The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is Samsung’s 2026 flagship, and like any Android phone it occasionally needs a reset — a frozen screen after an update, a boot loop, a forgotten lock pattern, or a sale handoff. This guide walks through all three reset paths, from a no-data-loss force restart up to a full recovery-mode wipe. Back up first if you can.
Watch the procedure (video tutorial)
Method 1: Force restart (no data loss)
Use this first when the phone is frozen or unresponsive but otherwise working — it forces a reboot without touching your data.
- Press and hold the **Side button** and **Volume Down** together.
- Keep holding for roughly 7-10 seconds until the screen goes black.
- Release both buttons when the Samsung logo appears. The phone will boot normally.
Method 2: Factory reset from Settings (when Galaxy S26 Ultra works normally)
Use this when the phone works normally and you want a clean wipe — selling, trading in, or clearing persistent software bugs.
- Open **Settings**.
- Tap **General management**.
- Tap **Reset**.
- Tap **Factory data reset**.
- Scroll down and tap **Reset**, then enter your PIN, password, or pattern.
- Tap **Delete all** to confirm. The phone restarts and begins the wipe.
Method 3: Hard reset via Recovery Mode (when locked or won’t boot)
Use this when the phone won’t boot to Android, the lock screen is inaccessible, or Settings won’t open. Warning: this triggers Factory Reset Protection (FRP). After the wipe, the phone will demand the Google account that was previously signed in — without it, the phone is unusable.
- Power off the phone completely. If it’s unresponsive, hold **Side + Volume Down** for 10+ seconds first.
- Connect the phone via USB-C to a wall charger or computer. Recent Samsung flagships require an active USB connection to enter recovery.
- Press and hold **Volume Up + Side button** at the same time.
- Keep holding until the Android Recovery menu appears, then release.
- Use **Volume Down** to highlight **Wipe data/factory reset**, then press the **Side button** to select.
- On the confirmation screen, select **Factory data reset**.
- When the wipe finishes, select **Reboot system now**.
After the reset
The phone boots to the Samsung Welcome setup screen. You’ll be required to sign back in to the Google account that was previously on the device — this is Factory Reset Protection (FRP) and there is no Samsung-side bypass. After sign-in you can restore from a Samsung Cloud or Google backup, or set up fresh. End-to-end encrypted message threads (Signal, WhatsApp without a backup key) and some game saves won’t return.
Troubleshooting
The phone is asking for a Google account I don’t remember after the reset.
Go to accounts.google.com/signin/recovery on another device and recover the account using your recovery email or phone number. If the phone was previously owned by someone else, only they can remove it from their Google account — Samsung cannot bypass FRP.
The recovery menu won’t appear — the phone just boots normally or shows a download screen.
A blue download screen means you entered Odin/Download mode; press and hold the Side button for 10 seconds to exit. If the phone boots normally instead, the USB cable isn’t supplying power — use the official Samsung cable in a wall charger, and hold Volume Up + Side firmly through the Samsung logo flash.
The phone is stuck in a boot loop after a successful factory reset.
Re-enter recovery (Method 3, steps 1-4), highlight **Wipe cache partition** and select it, then run **Factory data reset** again. If the loop persists, reflash the official firmware using Samsung Smart Switch on a PC — connect the phone in Download mode and follow the Emergency Recovery prompt.
