How to hard reset your Xbox One
Resolve your Xbox One problems with these simple steps
It may be our “console to beat” in 2018, but even the mighty Xbox One can run into problems sometimes. Whether it’s a sign-in problem, a mid-game crash or one of many confusing error messages, a hard reset can often solve these mishaps and others without having to send your console away to be fixed.
Usually, problems with your console can be resolved by simply turning it off and on again, so that’s the first thing to try. However, if doing that doesn’t help matters and you’re out of ideas then, as a last resort, a hard reset could be the way to go. Here’s our guide on how to do exactly that.
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How to hard reset your Xbox One
Press the Xbox button on your controller to bring up the ‘Guide’ menu.
Scroll right to the ‘System’ tab and open ‘Settings’.
Go to ‘System’, then ‘Console Info’ and select ‘Reset Console’.
Choose either ‘Reset and remove everything’ or ‘Reset and keep my games & apps’.
Be warned though, while you can hold on to your games and apps, performing a hard reset on your Xbox One will mean that your accounts, settings and save game data are removed in the process.
If you can’t perform the factory reset procedure because you have no picture or can’t access the settings menu, there is another way to perform a factory reset – by using a file loaded onto a USB drive.
It’s a lengthier process, fully outlined on the official Xbox website here. In basic terms, it involves downloading a file from that page onto a USB drive, inserting the drive into your Xbox One, and then holding down numerous buttons in order to perform the reset.
Should neither of these hard reset solutions fix your Xbox One issues, you’ll have to seek further advice from Microsoft in the form of a service or repair.