Try this instead of using a hammer
Smart assistants like the Amazon Echo are incredibly useful devices, but they are also potential privacy concerns. When you give away or sell your smart assistant, you can’t just reset it on your phone. You need to perform a hard reset that will completely erase your data, not only to protect your personal information, but also to ensure the proper operation of the device for all future users.
Even if you don’t intend to sell the device, there are times when your Echo might stop working or freeze. A factory reset will resolve most issues. The thing to remember is that different devices require different methods to perform a hard reset, but it isn’t difficult to pull off.
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Here’s how to reset some of the most common Amazon Echo devices.
How to Reset Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Gen)
The third-generation Amazon Echo Dot is one of the most popular smart devices out there. The third-generation Echo Dot has more than 257,000 reviews on Amazon alone and hundreds, if not thousands more are sold each day.
As a result, people most commonly want to know how to reset the Amazon Echo Dot, either to sell it or to fix problems. The good news? It’s easy.
- Find the action button (the button down and right from the Volume Up with the single dot in the middle.) Press and hold it down for 25 seconds until the light ring flashes orange. After another moment, the light will turn blue.
- When the light turns off and back on and then turns orange, it will be in setup mode.
- Once in setup mode, you can open the app on your phone or tablet and perform the setup process like it’s a brand-new device.
How To Reset Amazon Echo Show 5 & Echo Show 8
The Amazon Echo Show was the first display-driven Echo device, but it didn’t catch on for a variety of reasons. The Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8, on the other hand, are much more popular.
Recent Black Friday sales on the Echo Show 5 made it one of the best-selling Echo devices on all of Amazon, but users soon discovered that resetting the Amazon Echo Show differed greatly from non-display Echo devices.
- There are two ways to start a factory reset on the Echo Show 5. The first is to swipe down from the top of the screen to display the Control Panel, then scroll down and select Settings. The second option is to say, Alexa, open Settings.
- From the Settings menu, scroll down until you see Device Options.
- Scroll down and tap Reset to Factory Defaults.
- Another screen will appear warning you that you cannot undo the process. Click Reset. This process can take up to five minutes to complete, but once it does your Amazon Echo Show 5 will be like-new again.
The same process works for the Amazon Echo Show 8, too.
How To Reset Amazon Echo (3rd Gen)
The base model of the Amazon Echo is easy to reset. The process is similar to that with the Echo Dot third-generation.
- Press and hold the Microphone Off and Volume Down button at the same time for around twenty seconds. The light will turn orange.
- Once the color has changed, the Echo will be fully reset to its original settings.
How To Reset Amazon Echo Plus (2nd Gen)
If you’re a fan of great audio quality in your smart assistant, you might have the Amazon Echo Plus. It’s the Echo’s bigger cousin with sound to match. Thankfully, performing a factory reset is just as easy as the rest of the devices.
- Find the Action button and press it down for 20 seconds.
- Wait for the light to turn off and back on again. Once it does, the device will be reset.
A Note On Resetting First-Get Devices
Every device on this list has been second-generation and later because those are the devices most commonly in use. It wasn’t until the second generations of each device that smart assistants began to catch on. Later generations have more features and therefore more appeal to customers.
The first generations of the Echo Dot, the Echo, and the Echo Plus all have reset buttons that require a paper clip to press. Find this button, usually in a small hole near the base or on the bottom of the device, and press it quickly. Once you do, wait for the light to turn off and back on again. When it does, the device will have been reset.
The first generation Echo Show and Echo Spot are reset in the same way as the Echo Show 5, but you can also press down the mute and Volume Down buttons for fifteen seconds until the Amazon logo appears on the display.
If your devices begin to freeze or just don’t work properly, do a hard reset. It can straighten out any problems before Alexa goes HAL-9000 on you. Make sure you also perform a reset before you sell a discard an old device. In the modern age of cybersecurity, you can’t be too safe.
