How to factory reset an Xbox (Series X|S and One)

To factory reset an Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One, open the guide with the Xbox button and go to Profile & system > Settings > System > Console info > Reset console. Microsoft offers two resets there: one keeps your games and apps, one removes everything. Start with the first. If the console won't get as far as the menu, a reset and a system update can still be run from the Xbox Startup Troubleshooter and a USB drive.

Before you reset: get your saves into the cloud

Before an Xbox factory reset, connect the console to the internet and let it sync. Anything not uploaded to the Xbox network will be lost, and Microsoft says a console that has been offline for a while should go online first.

While the console is connected, saved games go to the cloud on their own. You don't need a subscription for it — being signed up for the Xbox service is enough, per Microsoft's cloud saves FAQ. Profiles are stored in the cloud automatically too. Downloadable content is not: add-ons have to be downloaded again.

The weak spot is offline play. If the console isn't connected when you leave a game, that save isn't uploaded, and playing offline can leave the cloud copy out of date. To check a game, highlight it on Home or in My games & apps, press the Menu button, choose Game card and highlight the box art: the sync status shows there.

The two factory resets, and what each one erases

Reset console offers two options. The first, Reset and keep my games & apps, resets the operating system and deletes potentially corrupted data, but leaves games and apps installed. The second, Reset and remove everything, returns the console to factory settings and deletes all user data and everything installed.

• —Press the Xbox button to open the guide.
• —Go to Profile & system > Settings > System > Console info.
• —Select Reset console.
• —Choose Reset and keep my games & apps first.

Microsoft's factory reset page calls the first option the primary choice when troubleshooting and says you should always start there. The exception is a corrupt game file. If that is what causes the fault, the keep option may not clear it, and you may have to choose Reset and remove everything.

After a full restore the console asks you to repeat the setup steps, and every game and app has to be downloaded again. Don't pick remove everything just because it sounds more thorough.

Xbox won't start: open the Startup Troubleshooter

If the Xbox doesn't reach its menu, start it into the Xbox Startup Troubleshooter with the buttons on the console. From there you can reset it or update it from USB without the dashboard. The steps, from Microsoft's startup error page:

• —Power off the console and unplug the power cord, so it is fully off.
• —Wait 30 seconds, then plug the power cord back in.
• —Press and hold the Pair button and the Eject button, then press the Xbox button on the console.
• —Keep holding Pair and Eject for 10–15 seconds. Listen for two power-up tones a couple of seconds apart.
• —Let go after the second tone. The console should start straight into the troubleshooter.

The Xbox Series S and the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition have no Eject button. On those, hold only Pair and press the Xbox button.

Microsoft's illustration of the troubleshooter shows four choices: Continue, Reset this Xbox, Offline system update and Turn off this Xbox. The picture is from an older system version, so your screen may look different. To reset from here, select Reset this Xbox, and when prompted choose Keep games and apps first.

A black screen at start-up is not always a fault. The console runs a full system check of its firmware and operating system in the background, and that can take several minutes. If it hangs on the start-up animation, Microsoft's system update page says to hold the Xbox button for about 10 seconds and unplug the power for 30 seconds. Remove peripherals such as storage expansion cards and USB hard drives before trying again.

The PlayStation equivalent of the troubleshooter is safe mode — see our PS5 and PS4 guides.

Offline System Update and the USB factory reset

The Offline System Update (OSU) installs the Xbox system software from a USB flash drive, on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. Microsoft's E-code steps lean on it when an update went wrong, and it runs from the Startup Troubleshooter. You need a Windows PC with an internet connection and a USB port, and a flash drive of at least 6 GB formatted as NTFS.

Running the Offline System Update

• —Reformat the flash drive to NTFS if needed. Most drives come as FAT32, and formatting erases everything on them.
• —Download the OSU1 file from Microsoft's page on the PC and unzip it with right-click > Extract all.
• —Copy the $SystemUpdate file to the root of the flash drive. Nothing else should be on the drive.
• —Plug the drive into the console and open the Startup Troubleshooter. The Offline system update option becomes active.
• —Select it with the D-pad and the A button. The restart can take several minutes.

Microsoft's minimum is 6 GB. When we checked in October 2026 the OSU1 zip alone was about 6.2 GB, and Microsoft doesn't say how big the unpacked file is. A console that has never been online has to connect at least once during setup afterwards.

An original Xbox One on an old system version may need OSU2 or OSU3 before OSU1. Microsoft's offline update page shows how to check the build, and error E101 00000507 8B05008E means the build didn't match OSU1. Microsoft doesn't say whether the offline update touches games or saves, so sync first if the console still lets you.

Factory reset from a USB drive

If you can't reach Settings, Microsoft's factory reset page (linked above) describes a reset from a USB flash drive: at least 4 GB, NTFS, with no other files on it. The file to put on it and the full steps are there. It starts with the same Pair + Eject + Xbox button sequence. The first power-up tone means the console found the USB drive; the second means the file was copied and mounted. No two tones after 15 seconds, or two power-down chirps, means the step failed.

Xbox E codes: Microsoft's order of steps

An Xbox that fails after a system update shows a Something went wrong screen with an E code, such as E100, E102 or E106, and two choices: Restart this Xbox and Troubleshoot. The three digits after the E decide which steps come first. Microsoft describes all of these codes as a problem installing the system update — not as a named hardware fault.

For E102 and E105 the table follows Microsoft's single-code pages: the E102 page starts with a reset and runs through the offline update, and the E105 page goes from a restart straight to a full factory restore. For E105 that means the keep-games reset is skipped, so make sure your saves are in the cloud before the restore.

Microsoft's last step for every startup error is the same: if the earlier steps for your code have all failed, the console needs to be repaired, and you submit a repair request through your Microsoft account. The repair request needs a Microsoft sign-in and we haven't seen its terms. Before you send the console, check whether it's under warranty, what it costs and what happens to the data on it.

When the reset doesn't bring it back

Microsoft's reset, the Startup Troubleshooter and the offline update come with the console or as a download from Microsoft. For a console that still reaches the troubleshooter, they are the right place to start. When they don't bring the Xbox back, diagnosing an Xbox that won't start is free, and we reinstall the system software on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

Saves can be rescued only while the console still reaches its menu; then we back them up to USB or the cloud before anything is reset. If the drive itself is dead, there is nothing left to rescue. We don't replace drives in Xbox consoles: if the diagnosis points at the drive, we'll say so, and Microsoft's own route is its repair request. Questions first? Our contacts are on one page.