How-to: Hard reset Nokia Lumia 521

Master Resetting Your Nokia Lumia 521 from the Settings Menu

By master resetting your smartphone, the device will restore the original factory settings and will delete any personal data on the internal storage. For example: downloaded content, ringtones, images, apps, and contacts, so it’s very important to back up of data prior to resetting the device. The info stored on the SIM or SD card is not deleted, though.

To perform a master reset, follow the next steps:

1. Back up your data on the internal memory of the handset. To learn how to do that, check out the How-To: Back Up Apps, Contacts, Media & Pictures with the Nokia Lumia 925 tutorial (the process is the same on the 521)
2. From the Start screen, touch the screen and slide left.
3. Then scroll down to and touch Settings
4. touch about
5. scroll down to and tap reset your phone
6. read the prompt about your personal content being erased, and if you agree, touch yes.
7. Finally, touch yes again to confirm.

Master Resetting via Hardware Keys

Just like in the case of a software reset, master resetting your Nokia Lumia 521 via hardware keys will restore the original factory settings and will delete any personal data on the internal storage (downloaded content, ringtones, images, apps, and contacts), so it’s very important to back up of data prior to resetting the device. The info stored on the SIM or SD card is not deleted, though.

A master reset via hardware keys is very useful in case the device menus are frozen or unresponsive. So to perform a master reset, follow these steps:

1. Back up your data on the internal memory of the handset. To learn how to do that, check out the How-To: Back Up Apps, Contacts, Media & Pictures with the Nokia Lumia 925 tutorial (the process is the same on the 521).
2. Turn off the phone.
3. Then press the Power key to turn the phone on
4. Immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
5. An exclamation mark (!) will appear on the display.
6. Finally, press the following buttons in order (nothing will change on the screen while entering the sequence of buttons):
7. press the Volume Up key
8. press the Volume Down key
9. press the Power key
10. press the Volume Down key
11. Then your Nokia Lumia 521 will automatically reset.

Note: During the resetting of your device, there will be two gears rotating on the display for up to 5 minutes. The display will then go blank for about 30 seconds and your handset will reboot.

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