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A coworker asked me if I could fix her Samsung Galaxy Note Tab 3, due to her daughter locking the device and not being able to unlock it. I'm an iOS guy but since I'm in the IT department I decided to give it a try, and I looked up how to reset this device to factory settings.

I am able to enter in recovery mode, and I have several options. The one I want, "wipe data/factory reset", is not able to be selected, since the highlighted option in the menu jumps from the item before it to the item after it. In fact, if for example the option is the number 3, I press the volume down key oen time and the highlighted option changes from the 1st item to the 2nd, but if I press again it does nothing. If I press again, it jumps to the 4th item, not giving me the option.

I don't know if this is because of the device, because of Android, or it's just me being ignorant. If any of you could help me out it'll be wonderful.

Thanks a lot.

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  • So it cycles like 1 - 2 - x - 4? Maybe it's still working. Try going to x and press Home
    – dantis
    Commented May 26, 2014 at 4:10
  • You say to "select" the 3rd option, even if it's not highlighted? (like, pressing the vol. down 3 times and just press the home button).
    – Rambo3
    Commented May 27, 2014 at 4:20
  • I know it's a long shot, but sometimes solutions masquerade themselves as silly things. Try it and if it doesn"t work, I'll delete my comments
    – dantis
    Commented May 27, 2014 at 11:32
  • I don't know why, but I've started it in recovery mode and at first it didn't show the menu, so I pressed several buttons and suddenly I could select the wipe data option. Then I got another menu that warned me against doing it, with like 9 options to go back (a plain "no") and one "yes" that I couldn't select. I followed your advice and IT RESTORED!!! The owner is pretty happy it's a win! Thanks a lot!
    – Rambo3
    Commented May 28, 2014 at 2:45
  • Good to know. Putting it as an answer now
    – dantis
    Commented May 28, 2014 at 3:24

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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I know this answer may be of low quality, having no concrete explanation and all; but sometimes recoveries behave pretty weirdly. Once with my old device, I tried to make a Nandroid backup, and it completed within a few seconds. Seeing that the backup was basically empty, I ran it again, and this time I can't select the nandroid option.

You can try what I did - just select the option with your volume keys as though it's there. Just guide yourself with the highlight.

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    Heh, same here. Any custom ROM installation for me takes 5 seconds. If you want a precise number, its 6.769 seconds (I timed it)
    – Dan Brown
    Commented Aug 29, 2015 at 17:21
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Aureljared is absolutely right. When you press the down volume and it doesn't go to the factory reset option, press power anyway to select it. Screen will go dark, then pressing a volume key will take you to a weird screen with about 10 no responses and only one yes. Select the yes and you're good to go.

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I had the same problem with my Tab 3 too for couple of days I couldn't highlight the data/factory reset option but after persistenting on it , I used the volume key to do the following;

It should be on the rebot option,

PLEASE NOTE; This option will wipe out any data on your Tab 3 completely.

  1. Press the volume key Once,
  2. then press ONCE again, stop then press the power button to select, ignor the highlight signal.

Now you are the second option; 1. Select rebot and there you go. You have successfully recover your Tab back to factory settings. Please give me a feed back. Thanks Yemi Baba

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