How to reset a Kindle—three simple solutions and what to do if they don’t work

If your Kindle has frozen, glitched, or is showing nothing but a black screen, there’s no need to fear. Our simple guide will show yow how to reset a Kindle, and to get yours back up and running in no time. 

When you’re reading one of the best historical fiction books, best romance books, or the best science fiction books, the last thing you want to happen is for your eReader to crash on you. An occasional glitch can affect even the best Kindles. Luckily, there are some easy tricks you can try to reboot and get everything back up and running.

The three ways to reset a kindle are: 

• Check the battery of your device.
• Try a soft reset first.
• Factory reset the Kindle.

1. Double check the battery

While the best eReaders have a long battery life, the battery running out is inevitable. Checking yours sounds obvious, but it is often a step that people overlook when their Kindle screen is black.

Plug your device into a charging source. When it is fully charged, a green light should appear on the bottom of your Kindle. You will see an amber light if it isn’t charged. If you find that you are unable to charge your device, it may mean that the charging cable or the battery itself is damaged and needs fixing or replacing.

If you suspect your cable is preventing your Kindle from charging, you can try plugging in the micro USB cable that you use for your tablet or smartphone—often they will be compatible. If this isn’t an option, there are plenty of chargers for all models of Kindle available from Amazon and all good electrical retailers.

If this fails, the battery itself could be the problem. There are a number of video tutorials online showing you how to fit a new battery yourself, but unless you are a technician, we would really advise leaving this particular task up to the experts—see the bottom of this article for advice on how to do this.

 

2. Try a ‘soft reset’ first

The second option is to try a soft reset. This is how:

• Flip open your Kindle cover, and press and hold the power button (this is usually on the bottom of your device, but may be on the back) until a dialogue box appears or the screen goes black.
• Continue to hold down for a count of 40, then release.
• After a few seconds, your Kindle should reboot. Don’t worry if the screen flashes during the process. This is normal.

In the same way that it is important to fully shut down your desktop computer or laptop regularly—rather than leaving them in perpetual sleep mode—it is vital that you allow your Kindle a chance for a refresh every now and then. The soft reset won’t wipe any of your data or mess up your settings, so it’s perfectly safe to do as often as you need.

 

3. Factory reset your device

If your Kindle battery is fully functional and fully charged, and the device is still freezing up despite a soft reset, then it may be worth wiping the slate clean by restoring your eReader to its factory settings.

From the home screen of your Kindle select MENU, then SETTINGS. From there take the option to RESET DEVICE. These steps may vary, depending on which model of Kindle or tablet you are using. Look for the three vertical dots in the top-right of your homepage if you are unsure, as these should link directly to your settings.

 

Be warned: a factory reset does remove all the content from your device, but you will be able to re-download your apps, free eBooks, and your best eBook titles from the Cloud, or directly from your Amazon library. It’s worth noting though that your WiFi connection and any parental controls you had set up will need to be entered again. 

As a side note, restoring factory settings is also a handy trick to remember if you decide to sell your Kindle or give it away to someone.