How To Wipe Out All Data On Blackberry Bold 9700

Here are the quick steps on how to wipe out or reset your Blackberry Bold 9700 back to factory default settings. You can also use this procedure on almost any Blackberry handset you have for as long as you have what is required before resetting your smartphone.  “Why do you I need to erase all the data from my Blackberry and reset it back to its factory default setting?” – maybe you are asking this question unto yourself. Well, there are a lot of reasons that I could think of but here are some of them from which are my personal reasons:

• I need to refresh my Blackberry smartphone;
• I need to give my Blackberry handset to the company;
• I need to hand this over to my parent, sibling or friend as a gift;
• Someone gave me a Blackberry as a gift.

While I can go on and on with the possibilities, it only boils down to one thing  and that is the need to wipe out all the data inside the Blackberry handset.

So how do we proceed on wiping all or erasing all the data such as my contacts, SMS messages, emails, photos, videos, settings and all other things on my Blackberry Bold 9700? First you must have the following before you can successfully reset your Blackberry:

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• Blackberry USB cable
• A computer – desktop computer/Mac
• Blackberry Desktop Manager (download)

Once you have all of those aforementioned, ensure that you have successfully installed the Blackberry Desktop Manager on your computer.  I already have on my computer and the version I am using is Blackberry Desktop Software version 6.1.0.36.

You actually have two ways to delete all the data from your Blackberry Bold 9700 but both of the procedures or steps will require those I’ve mentioned above.  The first one is by using the Blackberry Desktop Manager software and the other one is by executing some command lines on your computer.

Deleting Data using the Blackberry Desktop Manager software

1. Open your Blackberry Desktop Manager;

2. Connect your Blackberry Bold 9700 into your computer with the USB cable;

3. From you Blackberry Desktop Manager, click on Device and then Delete Data;

4. Then select one of the two options whether you want to delete all the data or select only which data from your Blackberry you wanted to delete;

5. A confirmation pop-up will appear asking if you wanted to proceed with the deletion;

6. Blackberry Desktop Manager software has a fail-safe, so it will offer you to backup first all the data from your Blackberry;

7. Once the Backup is completed, click the Close button;

That’s it! You can now unplug your Blackberry from your computer and confirm that everything has been deleted.

Here’s another procedure but with this one, although the steps are “SO” quick and easy, it will not ask you to backup your data. You will only do this if you are sure that you no longer need whatever there is on your Blackberry Bold 9700 handset. Otherwise, you may want to read my other article on How To Backup And Restore Blackberry Bold 9700 – Messages And Contacts.

How to reset the BlackBerry smartphone to factory defaults

With the following steps, it will totally reset your Blackberry Bold 9700 without any messages to prompt you whether you wanted to back-out or rollback.  This is a one-time shot without turning back – so I am reiterating to you and encouraging you to backup first your smartphone.

• Windows Operating System 32-bit
• Windows Operating System 64-bit
• For Mac users

Windows Operating System 64-bit (Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7)

1. Connect your Blackberry Bold 9700 to your computer using the USB cable;

2. On your computer, click on Start > Programs >Accessories > Command Prompt – (You must have administrative rights before you proceed).  Another and quickest way is to press the following keys Windows+R simultaneously and then type cmd. The result will be the same, it will open the DOS command prompt;

3. On the DOS command prompt, go to the directory where the “Research In Motion” was installed – i.e.

then press the Enter key.
4. Once you are inside the directory, type

and then press Enter.

Windows Operating System 32-bit (Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7)

1. Connect your Blackberry Bold 9700 to your computer using the USB cable;

2. On your computer, click on Start > Programs >Accessories > Command Prompt – (You must have administrative rights before you proceed).  Another and quickest way is to press the following keys Windows+R simultaneously and then type cmd. The result will be the same, it will open the DOS command prompt;

3. On the DOS command prompt, go to the directory where the “Research In Motion” was installed – i.e.

then press the Enter key.
4. Once you are inside the directory, type

and then press Enter.

For Mac Users

1. Connect your BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone to the Mac computer.

2. Close the BlackBerry Desktop Software if it is open on the Mac computer.

3. On the computer, click on Go > Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

4. Type

and press Enter.

5. Type

Basically, that’s it! Here’s a screenshot when I deleted and reset back to factory default settings my Blackberry Bold 9700.  As you can see it’s a straightforward procedure that is why I am encouraging you to do a backup first.

Tags: Blackberry, Bold 9700, Erase, Factory Default, How To, Wipe-out