Factory resetting an Android mobile phone

Quartz

Quartz

Quartz

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I've been procrastinating about doing this for a while because I haven't done it before but I need to get on with it.

So help me out here.

I've transferred all my 2FA keys to Authy. I've backed up the SD card.

I have the following apps:

Whatsapp
Lastpass
Steam Guard
Level (a spirit level app)
HMRC
Your Phone
Telegram
RBS
Authy
Gameforge Authenticator
MS Authenticator
Find Device
Signal

I also have Lastpass via my PC and iPad. I've disabled Gameforge Authenticator. I have the backup key for MS Authenticator. Do I need to disable Steam Guard? Anything else?
 
Resetting the phone seems like a bit of a sledgehammer approach but I don't know the specifics.

In terms of your question, whatsapp, signal, telegram will probably need backing up if you want to keep your chat history, otherwise they're all tied to your phone number so will just re-auth when you reinstall.

Easiest option for steam guard is to just disable it and re-enable afterwards.

2FA is the main thing which you've already sorted, chat history is the other, most other things will just be tied to your google account or have their own logins so make sure you know those I guess.

Presumably you are using google photos so pictures should be fine.

Whatsap - backup history
Lastpass - log back in after?
Steam Guard - disable before
Level (a spirit level app) - pass
HMRC - log back in?
Your Phone - pass, probably will just work
Telegram - backup history
RBS - log back in after
Authy - log back in after
Gameforge Authenticator - disabled already
MS Authenticator - backed up already
Find Device - probably tied to google account
Signal - backup history
 
Quartz said:
Yes, the phone isn't using the SD card properly. The internal storage (16 GB) is almost full, it should be using the SD card storage and resetting the phone has been suggested as a way to fix that.
Click to expand...

That might depend on the apps - not all apps allow themselves to be installed to the Micro SD card. Which version of Android is it? Are any of the apps using the Micro SD card?
 
And it's taking its time to reinstall everything. I'm not sure if its seeing the SD card correctly. It's a 128 GB SD card and the phone is saying I have 130 GB used of 256 GB. Applications seem to be being installed to the internal storage rather than the add-in SD card.
 
Quartz said:
And it's taking its time to reinstall everything. I'm not sure if its seeing the SD card correctly. It's a 128 GB SD card and the phone is saying I have 130 GB used of 256 GB. Applications seem to be being installed to the internal storage rather than the add-in SD card.
Click to expand...

That does seem a little unusual. Has the card worked OK in the past? Does the card work OK in a different phone? Might not be too easy unless the other phone you try it in doesn't already have a MicroSD card set as Extended storage.

Do you have any way of trying it on a computer? There is a free program called H2Testw which you can get from here which would let you test the capacity of the card.
 
Quartz said:
The card is straight out of the packaging which has been sitting in my car for at least two years.
Click to expand...

So it could possibly be a faulty card. I'd try it on a computer - you'll probably need to reformat it to have it recognised on the PC - so try and move anything you want to your phones internal storage. I'd also try and run the H2Testw software to make sure that the reported capacity is the same as the true capacity.

You've also not mentioned what phone you are using and what make/model of MicroSD card. If the phone definitely supports 128GB MicroSD cards it might be worthwhile buying a new one from a reputable brand from a reputable supplier to see if that works (It's about £15 for a Sandisk Ultra or Samsung EVO 128GB card)
 
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