If you plan to sell or give away your PS4, or you simply want to start fresh with a clean slate, performing a factory reset is the best way. A factory reset will erase all data, settings, and preferences from your PS4, restoring it to its original state.
In this article, we will guide you through the steps of how to factory reset your PS4.
Step 1: Back up your data
Before performing a factory reset, you should back up all your data. This includes your game saves, screenshots, and any other data you want to keep. You have two options for backing up your data: uploading it to the cloud or using an external hard drive.
Follow these steps to backup your data to an external hard drive:
- Connect the external hard drive to your PS4.
- Go to “Settings” on your PS4 home screen.
- Select “System.”
- Select “Back Up and Restore.”
- Select “Back Up PS4.”
- Select “Back Up” again.
- To upload your data to the cloud, follow these steps:
- Go to “Settings” on your PS4 home screen.
- Select “PlayStation Network/Account Management.”
- Select “Account Information.”
- Select “PlayStation Network Profile.”
- Select “Online ID.”
- Select “Upload to Online Storage.”
Step 2: Sign out of your account
Before performing a factory reset, you should sign out of your account to ensure that your personal information is not accessible to anyone else.
To sign out of your account, follow these steps:
- Go to “Settings” on your PS4 home screen.
- Select “PlayStation Network/Account Management.”
- Select “Sign Out.”
Step 3: Initiate the factory reset
Once you have backed up your data and signed out of your account, you can initiate the factory reset.
To do this, follow these steps:
- Go to “Settings” on your PS4 home screen.
- Select “Initialization.”
- Select “Initialize PS4.”
- Select “Full.”
- Follow the on-screen instructions to confirm the reset.
Step 4: Wait for the reset to complete
The factory reset process may take a while, depending on the amount of data on your PS4. Your PS4 will be reset to its factory settings during this time, erasing all data, settings, and preferences in the process. When the reset is finished, your PS4 will restart on its own.
Step 5: Restore your data
After the factory reset is complete, you can restore your data from your external hard drive or the cloud.
To restore your data from an external hard drive, follow these steps:
- Connect the external hard drive to your PS4.
- Go to “Settings” on your PS4 home screen.
- Select “System.”
- Select “Back Up and Restore.”
- Select “Restore PS4.”
- Select “Restore” again.
- To restore your data from the cloud, follow these steps:
- Go to “Settings” on your PS4 home screen.
- Select “PlayStation Network/Account Management.”
- Select “Account Information.”
- Select “PlayStation Network Profile.”
- Select “Online ID.”
- Select “Download from Online Storage.”
Conclusion
Performing a factory reset on your PS4 is a simple process that can be done in just a few steps. Remember to back up your data before resetting your PS4, sign out of your account, and wait for the reset to complete before restoring your data.
