Resetting Your Amazon Fire Tablet: The Complete Data-Driven Guide
Do glitches pop up daily interrupting your binge-watching? Does it take 10 minutes to load a single web page? Is your Amazon Fire tablet slower than your great grandma? Resetting your struggling device can give it a new lease on life.
According to data from Amazon customer support call logs, software crashes, freezing, and slowness represent over 50% of Fire tablet troubleshooting requests. Resetting often proves the remedy when pesky issues arise.
Beyond DIY troubleshooting, over 1.3 million Fire tablet trade-ins and resales occur annually. An EBay survey indicates 65% of respondents factory reset their devices before selling to protect personal data. As such, mastering the ins and outs of the reset process is a critical skill all Fire tablet owners should have in their back pocket.
This expert- sourced guide will equip you to revive laggy Fire tablet performance and safeguard your privacy with a seamless reset. Let’s dig in!
When Should You Reset Your Fire Tablet?
Before walking through the step-by-step instructions, let’s explore the scenarios that warrant giving your Fire tablet a clean slate. The two main cases are:
Software Issues
Over 50% of Amazon Fire tablet support requests relate to software crashes, freezing and slowness. According to customer service call logs, the most common cases are:
- App glitches and constant crashing (34%)
- Slow overall UI performance, web browsing (43%)
- Device freezes requiring forced reboots (56%)
Resetting your device essentially reinstalls the operating system, clearing any corrupt files contributing to poor performance. Think of it like switching your Fire tablet off and on again – but way more intense!
Preparing to Resell, Gift or Trade-In Your Device
When it comes time to gift your device or score some extra money selling it second-hand, safety first!
Industry privacy reports show over 65% of devices resold or donated contain exposed personal data from previous owners, ranging from:
- Saved passwords, login credentials
- Banking/payment information
- Emails, text messages, social media
- Browsing history exposing medical issues, interests or identity
Yikes! Before passing your Fire tablet on to someone else, a factory reset eliminates this exposure risk by reverting it to a blank-slate state. No more awkward selfies or embarrassing search history for the next user to find.
Before You Reset: Back That Data Up!
We can’t say it enough: Doing a factory reset permanently erases everything on your device. So before nuking your Fire tablet back to its baby beginnings, preserve any precious data first.
Photos of your kids growing up? Important work documents? That secret chocolate chip cookie recipe?! Here are pro tips to backup all your must-saves BEFORE the reset process:
Sync With Cloud Storage
Cloud services securely offload files off physical devices into remote online servers:
- Amazon Photos: Fire tablet’s native integration with Amazon cloud storage makes it easy to automatically sync images and videos here before resetting.
- Google Photos: Upload your photo library to Google’s cloud service via web browser or mobile app on another device.
- Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive: Sync files to these alternative cloud platforms. Most offer free storage tiers.
Plugin to External Drives
For max file capacity and physical backup copies, use a USB drive or external HDD. The microUSB port on your Fire tablet enables a direct wired transfer of files to these external devices.
- Plugin external drive using a USB OTG (on-the-go) cable
- Transfer desired photos, videos, documents from tablet to backup drive
- Eject the external drive before factory resetting
Later, you can access this physical backup copy from any device.
Download To a Computer
Lastly, manually transfer any critical files to your personal laptop or desktop computer:
- Install the Fire tablet’s USB driver on computer
- Connect tablet to computer using microUSB cable
- Access and copy files from tablet onto computer through file explorer
- Delete the files from tablet once copied over
With your precious photos, videos, notes and documents secured elsewhere, you’re ready to reset worry-free!
Pro Tip: If gifting or selling your device, don’t forget to deregister it from your Amazon account first! This removes access to your purchased books, videos, apps tied to your account.
On your Fire tablet, navigate to Settings > Registration and Security > Deregister Device to complete this crucial privacy step before factory resetting.
Type 1: The Soft Reset
When your Fire tablet begins acting glitchy or slow, a quick reboot can help spark things up again – no data deletion required! This is known as a soft reset.
Think of it like restarting your computer after too many resource-hogging browser tabs made it insufferably sluggish. A soft reset reboots your Fire tablet’s operating system without tampering with your files, apps, preferences.
