Here's how to reboot or reset Samsung Galaxy S20 phones

Samsung’s Galaxy S20 may be old, but they’re still one of the best Android handsets around. While that may be the case, that doesn’t mean you won’t encounter issues after prolonged usage. If that happens, you can reset, reboot, or even do a complete factory restore on your phone to hopefully solve these problems and get your Samsung Galaxy S20 back in working condition. Here’s everything you need to know.

Note: All instructions in this post were put together using Android 12 and Samsung One UI 4. Some steps might be slightly different if you’re using older software.

How to restart or soft reset the Galaxy S20

If your Galaxy S20 phone is running slowly, is unresponsive, or if an app on the device isn’t working correctly, rebooting your device or performing a soft reset may fix the problem. It doesn’t take much effort; you only need to follow a few steps.

How to restart the Galaxy S20:

1. Turn your display on by pressing the Power button.
2. Once your display is on, press and hold the Power button.
3. After a few seconds, you’ll see three options on your screen: Power off, Restart, or Enable Emergency Mode.
4. Tap the Restart option on the screen.
5. Your Galaxy S20 will now restart.

How to soft reset the Samsung Galaxy S20:

You’ll want to try this method if your phone’s software isn’t responding.

1. Press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously until the screen goes black and the phone restarts. You’ll have to hold for a while, usually about 10 seconds.
2. Your Galaxy S20 will now restart.

How to do a factory reset

If your Galaxy S20 has problems you can’t fix with a soft reset or restart, you may need to perform a factory reset (or hard reset). This will revert your Galaxy S20 to its original factory settings and erase everything you have on your phone, so ensure all your data is backed up before performing this reset.

How to factory reset your Samsung Galaxy S20:

1. Go into the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap General management.
3. Tap Reset.
4. Then tap Factory data reset.
5. You will see a warning that all data will be deleted from your phone. Scroll down and then press the blue Reset button.
6. Enter your PIN or Password.
7. Tap Delete all.
8. You might be asked to confirm your Samsung account. Do so.
9. Let the phone do its thing. The phone will boot up when ready and allow you to go through the initial setup.

How to factory reset the Galaxy S20 using Recovery Mode:

1. Start with the phone turned off.
2. Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons simultaneously. Hold until the screen starts.
3. You’ll enter Recovery Mode. You can now use the volume buttons to navigate and the power button to select.
4. Hit the Volume Down button until you highlight Wipe data/factory reset.
5. Press the Power button to select the option.
6. Confirm by selecting Factory data reset and let the phone do its thing.
7. Select Reboot system now.

Are you having too many issues with the Samsung Galaxy S20? The phone is starting to age, and we have much better options at a reasonable price now. You can check out our favorite Samsung phones if you want something a little newer from the same manufacturer. You can also check out our best Android phones to find an alternative outside of the Samsung brand.