Smartphones, tablets, and laptops are an everyday necessity in the fast-paced digital age. But they are later subjected to lagging, freezing, or crashing performance mishaps. If these issues arise, a common resolution users search for is to reset their device. However, this raises a common question: Is a Factory Reset the Same as a Hard Reset?

These words are used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. The difference in purpose between each can help you choose the correct one when trying to clean your device and sort through issues.

Understanding Factory Reset

It is intended to reset your device to its original manufacturer settings. In simple words, it will erase all your data, settings, and downloaded apps. At the end of the process, your device appears and works like new.

Key Features of Factory Reset:

Erase Personal Data — Wipes out files, contacts, and applications.

Restore Default Settings — Resets things like language, wi-fi & accounts.

Software-Related Fix — Used most often for fixing software bugs, malware, or if you plan on selling your device.

How to Factory Reset:

Data Backup – Save important files to a cloud storage or to an external drive first, before you proceed.

Access preferences – Navigate to the Settings of your device.

Go to Reset Option – On Android search System → Reset → Factory Data Reset Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content and Settings in iOS.

Confirm the Reset — Verify with your password or PIN.

Device restart / Return to factory state – Process Starts

This is the best approach if you are solving ongoing performance problems or getting the device ready for a new owner.

Understanding Hard Reset

Alternatively, a hard reset means forcibly restarting your device. It does not erase any personal data, nor restore the device to factory settings. As a result, it refreshes the memory and fixes temporary errors and bugs.

Key Features of Hard Reset:

Workaround – Especially for issues like screen freezing, app crashes, and an app is not responding

Won't delete anything — Your Photos, Videos, and Apps are not touched by this.

Hardware-Button Method — Requires a specific combination of hardware buttons.

Follow these steps for a hard reset:

Disable Hardware Keys — Press & Hold Power+Volume Down buttons together for 10–15 seconds for most Android devices.

iPhone — Since the iPhone 8: Tap the Volume Up button and release, tap the Volume Down button and release, then press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo.

Restart Device — If you have released the buttons, begin to work on restarting your device to resolve temporary system glitches.

Like a hard reset, but without data wiping or factory ready restoring.

Is Factory Reset the Same as Hard Reset?

The short answer is no. While these two terms are often confused, they are wildly different. In other words, a factory reset wipes everything and restores your device to its state when it was first released, while a hard reset only restarts the system in order to fix issues that are temporary.

To clarify further:

This is to say that a factory reset is for permanent problems, but a hard reset is for temporary problems.

Data Impact — factory data reset will erase everything; hard reset will not/may not.

Reset – Factory reset is a software-based setting, while a hard reset is a combination of buttons to do so on the hardware side.

So when you ask, Is Factory Reset Same As Hard Reset?, keep in mind the distinct purposes of both processes.

When to Use Each Reset?

Use Factory Reset If:

Your device is being sold or donated.

The Software of your phone has become seriously corrupted or there is malware.

You want a clean slate with none of the previous data.

Use Hard Reset If:

Your device froze or became unresponsive.

Apps keep crashing suddenly.

Quick without losing data restart is required.

Making an informed choice can save you miles of data loss and effective troubleshooting.

An Effective Alternative for Fully Upgrading Your PC

Factory reset is rather effective, but this method does not always delete all the data. Deletion provides no benefits against file recovery tools that can recover fragments of deleted files. This can be a potential privacy issue if a device is going to be sold or disposed of. So in such scenarios, using some professional solution such as SysTools Data Wipe Software can make sure that the data is lost from your system or any storage media you choose to use it on. It overwrites data multiple times so no sensitive information is recoverable, unlike a factory reset.

Final Thoughts

Now the question is, is factory reset the same as hard reset? Not at all. However, both of these methods are useful to maintain your device but they serve different purposes. Hard Reboot is a Forced Reboot your Android smartphone to fix glitches but factory reset clears your data and returns your smartphone to default settings.

This knowledge will save you from troubling yourself and, potentially, from data loss. But if you need to make sure that all data is wiped forever and cannot be retrieved, it is better to use specialized tools for this purpose.