You might wish to gift or sell your Microsoft Invoke Cortana speaker to a loved one. Or, perhaps you want to hook it to a new Microsoft account. Or maybe you want to connect it to a new WiFi network. A speaker reset allows you to do all of these tasks. It unlinks this device from its current account and Wi-Fi network. A hard reset also restores the speaker to default (fresh out of the box) state. To reset Microsoft Invoke Cortana Speaker then, run through the steps below. Reset takes less than a minute to finish.
Once reset, you’ll no longer be able to control the Invoke Cortana speaker. To regain control, if you want it again, run through the setup routine again via the Cortana app. Setup takes roughly five minutes to complete.
Note that if you’re just trying to fix bad behavior of the Microsoft Invoke, don’t reset just yet. Before a hard reset, try shutting off the unit for fifteen seconds. Do this by pulling out its power cable either from the wall outlet or from the unit itself. Then wait for ten seconds, and then power it back up. Power cycling often restores right working. But if not, read on for the right hard reset routine.
Now, to the reset routine.
How to Reset Microsoft Invoke Cortana Speaker
1. Attach Power Cable
Connect the Microsoft Invoke to its power adapter. Find the DC power input port on the bottom of the speaker. Then, plug the other end of that cord into a working AC outlet. Wait for Cortana to finish booting before moving on to the next step.
2. Press and Hold the Mic Mute Button Until Cortana Says, “Ready for setup.”
This takes Cortana five seconds or so to fully reset and speak this message.
After she finishes the default hard reset, she says that she’s ready for setup. At that point, the lights in the touch pad show a white, back-and-forth spinning design. See this in the next picture.
Now you only have a few minutes to finish setup after reset. If you wait too long, the Invoke speaker times out. At that point, the spinning white light pattern above turns red, as shown in the next picture.
At this point you may do one or two actions. Either press the Mic Mute button again until the lights turn white again. She then says that she’s once again ready for setup. Or, unplug the speaker for five seconds and then reconnect it to AC power. Either way a reset again places the Invoke Cortana speaker into ready-for-setup mode.
3. What Happens after Invoke Cortana Speaker Reset?
Your Microsoft Cortana smart speaker is now restored to its factory default settings. It has also entered setup mode.
4. Pack it Up or Set it Up
Feel free now to give your Cortana Invoke speaker to another. Do not worry that they’ll have access to the settings on your Microsoft account. Or, you can set it up again on your existing account. Then, the light blips on the top of the speaker turn white. Next, they start their back-and-forth spinning on the touch pad. At this point, the unit stays in setup mode until someone runs the setup routine again, as demoed above.
Note that this Cortana speaker will not work until set up and linked to a Microsoft account.
Other Posts About the Invoke Cortana Smart Speaker
- How to Adjust Volume on Microsoft Invoke Voice Activated Speaker
- How to Set Up New Microsoft Invoke Cortana Smart Speaker
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References for How to Reset Invoke Cortana Speaker
- Microsoft Cortana Invoke Smart Speaker at Best Buy
- Invoke Speaker Description Page, from Harman Kardon
Revision History
- 2020-04-16: Added more tags.
- 2019-03-11: Shortened target key phrase and added tags.
- 2018-05-23: First published.