How to Hard Reset JBL Xtreme 3

Front right side view of the JBL Xtreme 3 speaker.

We show here how to hard reset the JBL Xtreme 3 power bank portable speaker, to return it to its fresh-out-of-the-box settings. Hard resetting restores the speaker to default factory state. Plus, it clears any earlier paired Bluetooth devices from memory. Thus, erasing old settings stops this speaker from pairing to any nearby active BT devices after the reset that happen to be in range. Also, you might hard reset your JBL Xtreme 3 to fix pairing and syncing errors, or to ready it for sale or re gifting, or simply to stop it from pairing with devices you no longer wish it to link with.

How to Hard Reset JBL Xtreme 3

1. Turn on the Speaker

When this device is off, all buttons are dark, including the Power button, as shown next.

Top panel of the JBL Xtreme 3 speaker, showing all button lamps as OFF.

Then, press and release the Power button. That button should right away light up as shown in the following pictures. Find the Power button, as we see in the last picture above, pointed at by the green arrow.

Next, the Power button comes on, as shown next. In our case, since we’ve paired the speaker with our tablet before this, it automatically pairs with it now. We know that because the Pairing button glows solid, rather than blinking. Yours may flash, depending on the speaker’s pairing state.

The -Power- button glowing.

2. Wait for the Power Up Sound

The speaker makes a rising electric guitar strum sound when it comes to life. Then at this point, you may proceed to hard reset the JBL Xtreme 3 after this sound dies down.

Now if your speaker pairs with a Bluetooth device, you’ll also hear the three rising single guitar notes a few seconds after the slide-up startup cord. At any rate, whether or not the speaker pairs does not change how you hard reset it. In either case, the process works the same.

3. Press the Volume UP and Play-Pause Buttons Together

See the next picture to find the Play-Pause and UP Volume buttons.

JBL Xtreme 3 speaker top, showing the -Volume Up- and -Play-Pause- buttons.

The hard reset process then begins, as we see in the next picture.

Note that both the Power and Pairing buttons light up for a second or two, as hard reset advances. The green arrow highlights these buttons in the next picture.

Showing all top panel lights glowing during hard reset.

Then after a short pause, the JBL Xtreme 3 turns off. All the lights go out, and it makes the power-down guitar sound.

4. Next, Check that the Hard Reset Did Indeed Work

Next, power on the speaker again, as detailed in step 1 above. In short, press and release the Power button, as we show next.

Now this time, after hard reset, our speaker instantly comes up in Bluetooth pairing mode.

Note that we did not press the Bluetooth button first, since after a hard reset, the speaker enters BT pairing mode by itself. Note that the Bluetooth button blinks to show that this mode is active. When the Bluetooth button flashes or is dark, the speaker is not currently paired. We expect it not to pair to anything after a hard reset.

JBL Xtreme 3 speaker, top view, showing the -Power- button glowing.

5. Done with How to Hard Reset the JBL Xtreme 3 !

The hard reset is finished at last. You may now pack it up for sale, or pair it again with your favorite Bluetooth devices.

The JBL Xtreme 3 will no longer automatically pair with any previously paired in-range Bluetooth device in search mode. So, to restore automatic BT pairing, you’ll need to forget the previously paired speaker listed in the Bluetooth devices section of your source device settings. Once done, then manually pair the speaker with that device again if you so desire. Then any time that both speaker and that device have Bluetooth turned on, pairing with automatically happen once again.