Broken screen, need to hard reset but can't use screen

[Timtamman]

Hi there, 

I have just cracked the screen on my z5 and the top half doesnt respond to touch anymore. 

I have a replacement under insurance and am up and running with the new one but I cannot find a way to do a hard reset to remove all of my data before i send it back to telstra for refurbishment.  

I want to keep my data private as you can understand and would just like to know if there is a way to do a factory hard reset from the physical buttons only as I cant turn the phone off, or reset it from the screen. I can only use the bottom part of the screen below the restart window...

I have tried to connect to my macbook to use the sony xperia software but I still cant get in unless I unlock the phone, which I can't do either.. Very frustating.

If anyone can shed some light on a way to do a reset would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Qatrium]

Hello @Timtamman

I'm sorry about your phone, my suggestion is to get a USB OTG cable and connect a USB mouse to it, this way you can use the mouse cursor on your mobile screen to unlock it and perform the factory reset.

[Jonas]

Hi @Timtamman, sorry to hear about your phone.

As @Quester mentioned, you can with the help of a OTG adapter and a wired mouse navigate the screen when the touch isn't working.

I have written a guide here at our forum on this works and you can find it on the link below:

/t5/FAQ/How-to-perform-a-backup-transfer-data-when-the-touch-screen-isn/m-p/1212631

With the help of this guide you can create a backup of the data in your "old" Z5 and restore it to your new one so you don't have to start over from scratch.

If you just want to reset your phone without the help of a OTG adapter you can perform a software repair using Xperia Companion. Just make sure that the phone is powered off when you start with the software repair! To turn off your phone, hold the power button and volume up for 10 seconds.

If you have a OTG adapter and a wired mouse available, you can reset the phone if you to go Settings > Backup & reset > Factory data reset.

Let me know if that helps!

[Hobyar]

I have no access to my screen and need to reset all data before sending it back. How do I do this please? There must be a combination of buttons I can press.

[Hobyar]

Never mind, I followed instructions to turn phone off by holding "power" & "vol/up" The screen came back when I turned it back on.

[Jonas]

Hi @Hobyar, I apologize for the late reply!

Do I understand correctly that your device is working normally now again?

To answer your question, there is no button combination to reset your device back to factory settings, you can however perform a software repair using Xperia Companion if you are not able to access the screen of the device as this repair can be done even if the device is powered off. This will completely wipe the internal storage of your device and reinstall the latest available update.

[Hobyar]

Hey Jonas,

Yes, I'm all good now. I'll remember Companion for next time. 

For some feed back. I wish I could lock the screen so my apps don't get moved around when I don't want them to. 

Thanks, James 

[Stephiee]

What....? Did you just hold the 2 buttons, and your screen became responsive again ?

I have the same problem now

[Jonas]

Hi @Hobyar, I'm glad to hear that everything is working now!

Regarding the icons, do you mean that you want to lock the icons in place on the home screen so you can't press and hold down on them to move them by accident and then turn the lock off in case you need to rearrange them?

I will gladly forward that feedback internally, however I just want to make sure that I fully understand what you mean!

@Stephiee, sorry to hear that you are experiencing the same behaviour.

In @Hobyar case, it does sound like the device was hanged and it was resolved by forcing a restart (power button + volume down button for 10 seconds, or use the OFF-button in the SD card slot).

Have you tried doing that? If you haven't done that, please try and report back!

[Hobyar]

That is correct Jonas. Sometimes the icons & widgets move or are deleted by accident. I'm sure other phones I had had a lock function to prevent this happening. Thanks