Help How to factory reset phone with a broken screen?

[ArmageddonX]

So my mother has broken the screen on her Sprint S4. We bought her a replacement but I need to factory reset the old broken phone before donating it to charity. Any idea how to do this? Thanks.

 

[Rukbat]

I doubt that any charity wants a phone with a broken screen, however ...

If you have USB debugging enabled on the phone, you can connect the phone to a computer and use adb to issue the following commands:

adb shell
recovery --wipe_data

If USB debugging is off, your only option is to plug in a working screen long enough to do a factory reset.

 

[sreum]

So my mother has broken the screen on her Sprint S4. We bought her a replacement but I need to factory reset the old broken phone before donating it to charity. Any idea how to do this? Thanks.

Can you see anything at all on the screen?

 

[ArmageddonX]

Can you see anything at all on the screen?

Yeah to add more detail... you can see the top right corner of the screen. When someone calls you can swipe the screen and answer the call. So the screen WORKS but you simply cannot see it. I was thinking about trying to watch a video to see where on the screen I need to press to do what I need and trying that.

 

[sreum]

Yeah to add more detail... you can see the top right corner of the screen. When someone calls you can swipe the screen and answer the call. So the screen WORKS but you simply cannot see it. I was thinking about trying to watch a video to see where on the screen I need to press to do what I need and trying that.

Try a hard key factory reset. You'll be able to see what screen it is on. And if you do a search on you tube you'll be able to count the number of times to hit the buttons to get to the right selections.

 

[ArmageddonX]

I figured it out. In the future if anyone has this issue here is what you do:

1.) Turn off the phone.
2.) Turn on the phone by holding down the power, home, and volume up button simultaneously. When the phone vibrates release ONLY the power button. Continue to hold the volume up and home button for 3 seconds and then release.
3.) Wait 5 seconds.
4.) Press volume down 3 times.
5.) Press the power button once.
6.) Press volume down 7 times.
7.) Press the power button once.

To confirm the phone has been wiped attach it via USB cable to a computer and navigate to the DCIM folder to confirm all your pictures have been deleted by the factory restore.

If the above seven steps dont work, just keep trying. It took me 3 attempts to get it right.