Yeah yeah I know I know – Windows Phone is dead. It’s over there on the heap with Zune, Music Pass, Video Editor, Vista and MS Bob. But some of us still love and use the Nokia or Microsoft handsets running Windows 8.1 (the best) or Windows 10 (newer and cool but… lost everything from 8.1). And many of us like running Windows Insider and maybe even on the Fast ring. So anyhow you may need, want or have to reset your uniquely rare device to it’s base OS – here’s how:
Download the Windows Device Recovery Tool – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12379/windows-10-mobile-device-recovery-tool-faq
- Full Reset – using Windows Device Recovery Tool
* you will loose any local data or settings that have not been backed up- Download and install the Windows Phone Recovery Tool to your PC.
- Launch the recovery tool and connect your phone using a USB cable. It probably won’t detect the phone so click My phone was not detected.
- In the next screen, click your phone, wait a few seconds, and you’ll see your phone information and the software available for download to roll back to a previous operating system. It’ll say something about the phone being in UEFI mode. To continue, click Reinstall software.
- Next, the recovery tool will warn you to backup all your data, settings, and apps before continuing, as the rolling back process will delete all the previous data in your phone. Click Continue to proceed.
- Now, the recovery tool will download the image from Microsoft’s servers and restore your phone to Windows Phone 8.1. It’ll take a while, but just leave it alone and let it work its magic.