factory reset

So called because such a reset would revert a device back to its original state, as it would have been when it was constructed in a factory.

factory reset (plural factory resets)

1. (computing, computer hardware) A process that restores an electronic device to its factory setting by erasing all user data and personalized configurations.

   Synonyms: hard reset, master reset

   Hyponym: soft reset

   Coordinate term: powerwash

   • 2014, Mark Edward Soper, The PC and Gadget Help Desk, Que Publishing, →ISBN, page 590:

     A factory reset returns your Android device to “out of the box” condition. It deletes all user data and settings.

   • 2025 July 7, Victoria Kim, Livia Albeck-Ripka, “Erin Patterson Is Found Guilty of Murder in Australia Mushroom Poisoning Case”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Even so, Ms. Rogers contended that Ms. Patterson’s guilt was apparent in the various layers of deception in which she’d engaged […] . She also forced a factory reset on her phone multiple times, according to testimony.

factory reset (third-person singular simple present factory resets, present participle factory resetting, simple past and past participle factory reset)

1. (computing, transitive) To perform a factory reset.

• factory reset on Wikipedia.Wikipedia