Last Updated on December 23, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

You can hard reset the Samsung SM-T550 tablet to wipe all data and reset it to factory settings. You also need to hard reset when you want to swap stock Android for custom firmware.

This tutorial demonstrates how to hard reset the Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T550 tablet using the Settings app, and stock and custom recovery partitions.

Caution:

  • Hard resetting the Samsung SM-T550 will wipe all data on the tablet. You need to back up before you hard reset if you want to restore the data. You can back up from the Backup & Reset section of the Settings app. There are also apps you can use on the Play Store. And those with a custom recovery can take a NANDroid backup from TWRP.
  • You may need to sign in to your Google account after you have applied the hard reset, meaning you need the email and password for it. You can reset the password for your Google account on any computer when you visit Google.com and click the Sign-in button.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T550 Hard Reset

You can hard reset the Samsung SM-T550 tablet using the Settings app and Recovery Mode. We recommend using the Settings app unless you have a reason not to. So here is how to hard reset via the Settings app first:

  1. With the Samsung SM-T550 turned on, tap Settings > Backup & Reset.
  2. Tap Factory reset device > Reset device.
  3. Tap Erase everything > OK.

The tablet will be factory reset which means all data will be wiped and it will be returned to its factory settings. You can sign back into your tablet and start using the Android operating system.

You can also hard reset in Recovery Mode. There are two recovery partitions Android users can choose between: stock recovery and custom recovery. Everyone starts with the stock recovery and can choose if they want a custom one. So if you have not installed a custom recovery, you are using the stock recovery. Here is how to hard reset using the stock recovery first:

  1. With the Samsung SM-T550 turned off, press and hold the Power + Home + Volume Up buttons simultaneously until you see Recovery Mode.
  2. From the Android System Recovery menu, press Wipe data/factory reset.
  3. Press Yes — delete all user data.
  4. Press Reboot system now.

The tablet will leave the stock recovery partition and the Android operating system will restart. You can start using Android after you sign back into your account.

If you plan on installing custom firmware, you may already have a custom recovery installed. The custom recovery image used today is TWRP for most devices. So here is how to hard reset using TWRP:

  1. With the Samsung SM-T550 turned off, boot to TWRP with the Power + Home + Volume Up button combination.
  2. From the TWRP menu, tap Wipe.
  3. Select all the different caching options and wipe them. And wipe the data as well.
    Note: The caching options may vary depending on your version of TWRP. You should wipe all the caches that are available in your version.
  4. Tap Reboot from the TWRP main menu.

The tablet will leave the custom recovery partition and restart the Android operating system. You can sign in to your account and use Android again.

In conclusion, that is how to hard reset the Samsung SM-T550 tablet.