How can I do factory reset using adb in android?

Question

How can I do the factory reset in android using ADB command? I had used adb reboot recovery command to get reset. But third party applications couldn't be cleared somehow.Is it correct way to achieve using ADB?

Actually, I want to do factory reset android devices through java code. What can be solution here?

Also see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10817721/wipe-data-factory-reset-through-adb -- same answers though. — Ehtesh Choudhury, Apr 26 '13 at 23:05
I’m voting to close this question because it is offtopic here (but ontopic on the https://android.stackexchange.com). — peterh, Dec 15 '20 at 10:57

score 91 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 11 '22 at 02:03

91

You can send intent MASTER_CLEAR in adb:

adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MASTER_CLEAR

or as root

adb shell  "su -c 'am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MASTER_CLEAR'"

After Android 8.0 and above with root permission from shell

am broadcast -p "android" --receiver-foreground -a android.intent.action.FACTORY_RESET

edited Aug 11 '22 at 02:03

ArkadiBernov

570
8
13

answered Feb 17 '16 at 01:59

0x8BADF00D

7,138
2
41
34

1

Amazing, didn't think that it would work, but in my case it helped! (it was a cheap overmax tablet, where I couldn't even access fastboot, nor recovery --wipe_data helped!) Thanks! – original.roland Oct 01 '16 at 15:00
Note: On most devices you will need to be root for this to work, else you will not have the appropriate permission to send this broadcast. Before running this command, use `adb root` to restart your phone's shell with root privileges – Hamy Mar 27 '17 at 17:46
This command is not working in Android-OMR1 saying background execution not allowed. – Sudhir Sinha Apr 10 '18 at 07:27
This works for Devices which are rooted. But if Device is not Rooted than it is not working. It Doesn't give any response. Any Idea? – yash Apr 10 '18 at 10:00
I just get Broadcasting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MASTER_CLEAR } Broadcast completed: result=0 :( – Francisco Peters Apr 19 '18 at 15:05
@TheClansman Same output i am having when i try with non rooted device. Did you find any other solution for this? – yash May 09 '18 at 10:05
Worked for me on non-rooted device, just did adb root then adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MASTER_CLEAR – Tom Bryant Jan 29 '19 at 12:30
You must reboot the device after you run the command, so you can just type 'am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MASTER_CLEAR; reboot' and it will reset the device. – wuseman Aug 11 '19 at 23:31
Worked on rk3188 tablet. Thank you! – Stephan Richter Feb 15 '20 at 10:34
1

didn't quite work for me due to background execution/implicit intent restrictions that have been introduced, see here for my solution: https://blog.deanwild.co.uk/android-factory-reset-via-adb-intent – Dean Wild Apr 04 '22 at 11:04

score 21 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

21

Try :

adb shell
recovery --wipe_data

And here is the list of arguments :

* The arguments which may be supplied in the recovery.command file:
 *   --send_intent=anystring - write the text out to recovery.intent
 *   --update_package=path - verify install an OTA package file
 *   --wipe_data - erase user data (and cache), then reboot
 *   --wipe_cache - wipe cache (but not user data), then reboot
 *   --set_encrypted_filesystem=on|off - enables / diasables encrypted fs

edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

Community

1
1

answered Feb 04 '13 at 11:26

EvZ

11,889
4
38
76

Hi EvZ, WILL adb shell recovery --wipe_data clear the third party applications? – Prashant Feb 04 '13 at 11:29
It should I used it a while ago,but you can try. – EvZ Feb 04 '13 at 11:39
2

@EvZ that ends up with "segmentation fault". any clue ? – kmonsoor Nov 27 '13 at 05:26
5

If you get "segment fault" error, try the following commands: adb shell wipe data; adb reboot; – Lucas D'Avila Jan 26 '14 at 22:56

score 15 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 04 '17 at 04:04

15

Warning

From @sidharth: "caused my lava iris alfa to go into a bootloop :("

For my Motorola Nexus 6 running Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 I did:

adb devices       # Check the phone is running
adb reboot bootloader
# Wait a few seconds
fastboot devices  # Check the phone is in bootloader
fastboot -w       # Wipe user data

edited Jul 04 '17 at 04:04

Luke Singham

1,536
2
20
38

answered Sep 06 '16 at 20:44

Robin Winslow

10,908
8
62
91

3

caused my lava iris alfa to go into a bootloop :( – Sidharth Sep 09 '16 at 18:13
@Sidharth oh no! Do you think I should delete this answer - if it's dangerous? Or hopefully your comment is enough of a word of warning. – Robin Winslow Sep 11 '16 at 11:36
1

I guess you could edit your answer and put out a warning for others. – Sidharth Sep 12 '16 at 02:04
My phone has been hanged after this solution. Fortunately other solution helped me to solve my problem (My phone - xiomi mi5 android 6.0.1). – Den Kison Feb 25 '17 at 21:54

score 14 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 25 '17 at 22:00

14

I have made it from fastboot mode (Phone - Xiomi Mi5 Android 6.0.1)

Here is steps:

# check if device available
fastboot devices
# remove user data
fastboot erase userdata
# remove cache
fastboot erase cache 
# reboot device
fastboot reboot

answered Feb 25 '17 at 22:00

Den Kison

1,074
2
13
28

I had to use adb reboot bootloader first, but it worked – Vitor Oliveira Aug 18 '19 at 17:36
I had to use `adb root`and `adb reboot bootloader` before executing these commands, otherwise my device gets stuck. – NightFury Sep 20 '21 at 08:33

How can I do factory reset using adb in android?

4 Answers4

Warning

Linked

Related