How to reset a Kindle 1st Generation

Most of the time, your Amazon Kindle won’t need any maintenance outside of battery charging. Like any device that runs software, however, it may occasionally become unresponsive, sluggish or unable to act the way that it should. In instances like these, resetting your Kindle could set things right.

How to restart your Amazon Kindle

No matter whether you’re resetting or restarting your Kindle, you’ll need to find this menu.

To restart your Kindle, turn your Kindle on. If you’re in the middle of reading a book, return to your device’s Home screen. Next, tap the Menu icon (three vertical dots located at the top right of the Home screen,) and select Settings. Now, tap the Menu icon again. Halfway down the list of options you’ll see the option to Restart your Device. Tap this option and your Kindle will restart.

How to perform a hard restart your Amazon Kindle

If Your Kindle stops responding to your touch or button input, or becomes sluggish or otherwise uncooperative, performing a hard restart may restore it to its former glory.

To conduct a hard restart, simply press and hold the power button for six to eight seconds. After around 10 seconds have gone by, your Kindle’s display should go blank. Don’t panic: This is part of the Kindle’s restart process.

Continue to hold the power button for one minute, then release it. When you release the power button, you’ll note that the charge indicator light (the location of this light will vary, depending on which Kindle you own) will turn on. Once this happens, your Kindle will restart, allowing you to start reading, once more. All of your downloaded and side-loaded content will be waiting for you, right where you left it.

How to factory-reset your Kindle

If your Kindle continues to act wonky after forcing it to restart, it may be beneficial to reset it to its original factory settings. This is also a great way to prepare it before passing it along to a friend as a gift, or if you plan on selling it.

You should know that resetting your Kindle will remove all of the downloaded or side-loaded documents you may have had on the device. Additionally, your Wi-Fi settings, Amazon account information, and any passcodes or parental controls you may have applied to the Kindle will be wiped.

To perform a factory reset on your Kindle, turn your Kindle on. If you’re in the middle of reading a book, return to your device’s Home screen. Next, tap the Menu icon (three vertical dots located at the top right of the Home screen,) and select Settings. Halfway down the page, you should see a menu option titled Device Options. Tap this. Near the bottom of the Device Options page is an option labeled Reset. Select the option; doing so will open a dialog that asks you if you’re sure that you want to wipe your Kindle of all of its content and settings. If you want to continue, select Yes.

All that’s left to do is wait for your Kindle to restart.

Author: Séamus Bellamy

Séamus Bellamy is a travel and technology writer with bylines at Boing Boing, AFAR Magazine, BBC Worldwide and USA Today. A full-time digital nomad, Séamus calls Canada home--but he doesn't see it all that often.

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.

How to reset a Kindle—three options to try

We'd suggest trying these options in order, to be able to rule out some simpler issues first: 

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

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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.

What to do if all else fails

If you have tried all the steps above and to no avail, there are two more options to help you get your Kindle back to working order:

• Visit the official Kindle Digital Services and Support page
• Visit the official Kindle Facebook page

First of all, you can seek professional help through the official Kindle Digital Services and Device Support page (opens in new tab). Here you will find a full library of help topics, forums where you can ask other Kindle users and Amazon staff for advice on how to reset a Kindle, with dedicated user guides for every type on the market. If your device is under warranty, you will be able to contact Amazon Customer Services and arrange for a local technician to carry out any repairs.

There is also an official Kindle Facebook page (opens in new tab), which is a great community to join if you need quick help and advice from experts and users alike. You may find that you get a faster response here on how to reset a Kindle than you would via the main Amazon site. 

If the warranty has expired on your device, or you want a faster solution than the one Amazon is offering, you could try contacting a friendly neighborhood expert for help. Simply type ‘local Kindle technicians near me’ into your search engine to find out who’s out there, but be sure to check their credentials and read customer reviews before you hand anything over.

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