Types of Resets for mobile phones

In a nutshell here is a list of resets available for mobile phones and the order they should be performed in. Arranged from least intense and having minor effects on the phone and its information to the more serious and most impacting types of Resets.

1. Soft Reset – power cycling – no loss of data
2. Second Level Reset – battery pull – no loss of data
3. Master Reset – can either cause just the phones settings to go back to default or it can erase all user information from the phone as well as reset the settings to default. ~This depends on what type of phone this option is available on~. Note: If presented with both the Master Reset and Master Clear options on the device then the Master Reset will only affect the Settings and no user data should be erased. If only presented with the Master Reset option then the Master Reset will erase all user data and reset the phones settings back to factory default.
4. Master Clear – erases all user data from the phone and changes all settings back to the factory default settings. Accessed through the device settings.
5. Factory Data Reset – resets all settings to default and removes all user data from the device. Performed through the settings on the phone.
6. Alternate Reset – basically the same as the Factory Data Reset and Master Clear as it resets all settings to default and removes all user data from the device but the Alternate Reset does not have to be done through a phones settings and can be performed when the Factory Data Reset or Master Clear options are unavailable.

Enjoy