On a PC, it’s relatively common to format the hard drive to start from scratch and maybe make it faster or get it ready to sell. The Android mobiles can also be formatted your way, although more of an old-fashioned erase than a regular PC formatting.
If you want to format a mobile to factory restore or prepare it for sale, we will tell you how you can do it. The process is simple, although it consists of two steps sif your mobile has a MicroSD card and you also want to format it.
Format SD card
If your mobile has a MicroSD card, you will probably want to format it as well. Unlike internal storage, which is … internal, the MicroSD card is removable and therefore you can remove it from your mobile, connect to a PC and format it as usual. You can also format from the mobile itself
To format the MicroSD card of an Android mobile, you must go to the system settings and press Storage. Then touch the name of the MicroSD card in the section Portable storage. In the file manager that opens, press the menu button ⋮ and choose Storage settings.
This will open a window of memory card information, which includes the total and available space, as well as one or two buttons, depending on whether or not the mobile accepts formatting cards as internal storage.
If you want to format the card so that it remains mobile independent (i.e. you can remove it and use it on other devices), tap Format. A confirmation window will then appear where you will have to click again on Format SD card
This will erase all data from SD memory and format it with the settings recommended by Android. The result is basically the same as if you remove the card, connect it to a PC, and use the usual format command.
Format Android mobile
If you want to do the same, but with an Android mobile, the operating system technically calls it factory wipe or restore. In practice, it’s exactly the same: return the storage to its original condition, that is, delete everything.
To format the internal memory of an Android mobile, you must enter the settings and touch the section System. Then enter Recovery options and press Factory reset (clear all)
Then the mobile shows you a summary of everything that will be deleted from the mobile and that includes the configuration of accounts, application data and everything in the internal memory of the mobile. It also includes a list of accounts on which the mobile is connected.
If you plan to sell the mobile, it is recommended that you delete your Google account before continuing, as you will be asked to log in when reconfiguring the device as a protective measure. If you are going to continue to use it yourself and you are going to configure it the same way, then this is not necessary: press Clear all data.
A new confirmation window highlights that you will not be able to undo this action. If you agree, press Clear all data and wait for the process to complete. Then the mobile will restart and when you return it will be as it left the factory.
