No, reformat and factory reset are not the same. Reformatting is the process of wiping the storage medium and reinstalling the operating system and other software. Whereas, a factory reset is the process of resetting the device to its original state as it was when purchased.
Reformatting
- Reformatting wipes the storage medium and you have to reinstall the operating system and other software manually on the device.
- It wipes out all the existing data and settings.
- Reformatting of a device is typically done to repair an operating system that has become unusable due to an error, virus, or malware.
Factory Reset
- Factory reset restores the device to its original state as it was when purchased.
- It wipes out all the existing data and settings, including the operating system and other software.
- Factory reset is commonly done to restore the device if it has become slow or unresponsive due to too much bloatware/apps running in the background.
So, you can see that though reformatting and factory reset may sound similar, these two processes are different and serve different purposes.
I hope this was helpful.
