You are here: Home / Articles / How to Hard Reset the Motorola Charm

How to Hard Reset the Motorola Charm

August 25, 2010 10:00 am By 42 Comments

Like most devices, there are two different methods for hard resetting the Motorola Charm. If your Charm boots and you can use the device, then the easiest way to clear the device and return it to factory settings is to open the programs menu, tap on Settings / Privacy / Factory Data Reset. You will then be prompted with a confirmation window explaining what you’re about to do and giving you one last chance to back out.

Charm_Cab_Front_TMO

What happens if your device won’t start up? Or perhaps it continually crashes on start up? While the problem may be the result of a badly written application, you need to get the device started to uninstall it using the above method. Since that’s not always possible, you’ll be happy to know that you can still perform a hard reset without actually booting into Android. To do this, with the phone off press and hold the camera key. Then press the power key and when you see a blue screen you need to press Alternate + L and ALternate + W. This will force a hard reset and the device will return to factory settings.

I don’t have a Charm to test these steps on, so please post your feedback below and let me know how it works.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: , ,

About Mike Temporale

Mike Temporale has written 607 posts on Mobile Jaw..

Mike Temporale grew up fascinated by computers since an early age. His first hands on with a computer came when he was 7 years old and a travelling lab of Commodore PET computers made a stop at his school. Hooked on the new world these devices offered, he took any chance possible to get in front of a computer. When Compaq launched the iPaq 3600, he was hooked again. This time on a whole new world of mobile computing. Today, Mike spends his day helping clients deploy and manage their mobile device around the world. From installing custom software, to locking and securing data, and everything in between. He is also the Editor in Chief at Mobile Jaw - a site focused on today's mobile world.

  • http://twitter.com/mobilejaw/status/22090582884 MobileJaw

    How to Hard Reset the Motorola Charm – http://tinyurl.com/2fgryw9

    • Irene

      This worked great for me ! Thank u!

  • JackTheMan18

    This procedure doesn’t work at all!
    The camera button on the charm is on the keyboard!!!

  • http://www.MobileJaw.com Mike Temporale

    It doesn’t work because the camera button is on the keyboard? That doesn’t make any sense. Have you attempted this? What error did you get? Where did things go wrong? At least you could provide some useful feedback. ;-)

  • Steve Barber

    I’ve had the same problem and can fill in the missing detail … there is no ‘hardware’ camera button on the Charm. It only appears on the screen when the camera function is selected. The only hardware buttons on the Charm are the power and volume buttons.

  • http://www.MobileJaw.com Mike Temporale

    @Steve – Thanks, but I’m still a little confused. There’s a camera button on the bottom of the keyboard, 3rd in from the left. Can you try using that button and report back?

    • Chrisc1993

      Yea there is a camera button at bottom but it does not wrk.. ive trey for days..

  • Mandy

    Press and hold the X button and the power button at the same time until a yellow triangle appears. Release both buttons and then press the power button which will then bring up a menu. Follow the prompts from there, using the arrow keys on the bottom right of the keyboard to navigate and the enter button to select. I have just tried this and it works.

    • Janette

      THank you Mandy you were very helpfull

    • Jessica

      Thanks Mandy I checked everywhere and nothing else worked…lifesaver!! BTW ANYONE WHO HAS THIS PHONE – DONT BOTHER DOWNLOADING EASYHOME – FREEZES THE PHONE AND TAKES A HARD RESET TO GET UR PHONE BACK…BOOOOOOOOOO

    • YAZ

      THIS REALLY DOES WORK THANKS :)

    • http://www.facebook.com/edison.jack Edison Jack

      wow..it s working fine.. thank u thank u sir…………cheers…got release now

  • http://www.fullcyclecellular.com Jason

    Mandy, thanks, this works like a charm!

  • chris

    one addition to what Mandy stated. you may have to press the power button a few times to get it into the hard boot menu. I held down the power button & X button till the big M showed on the display then I started pressing the power button about 1 per second until I saw the hard boot menu.

  • Lora Blonde

    Thanks, the reset worked perfectly. Easily took care of putting it right back to the beginning.
    Thanks again.

  • http://ssmu.mcgill.ca/senators Andrew Doyle

    yeah, this post is totally wrong, follow the procedure Mandy outlined. Thanks Mandy!

  • kyle

    what do i select in the menu to reset it.?

  • Jose

    you’re awesome!!!!!!!

  • Kay

    OK my one question and its a HUM DINGER!is when it resets to factory settings, does it reset and ask you to recreate a moto blur account…. i am selling my phone and want to delete all my info INCLUDING my moto blur account….

    also, may be a dumb question but what about contacts….

  • Alexus

    OMG, thankyouuu Mandy ! your a LIFE SAVER !

  • radhika

    i bought moto charm before some days i dont have the manual of that it very difficult to operate the phone i am not able to access internet i wanted the steps could u please guide me

  • http://Facebook Lupi

    Ok.. I’ve tried it alll and nothing is working! It’s stuck on the big M .. Oh and when you say hold the “X” do you mean the letter or the delete sign???

  • http://Facebook Lupi

    Ok now it worked!! Just took a few tries..

  • moe

    thank yu mandy it worked

  • leticia

    okay i have this motorola charm & turning on my phone it wont go further then the second screen thats all white , with a pink box in the middle & it will just repeat that over & over & i dont know what else to do , please help !

  • girator
  • kay

    @girator I tried that and found nothing… But obviously u were lookin for the answer to this question or u would not have stumbled across this forum lol

  • girator
  • http://google kishore

    hai every one i have motorola charm and unable to browse internet from wifi and i had done so many times factory reset but no use can any one help me.

  • selena

    i tried to unlock my phone to many times and now it wont let me in it says to many unlock attempts what do i do?

  • Saif

    damn!!!……..my camera isnt workin………will it work after a hard restart………..wat to doif it didnt

  • Saif

    what the heck is da camras a paain in the……u know wat……..i have hard reseted my moto twice…but the camera just woudnt start…….WHAT TO DO!!!!???

  • http://deleted Saif

    does any one have problemzz wid there memory card or is it just me……..it says some time unsupported file system or no memrory card or SD card not detected n other such crap ………………..plz help…………..n also help me in my camera proble,,,,,,,,,,….plzzz

  • Roanne

    I pressed the X and the power button as I was doing the factory reset, but my motorola charm still won’t turn on. I don’t know what to do. :(

  • Roanne

    When my battery died, I put in the other battery, but it wouldn’t turn on anymore. I tried connecting it to the charger, but it just got stuck to the big M screen. Then i tried to factory reset it with the X and the power button at the same time, but it won’t even turn on. So i really don’t know what else to do :(

    • Quan

      I am having the exact same problem

  • http://www.website.com prashanth M

    I bought new motorola charm MB502, it’s working fine with all the features, after two days I reset the phone then the camera is not working………….

    Any suggestion to resolve this issue.

  • heybro37

    hard reset is not working for those had rooted their phone..
    i think it should be flash as rooted phone clear out the data.
    anyone knows?

  • Harry

    Great it worked, thanks Mandy!!

  • Cproccproctor

    just got my phone and it was working fine then went to dinner and now it won’t turn on.  I charged it for an hour and still nothing.  Tried all steps here and still nothing worked!

  • Omelissa94

    i tried the steps and it wont let me hit the wipe data factory reset

  • Cherylwjohnson

    My search, home and return button dosen’t work. Will this help?