How to Hard Reset Sony SRS XB23

Show you how to hard reset your Sony SRS XB23 Extra Bass cylinder speaker to its default settings. Hard resetting restores the XB23 to default factory state. Plus, hard resetting erases any earlier paired Bluetooth devices from its memory. Clearing these stops this speaker from pairing to any nearby Bluetooth devices. Also, you might hard reset to get this portable speaker ready for sale or gifting, or to stop the 23 XB from pairing with devices you no longer want it to sync with.

How to Hard Reset Sony SRS XB23, Step by Step

1. Turn the Speaker ON

Press and release the Power button for a half-second or so. Find the Power button as shown in the next picture.

The -Power- button on the Sony SRS XB23 speaker. — Sony SRS XB23 speaker -Power- button.

Find the Power button, as shown in the last picture above.

Then, the status light comes on, as shown next.

The -Power- light glowing green on the speaker. How to Hard Reset Sony SRS XB23. — The -Power- lamp glowing green on the speaker.

The speaker may make a ding-dong sounding beep when it boots, to announce that it has paired, should it actually pair to a nearby device. Or it may make no sound at all if it does not connect. But whether the XB23 pairs or not though, this reset routine works the same way, as follows.

2. Press and Hold the Pairing and Volume DOWN Buttons Together

Find these buttons as shown next. Both are on the button panel, that runs down the back of the speaker vertically, as we point out in the next picture.

Picture of the -Power- and -Volume DOWN- buttons. — The -Power- and -Volume DOWN- buttons.

The XB23 then enters hard reset mode.

Then after a few-seconds pause, the speaker powers OFF, and the Power lamp goes out, as shown next. Note that on the SRS XB23, there is no power-down sound.

The dark -Power- light. — The -Power- lamp is now dark.

3. Check that your Sony SRS XB23 Did Indeed Hard Reset

Next, power on the unit again, as detailed in step 1 above.

Note that after hard reset, the XB23 comes up in BT discovery mode. The Pairing Mode lamp blinks in a double blue pulsing pattern to tell you this.

Picture of the -Bluetooth Status- light blinking blue. — The -Bluetooth Status- lamp flashing blue.

This signals that you may then look for, and expect to find, this speaker on a nearby BT device. Then you could pair to it if you so desire.

4. Done with How to Hard Reset Sony SRS XB23 !

The hard reset is now finished. So you may now sell or gift this portable speaker, or pair it again with your favorite BT streaming devices.

After a reset, the XB23 no longer automatically links with any Bluetooth device. Therefore, if you’re keeping the speaker and wish to continue auto pairing, you must first manually pair the speaker with a device. Then on subsequent occasions, any time that both XB23 and that device have Bluetooth turned on, and they’re near to each other, pairing automatically happens once more.

References for How to Hard Reset Sony SRS XB23

1. Sony SRS XB23 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker Product Page at Sony.com

Revision History

- 2021-09-23: First published.