Google Pixel 3a Reset Guide: How to do various types of reset on your phone

When you encounter problems with your new Google Pixel 3a and you don’t know what caused them, there’s always something you can do to make it work perfectly again and that’s to reset it. But as you know, there are different types of resets you can do to phones like this and that’s what we’re going to show you in this post.

After reading this article, you should be able how to perform the soft reset, factory reset and the master reset. If you have issues with your network or wireless connections, you can also reset the network settings in your phone. You may not have to use all of these methods at the same time but there will come a time when you have to and it’s better if you already knew how to do them. Continue reading as this guide may be able to help you one way or another.

Before anything else, if you have other issues with your device, try to browse through our troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed several issues with this device. Odds are that we’ve already published a post that tackles similar problems. Try finding issues that have similar symptoms with what you currently have and feel free to use the solutions we’ve suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you still need our help, then fill up our questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

Soft Reset or Forced Restart

This must be the first reset you should learn because there are times when a powerful device like your Pixel 3a will stop responding. Most of the time it’s due to a firmware crash which leaves your phone to become unresponsive even if you connect it to its charger. Glitches and crashes can be fixed by doing this very simple yet effective procedure.

It is a simulated battery removal which refreshes your phone’s memory as well as reloads all its apps and services. It’s different from the normal reboot and here’s how it’s done:

Press and hold the Power key for 30 seconds or until the logo shows on the screen.

Most of the time, when the phone is frozen and you did this, it would boot up successfully but there are times when it remains unresponsive. And if that’s the case, the next thing you have to do is this:

Plug the original charger to a working wall outlet.
Connect the phone to its charger using the original USB cable.
Regardless whether your Pixel 3a shows the charging symbol or not, leave it connected to the charger for at least 10 minutes.
After a few minutes of charging, press and hold the Power key for 30 seconds or until the logo shows on the screen.

As far as soft reset or forced restart is concerned, that’s how you do it. Now, let’s move on to other reset procedures.

Factory Reset via Settings menu

When it comes to resets, this is the most popular method used by a lot of owners. It’s easy to do and safe in all aspects. But the thing is, you can only use this method if your phone is responding or still working. Prior to doing this procedure, make sure to backup all your important files and data that are saved in your phone’s internal storage. You may copy them to your computer, sync them with your Google account or upload them to the cloud and that includes the following:

Contacts
Email accounts
System and app data
App settings
Downloaded apps
Media (music, pictures and videos, etc.)

After the backup, follow these steps to perform the Factory Reset on your Google Pixel 3a…

From the Home screen, swipe up twice to view your apps.
Tap Settings.
Find and then tap System.
Touch Advanced.
Tap Reset options.
Choose Erase all data (factory reset).
Tap Reset phone.
If prompted, enter your PIN, password or pattern and then tap Next.
Tap Erase everything.
The device will reboot and begin resetting to factory settings.

After the reset, your phone will prompt you to set it up again. You may retrieve your previous settings, apps and data or just set it up as a new device. It’s your choice. And that’s how to perform the factory reset on your Google Pixel 3a. Now, it’s time to move on to another variation of factory reset–the master reset.

Master Reset: Reset via Recovery Mode

A master reset is basically just a factory reset performed in a different way. It will become really useful if your Pixel 3a can no longer boot up successfully. There are times when a powerful smartphone can get stuck on the boot screen and when it happens, the best thing you can do is this.

If you’re only gonna do this instead of the other reset just to try it out, then make sure you create a backup of your important files and data. After which, it’s better to remove your Google account from your phone so that you won’t be locked out of your device after the reset, or make sure you knew your Google ID and password. After which, follow these steps to reset your phone:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume down and Power button at the same time.
When the Pixel 3a logo shows, release the Power button but continue holding the Volume down button until you see the Android Recovery screen.
Use the volume keys to highlight Wipe data/factory reset, then press the Power button.
Use the volume keys to highlight Yes, then press the Power button. Wait while your information is deleted.
Use the volume keys to highlight Reboot system now, then press the Power button.

Once the phone has finished rebooting, you will be asked to set up your phone again. Make sure to use the Google account you used prior to the reset.

Resetting Network Settings

When your Google Pixel 3a has some network issues and you can’t seem to figure out the reason behind it let alone fix it, then the best thing you can do is to reset its network settings. Doing it will delete the following:

Stored Wi-Fi networks
Stored tethered connections
Paired Bluetooth devices

Therefore, you will need to get your phone reconnect to the network it used to connect. Here’s how to reset its network settings:

From the Home screen, swipe up twice to view your apps.
Tap Settings > System > Advanced.
Tap Reset Options > Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth > Reset settings.
If prompted, enter your PIN or Password. Then tap the Next arrow.
Tap Reset settings again to confirm.

Most of the time, this will fix any network issues including WiFi, Bluetooth and mobile data problems.

I hope that this article will be able to help you fix the problem with your phone using any of the reset methods we presented here. We would appreciate it if you helped us spread the word so please share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you so much for reading!

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