The process of wiping your phone on BlackBerry 10 is straight forward and simple, but there are a few details that need highlighting as they are different then what we've seen in the past on the legacy BlackBerry OS.

You can watch the video above to see me walk through the process of wiping my black BlackBerry Z10 to factory settings. And keep reading below for the things you need to know!

How to perform a Security Wipe on the BlackBerry Z10

From the homescreen of your BlackBerry Z10, you have easy ways to get to the Security Wipe setting:

  • Navigate: Go to Settings > Security and Privacy > Security Wipe
  • Search: Tap the Universal Search icon and start typing wipe. Security Wipe will pop up as a search results and you can tap into it 

To proceed with the Security Wipe, you'll need to type blackberry into the text field on the page. Type it, then hit Delete Data. It can take a while for the wipe to take place. Just wait for it, even if it's a long time (over 15 minutes). Don't pull the battery out while you're waiting!

What data gets deleted?

When you perform a wipe on a BlackBerry 10 phone, all data on the phone itself will be deleted. This includes data, files and apps. Note: If you have a Micro SD card inserted, data on the card will not be deleted.

On the legacy BlackBerry OS you had more granular control over what you could delete during a Security Wipe (you could delete data, but not apps, etc.). On BlackBerry 10, everthing on the phone is wiped. 

When the Security Wipe process is complete, the phone will reboot to the initial Setup Wizard.

How long will it take?

Depending on how much data needs to be wiped, the security wipe could take some time and should not be interrupted – be patient, keep the phone on a charge, and don’t pull the battery.

When to perform a Security Wipe

You just need a clean phone: There are a variety of reasons why you may need to wipe your BlackBerry Z10. Most of them are pretty obvious -you're giving your phone to a friend, taking it back to the store for whatever reason, selling it, or maybe you're like CrackBerry's Bla1ze and in doing your mad-genius experiments just messed something up and need a clean start. In my case as demonstrated in this video, I was switching from using the black Z10 to picking up a white BlackBerry Z10 so was cleaning up the black one to factory new settings.

Changing your BlackBerry ID: One reason that's less obvious but may have you needing to do a Security Wipe is if you want to change the BlackBerry ID associated with your BlackBerry Z10. Right now there is no way to sign out of BlackBerry ID on the phone and sign in with another account. If you want to switch, you need to do a Security Wipe and sign in with another ID.  

That's it. Wiping your BlackBerry 10 phone is as easy as typing blackberry

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