There are many reasons to reset your PlayStation 4. Maybe you’re experiencing an issue with your console and think resetting it should fix the issue. Or, you are planning to get the latest PS5, and you want to erase your PS4 before you sell or give it away to someone.
Either way, the following guide should help you reset your PlayStation 4 to the factory settings.
Factory Reset a PS4 When It’s Bootable
If you don’t have a boot issue with your PS4 and your console turns on just fine, you can reset your console using one of the options in the settings.
Here’s what you need to do to wipe and reset a PS4.
1. Deactivate Your Account on Your PS4
The first thing to do is to deactivate your account on your console. Doing this removes the ability to play your downloaded games on this console and helps avoid sign-in issues at other places where you use your account.
Here’s how you do this:
Open the Settings menu on your PS4. Select Account Management on the resulting screen. Find Activate as Your Primary PS4 and select it. Select Deactivate followed by Yes to deactivate your account on this console. The Activate button is grayed out because your account is already active on this PS4.
2. Factory Reset Your PlayStation 4
Now that you have deactivated your PS4, it’s time to erase and reset your console to the factory defaults.
Remember, you can also delete your PS4 user accounts; if this helps, you won’t need to reset your PS4.
To reset your console to the factory settings:
Launch the Settings menu on your console. Scroll all the way down until you see Initialization, and then select it. Select Initialize PS4. This removes basically everything that you’ve stored on your PS4. Select Full on the following screen to reset your console completely. This makes your console work as if you have just taken it out of the box for the first time.
It’ll take a while before your PS4 is fully reset. You can track the reset progress using the progress indicator on your screen.
Once you have done the resetting, you’re ready to sell or give away your console. You have now successfully wiped all the data from your PS4.
Factory Reset a PS4 When It’s Not Bootable
If you have a boot issue and your PS4 won’t turn on, you can still reset your console to the factory settings.
This basically uses the safe mode option that you can boot your console into when it won’t boot in normal mode. There’s an option in safe mode that lets you reset your PS4 to the factory defaults.
To use this method, follow the steps below:
Turn your PS4 off completely if it’s turned on (see how to turn a PS4 off). Once you have turned your PS4 off, boot it into safe mode. To do this, press and hold down the Power button for about eight seconds until you hear a beep. Let go of the Power button after the second beep sound. Connect your controller to your PS4 using the USB cable. The wireless mode doesn’t work in safe mode, so you need to use a USB cable. Select the Initialize PS4 option using your controller. Choose Full to initialize your console completely.
Your console is now reset. It no longer has any of your data or settings stored on it.
Reinstall the PS4 System Software
One way to reset your PS4 is by reinstalling the system firmware. In most cases, you don’t need to do this, as the methods above should fully reset your console.
However, if you have certain issues that won’t go away despite resetting the console, you can try installing the latest firmware version, and that should, hopefully, fix your issues and reset the console.
This requires that you have a computer and a USB flash drive. Your flash drive should have at least 2GB of space to store the PS4 firmware file.
Then, you need to follow these steps:
Open a browser on your computer and head over to the PS4 firmware site. Download the firmware file from the reinstallation section. This will be the full version of the software for your PlayStation 4. Grab a USB flash drive and format it in FAT32 (learn how to format a USB drive). Create a folder named PS4 on your flash drive. Create another folder inside the PS4 folder and name it UPDATE. Move the PS4 firmware you downloaded over to this UPDATE folder. Make sure the downloaded file uses PS4UPDATE. PUP as its name. If not, change the name to this one. Connect your flash drive to your PS4 console. Boot your PS4 into safe mode by pressing the Power button until it beeps twice. Select Initialize PS4 (Reinstall System Software). Choose Update from USB Storage Device followed by OK. Wait for your console to reinstall the system software.
When done, your PS4 should return to the factory settings with the stock firmware.
If your PS4 doesn’t recognize the software file, ensure you’ve used the proper folder names as advised above. Also, ensure the software file isn’t corrupt, or you’ll need to re-download it from the Sony website.
Now You Can Factory Reset Your PS4
Although PlayStation 4 issues are rare, if you ever come across one, resetting your PS4 should help fix the issue in most cases. You might also want to do this when you’re giving away your console. That way, you’re sure that the next owner of your PS4 won’t have access to your personal information.
If you’re resetting the PS4 to upgrade to the PS5, make sure you know if this latest console from Sony fits your needs. There are things you should consider when making the switch to ensure you’re happy with your purchase.
