Device: LG Q6 M700DSK OS: Android Oreo (8.1) Root status: Unrooted Q: Is factory resetting from recovery or settings better? (LG Q6)

On my device you can factory reset the device from the settings and from the recovery mode (power+vol-down and when on lg logo quickly let go of power and hold it again, it will give you an option to reset), is there a difference between the two? Is resetting from recovery better?


There is no difference - one depends on another.

When you select "Factory Reset" from Settings, it reboots your phone into recovery and wipes there. So there's really no difference as the actual process only takes part in recovery mode. You may choose whichever way for you: Navigate through Settings or use physical buttons - the latter is useful when your phone doesn't boot or the touchscreen malfunctions.


There is some difference, but the confusion surrounding makes it near impossible to verify without a handful of devices.

If you didn't have OEM Unlocking enabled and also had at least one Google account registered with your device, Factory Reset Protection (FRP) stands enabled in your device. So, doing a direct factory reset using recovery mode would render your devices useless (for most people) because on next boot (first boot for Android) the FRP would not permit usage of the device without entering credentials of previously added Google account.

However, if you did a full reset from Settings app, then after next boot, FRP would not kick in and you would be able to use the device seamlessly.

With the last one, there is some confusion. While it is completely true that if you first remove all the registered Google accounts and then do a factory reset, FRP would not kick in on next boot. But, if you didn't remove the Google accounts and still did a factory reset using Settings, than per Jerry Hildenbrand from Android Central:

Disabling FRP (Factory Reset Protection) is simple. On most phones, it will be automatically done whenever you choose to reset the data through the phone's settings...

There may be a few devices still in use that require a bit more hands-on work. If your phone is running Android 5.1.1 you might need to remove the accounts that are signed in manually

  • 1
    +1 This probably explains why I never ran into FRP issues on my MiA1 on Oreo. First time, I panicked a bit recalling FRP after resetting but no problems-thought it was one more oddity of this device. It doesn't have OEM unlock – beeshyams Oct 5 '18 at 7:14

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