Factory reset screen you also have the option to Backup My Data and Auto Restore. These are good options to tick before you Factory Reset if you're not too sure how to do this on your own.

If you're at all paranoid about your SIM card or SD card contents just take them out before you do the Factory Reset. Attention: if you reset your device to the factory default with SD card encryption setting enabled, the device will not be able to read your encrypted files. Disable this setting before resetting the device.

Alternatively, you can type in *2767*3855# on the key pad and that will do the same thing.

Remember sometimes you don't need to go even this far to solve problems. First of all try just turning your phone off for a while, or removing the battery entirely. Sometimes something as simple as that is enough to clear up some simple problems.

But if you've tried all of these methods and are still having problems, you can try a Hard Reset, the instructions for which are here .

Hi Kris,

I have factory reset my samsung S4 active phone, I did not back up my photo, Is there any other ways for me to retrieve back the media? Inside have my pass away father photo together. Please help!

Edward I am having the same issue did you ever find a fix??

Same thing happened to me last night! Did u find how to fix it ? It really sucks please reply asap pls!

My Samsung Galaxy S3 only goes into the start up screen then goes black like it died. Battery is fully charged. I tried to go into the recovery menu, I get there and scroll down toward the wiping cache option but shuts off before I can get there. Any ideas on what I can do to salvage my phone?

Tracy

Working !
I tried both, working just fine, now my GS 3 is fast, clean and fluent!

Hello I have this phone samsung galaxy 3 in which was in great excellent condition sold it and after 2 weeks ..seller wanted a return .got the phone back but somehow the wifi is not working when I look at the firmware says 4.4.2 which believe is kit kat? seems to me like he tried to hacked it and out of all the wifi wont work plus who knows which other program he altered. I end up paying him and end up with a phone I can't even use. Please help me. I fallowed the hard reset and still wont fix the problem...

I did a hard reset on my Samsung galaxy tab 2 10.1 and I'm pretty sure i ticked the box to back up data and autmatic restore but after signing in my Google account i couldn't find the data that used to be in my tab. I wonder why.

Hello i did the factory reset on my s3 and i read all your same comments on here mine is stuck i guess what u call bootloop its on the tmobile screen flashing blue light on top its stuck there and wont load i what can i do to getbit back to normal? I dont understand what u mean by what you told the others i tried plugging it into my laptop and it doesnt read it 😖

HI!
I was given a phone this morning that belonged to my boyfriends sister. She no longer uses it. Her dad gave it to me but she has a password on it and I have no way of getting in touch with her. I have tried resetting the phone several times but to no prevail! I have tried the three botton method and I cannot try the other methods I found because I do not know her password! Is there any thing else that will work?!
Thanks

Hi . My son did the systemrecovery 3 buttoms at once and now its just the green samsungrobot on the screen and it says " Downloading.." in white , and then in green "do not turn off target!! "
For two hours now.
Can you help With a solution?
Thanks
Ronny

That's download-mode. You can restart by pressing power-button a few seconds as long as Samsung-screen appears.

hello dear admin
i am using S3 too and i want to ask you something...if i reset my phone to factory settings,will be deleted the root too?because i have made the mistake and i have rooted my phone
also if i want to upgrade it,what android should i use?4.4.3?4.4.4?or 5?i am currently using 4.4.2

Hi

I have S3 and it has worked ok for 5 weeks, now it does not start at all

However I can connect to the phone memory via PC and see all the folders

--> is there a way to reset the phone myself when it does not start
or do I have to bring it to the shop for service ?

Yours Petteri

no panic, you should know that factory reset does not mean data lost, after it, you just can not see them in your eyes, but the data on youe S3 does really still on, you can restore it with professional tool(Android Recovery for Mac)easily and quickly.
Good luck to you.

Hi Kris, I just done hard reset for samsung galaxy S3. I reboot smoothly. But when it starting already doing setup there is a box popping out every time I click the NEXT button. Inside the box shows ( Unfortunately, Google Manager has stopped). If you click the OK button in this box another messages will pop out again it will show ( Unfortunately, Google map has stopped). What should I do? Please help me. Thanks.

Sanjai,

Exactly how do you do that? I went to Odin, but it gave me 3 options and I am at work and can't download anything onto my work computer. I just tried a factory reset and I am also stuck on the Samsung logo with Flashing Blue light.