How to reset the Huawei P40 Pro

Our smartphones are essentially like mini-computers in our pockets. This means that just like computers, from time to time they start to act a bit weird. Apps stop running the way they should, you start seeing strange glitches, your phone is lagging for seemingly no reason, so what can you do?

Simple… reset.

Do note that when it comes to resetting, there are two types of resets. One is known as a soft reset. With a soft reset, you are basically rebooting the device. Typically no data is lost and it’ll take you less than a minute before your phone is up and running again. The next type of reset is known as a hard reset or a factory reset. This completely wipes your phone and you’ll have to start all over again.

There is no right or wrong choice here and it’s a matter of preference. Usually, you might choose to do a soft reset to see if it solves the problem. If it doesn’t and you’ve completely exhausted all your options, then a hard/factory reset might be worth considering.

How to soft reset (or reboot) the Huawei P40 Pro

1. Press and hold the Power button for a few seconds
2. From the menu that popups, select Power Off and then tap OK
3. Wait for the phone to turn off
4. Once the phone has been turned off, press and hold the Power button to turn it back on

How to hard reset (or factory reset) the Huawei P40 Pro

Sometimes apps or incorrect tinkering can result in system files getting corrupted. As such, a soft reset won’t fix the issue. This is where a factory reset of a phone comes in. Like we said, this will result in your phone completely wiping, meaning you lose all apps and files and system settings.

Before performing a hard reset, you’ll want to make sure that you have everything backed up first because once it’s gone, it’s going to be pretty difficult, if not impossible, to get it back. If you haven’t backed up your phone yet, you can check out our guide on how to backup your Android phone.

1. Go to the Huawei P40 Pro’s Settings > System & updates
2. Select Reset > Reset Phone
3. You will now be greeted by a screen that warns you of what happens if you choose to proceed and what kind of data loss you can expect. If you’re certain, tap Reset Phone
4. Huawei will then again attempt to warn the user one last time and give them a chance to perform a backup. Assuming you’ve already backed everything up, tap Reset Phone
5. You will probably need to wait a couple of minutes as your phone is being reset, but once it’s done, your phone is back to the original state (software wise) when you first got it