Desperate Times, Desperate Measures!
So you’re finally contemplating doing it! The RESET. Wiping the slate clean. Winding the clock back to day one. You must be having a good enough reason if you’ve reached the decision to reset your PS4.
Resetting your PS4 to factory or default settings wipes all your user data and save data from the PS4’s memory. Basically, all your games, applications, save data and profile settings are erased from the hard disk and you get a fresh, clean PS4, like the day it was when you first bought it.
There are mainly two reasons which warrant a factory reset. Either you’re selling your PS4 for good and need to wipe all your personal and confidential data or you’re experiencing some issues with the system and need to take the extreme step to get rid of said issues.
So let’s get into it. There are primarily two ways you can reset your PS4 – One is the regular way through the Settings menu and the other is through the console’s Safe Mode, in case your PS4 is not even booting up.
1. How to Reset your PS4 from Settings
Before you go ahead and lobotomize your PS4, few crucial steps need to be performed first. You need to take a backup of all your precious data to ensure you have it safe when you need to do a restore later. Also, you need to Deactivate your PS4, especially if you’re selling it or giving it away. This removes your current console as the one associated with your account. Not doing this will create issues, like not being able to play your games offline when you sign in on another console.
How to Back Up your Data before a Reset
You can use an external storage drive (formatted to FAT or exFAT) or Playstation Network to back up your data.
Back Up to an External Drive
- Connect the USB drive to your PS4
- Go to Application Saved Data Management in Settings
- Select Saved Data in System Storage
- Click on Copy to USB Storage Device
- Select all the files you want to back up and click Copy
Note that this method will not back up your in-game trophies. For that, you need to use the following method.
Back Up to Playstation Plus Cloud
You need an active Playstation Plus subscription for this.
- Go to Application Saved Data Management in Settings
- Select Auto-Upload
- Choose the games you want to upload to Cloud
How to Deactivate your PS4
- Go to Account Management
- Select Activate as Your Primary PS4
- The Activate option will probably be grayed out. Select Deactivate
- Click Yes on the following screen
Now that you have all your data backed up and your PS4 deactivated, you can safely proceed to resetting the console.
Steps to Reset your PS4 from Settings
- Start by signing in again
- Go to Settings and Select Initialization
- Choose Initialize PS4 (The other option, named Restore Default Settings doesn’t wipe all your data, only your saved settings)
- Now select Full to completely wipe all your data
The reset process will take typically 30 minutes to more than an hour. Once the process is finished, your PS4 will reboot normally. Your PS4 is now in a condition to be sold or given to someone else.
2. How to Reset your PS4 from Safe Mode
You might be facing an issue where your PS4 is not even booting up. In that case, you need to reset your PS4 from Safe Mode, and reinstall the operating system from scratch in the process.
To do this, you need a USB drive with at least 2GB of free space. Download the latest PS4 console reinstallation file from Sony’s website. Make sure that you download the complete reinstallation file and not the update file (see screenshot below).
Make a new folder titled ‘PS4’ and inside that folder, create a folder titled ‘UPDATE’. Copy the downloaded software file inside this UPDATE folder. Then safely remove the drive and you have all you need to perform a hard reset.
Steps to Reset your PS4 from Safe Mode
- Turn off your PS4. Make sure it’s not in Rest Mode
- Hold the PS4’s power button until it beeps twice. The PS4 should boot in Safe Mode now
- Select the Initialize PS4 (Reinstall System Software) option
- After the PS4 is done removing everything including system software, it will prompt you to plug in the USB with the system software. Go ahead and plug it in
- The console will automatically detect the file inside the drive and install the system software
The system will reboot once the installation is finished. You can then sign in again and restore all your data from the Playstation Plus Cloud or from your External Backup.
The software issues you were facing should be gone now and you can go back to enjoying your games once again.
