How Do I Reset My Vizio Smart TV?

Over the years, smart TVs have become the norm for individuals seeking a better television viewing experience. While TVs like the Vizio smart TV are affordable and offer lots of exciting features, they are not without the occasional technical issue that may require resetting.

Users can reset their Vizio smart TV using two options: soft reset or hard reset. A hard reset enables users to wipe their TV firmware, stored data, and restore it to a factory default state, while a soft reset only involves putting the TV through a power cycle.

In this article, you’ll learn about reasons you may need to reset a Vizio smart TV and how you can hard or soft-reset your TV with ease.

Reasons to Reset a Vizio Smart TV

Just like with your smartphone or any other smart device, resetting is a typical repair hack; sometimes, it is all you need to get your Vizio smart TV back to its fully-functional state.

Below are a few reasons why/when you might need to reset your Vizio smart TV:

• The Vizio smart TV runs too slowly.
• The smart TV is lagging or freezing. (Resetting a Vizio and smart TV, in general, has been known to resolve these types of problems.)
• The TV is not displaying or showing different-colored screens.
• The TV is refusing to turn on even after pressing the power button on the TV or remote control.
• The TV smart functions do not work properly.
• The in-built smart TV applications crash unexpectedly.
• You might need to reset your Vizio smart TV before you sell it or if you bought it from someone else. It allows you to wipe your personal or stored information, therefore preventing the new owner from accessing your information.
• You want to restore your smart TV to its original state.
• You have forgotten your smart TV’s password or are unable to access your TV’s home screen.
• There is a sudden loss of audio output or video playback issues.
• You are experiencing wireless network connectivity problems. (Check out our article on what to do if your smart TV can’t connect!)

Contrary to popular belief, resetting a Vizio smart TV is a safe and effective way to resolve the above-listed problems without issue.   

How to Reset a Vizio Smart TV

If you notice that your Vizio smart TV is experiencing one or all the issues mentioned above, an easy fix is resetting your smart TV. Vizio smart TVs allow for two reset options: a soft reset and a hard reset.

Soft Resetting Your Vizio Smart TV

A soft reset is usually the first troubleshooting suggestion by Vizio technical support since it is easy to do and effective. A soft reset process involves switching off your smart TV for a few minutes before turning it back on (power cycling). By soft resetting your Vizio smart TV, you can clear your TV’s customized settings, dissipate residue charge, and restart the TV without losing personal information.

To soft reset your TV, follow these steps:

1. Unplug the TV’s power cord from its outlet.
2. Hold the power button on the TV for 3 to 5 seconds and release.
3. Reconnect the power cord and turn the TV back on.

For some models, you can have your TV go through the power cycle process through its menu options:

1. Press the Menu button on your TV’s remote.
2. Select System, followed by Reset & Admin.
3. Select Soft Power Cycle.
4. After you do this, the TV will turn off and restart on its own.

Hard Resetting Your Vizio smart TV

A hard reset is a more in-depth troubleshooting solution. Like the soft reset, it requires you to turn your TV off and back on, but it also involves wiping the system memory, resetting firmware, and restoring your smart TV to its factory state (when you first took it out of the box).

Before performing a hard reset, you should first try a soft reset on your device to see if it helps first. If you end up needing to do a hard reset, there are two known methods of doing so:

 Vizio Smart TV Hard Reset: Method 1

When hard resetting your Vizio smart TV, you’ll need to have your remote control handy to be able to do it successfully. To hard reset, try following these steps:

1. Disconnect your wireless network from your TV.
2. Press the Menu key on your remote.
3. Scroll to System on the menu and select Ok.
4. Choose Reset & Admin and click on Ok.
5. Scroll down and select Reset TV to Factory State and press Ok.
6. Input your parental lock code (for most Vizio smart TVs, the default parental lock code is 0000).
7. Select Reset and then press Ok.
8. Wait until your TV shuts down.
9. Your TV will reboot and clear its previous configurations and settings, and then it will display a new setup screen.
10. Connect your router, follow the setup process, and reconnect to your Wi-Fi network.

While this method may not work on older versions of the Vizio smart TV, it will work on all recent versions of the TV.

Vizio Smart TV Hard Reset: Method 2

If your Vizio TV doesn’t reset using the first method, then you may have to try out the following method:

1. Switch off your TV but leave it plugged in the power outlet.
2. Hold down both the CH+ and the CH- button on your TV remote.
3. Press the Power button at the top of the remote for about 5 seconds before releasing it.
4. Release the CH+ and CH- buttons at once.
5. Select the Menu button on your remote.
6. Your TV screen will boot on and display its menu.
7. You will notice an F icon at the bottom-right corner of the screen, signaling that it is a factory setup screen.
8. Select and hold the Menu button for 3-5 seconds.
9. Your TV should display a Service menu.
10. From there, you should be able to navigate your way through the factory reset options.

Final Thoughts

There are two ways to reset a Vizio smart TV: soft reset or hard reset. If you need to reset your TV for any reason, it is highly recommended that you perform a soft reset first. If the issue you’re experiencing with your TV is still not fixed, then a hard reset may be required to resolve the problem.

If you still see issues with your Vizio smart TV even after a reset, contact Vizio’s technical support about speaking with a technician to help.