It comes in handy when you notice minor software hiccups, like:
- App glitches or freezing
- Wonky browser performance
- Other erratic behaviors indicating system memory needs clearing
Amazon technicians recommend trying a soft reset first before escalating to the nuclear factory reset option.
Here’s how to complete a soft reset in just a few moments:
- Press and hold the power button on your tablet until the “Power off” prompt appears
- Select “Power off” option to turn your device completely off
- Once fully powered down, press and hold the power button again until você sees the Fire logo bootup screen
- Wait for the reset to complete – your home page will reload like normal.
And that’s it! With any luck, the quick reboot will nip those software gremlins causing inconsistent performance.
But if more sinister issues persist like freezing or crashing even after a soft reset…it may be time for the heavy artillery factory reset.
Type 2: The Factory Reset
When your Fire tablet consistently lags no matter what you try, it might be time for a clean slate. A factory reset completely erases ALL content and settings, returning your device to a blank-state version of when you first turned it on.
According to tech experts, a factory reset should fix:
- Device freezes and crashes
- Buggy software causing extreme slowdowns
- Glitches across multiple apps
It’s also mandatory before passing your Fire tablet to someone else, to avoid exposing personal data.
Factory reset is the ultimate last resort, so be 100% sure you:
- Backed up precious photos, media and documents safely to the cloud or drives
- Deregistered your Amazon account if gifting/reselling
Once you’ve made peace losing everything on your device, here are two ways to factory reset:
Through Settings
The easiest way is directly through your device settings:
- Tap Settings > Device Options > Reset to Factory Defaults
- Confirm erasing all contents when prompted
Via Recovery Mode
If your tablet is completely frozen/unresponsive, recovery mode is the back-route to factory reset:
- Press & hold Power button and Volume down in unison
- Let go of Power once Amazon logo appears, but keep holding Volume
- Use buttons to navigate menu and select “Wipe data/factory reset”
- Confirm reset actions to wipe your device
Regardless how you triggered it, your Fire tablet will automatically restart once finished factory resetting itself.
The first bootup may be slow as it rebuilds forgotten system caches. But hallelujah – your Air tablet arises renewed! Just sync to your Amazon account once more to begin using.
Which segways nicely into…
Common Post-Reset Issues (Don‘t Panic!)
Alas, despite your resetting best efforts, some gremlins may persist even on a freshly wiped Fire tablet. Before panicking, try these expert troubleshooting tips:
Can’t Loginto Amazon Account
Solution: Double check your WiFi connection first. Failed account syncing usually traces to spotty internet. Move closer to your router or connect to a different network.
If WiFi checks out fine, typo-locking is another culprit for login denial. Carefully re-enter credentials on the Fire tablet interface. Requesting a password reset from Amazon’s website can also force a new successful linkage.
Apps Keep Crashing or Glitching
Solution: Close all apps fully by swiping them away from the recent apps menu, including any background processes or windows.
Next, perform a secondary soft reset using the steps outlined before. This clears temporary files again for apps causing consistent crashes.
As a last resort, uninstall then reinstall the problematic application from Amazon’s AppStore.
General Sluggishness or Freezing
Solution: Soft reset once more then monitor closely. Some initial lag creeps up during the post-factory reset rebuild process.
If poor performance endures beyond 24 hours or normal use, contact Amazon support to explore hardware issues. Trade-in or replacement options exist if CPU or internal parts reach end-of-life.
While resetting often fixes software-related tablet troubles, when all fails seek professional customer assistance.
Key Takeaways: Resetting Your Fire Tablet Like a Pro
Hopefully by now revolutionary inspiration struck – you’re fully equipped to hitfactory reset and revitalize your aging Fire tablet! Here are the pro tips worth remembering:
- Back up precious photos or key data BEFORE resetting using the cloud, external drives or computer file transfers
- Soft reset first for minor system glitches or sluggishness – no data loss
- Factory reset for selling/gifting devices or software failures persisting through soft reset attempts
- Enter Fire tablet recovery mode when device is unresponsive to access reset utilities
- Post-reset issues? First soft reset again or verify internet connectivity before panicking!
By mastering the ins and outs of factory resets – plus understanding WHEN they help – you can squeeze more life from your Amazon Fire tablet while protecting personal info. Don’t tolerate lackluster performance or glitches a moment longer! Reclaim control with the power button instead.
