Top view of the JBL Charge 5 speaker, showing the -Volume Up- and -Play-Pause- buttons.

JBL Charge 5 Hard Reset Instructions

These JBL Charge 5 hard reset instructions show how to restore this BT speaker to its original fresh-from-factory settings. Moreover, hard resetting erases any earlier paired Bluetooth devices from its memory. So it stops the speaker from pairing to any nearby devices after hard reset. Also, hard reset it to get the Charge 5 ready for sale or re gifting.

JBL Charge 5 Hard Reset Directions, Step by Step

1. Turn on the JBL Charge 5

Press and release the Power button.  It should immediately light solid white.

Picture of the JBL Charge 5, top view, showing the dark -Power- button when the speaker is OFF.
The JBL Charge 5, top view, showing the dark -Power- button when the speaker is OFF.

Find the Power button in the last picture above.

Then, the Power button comes on, as we show next. In our case, since we’ve paired the speaker with devices before, it does not enter Bluetooth pairing mode. This is obvious because the Bluetooth button remains OFF, rather than flashing white.  Note the dark Bluetooth button, to the right of the glowing Power button.

Picture of the -Power- button glowing.
The -Power- button glowing.

2. Wait for the Power Up Sound

The speaker makes a rising electric guitar strum sound at power up. And it is ready for factory resetting once this sound ends.





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

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

Picture of the -Volume Up- and -Play-Pause- buttons.
The -Volume Up- and -Play-Pause- buttons.

The Charge 5 soon enters hard reset, as shown in the next picture. Note that both the Power and Bluetooth buttons and the egg shaped ring  that surrounds them.  All of these light up for a couple seconds during hard reset.  I.e. The ring and both buttons glow gray-white.

Picture of all the lights aglow.
All the lights aglow.

Then after a short pause, the JBL Charge 5 turns off. All lights go off, and it makes the power-down guitar sound.

The next picture shows the speaker, powered down.  All buttons are dark.

Picture of the speaker with power OFF.
The speaker with power OFF.

4. Check that your JBL Charge 5 Did Indeed Hard Reset

Next, power on the speaker again, as we describe in the first step above.

Now this time, after the hard reset, our speaker instantly comes up in Bluetooth discovery mode, as shown next. We did not need to press the Bluetooth button first to make this happen.

Further, note that the Bluetooth button blinks to let you know that the speaker has entered Bluetooth pairing mode. Conversely, when this button blinks or is dark, the speaker is not currently in a pairing session. Indeed, we expect it not to pair to anything after a factory reset.

Picture of the -Power- and -Bluetooth- buttons glowing.
The -Power- and -Bluetooth- buttons glowing.

5. Done !

The JBL Charge 5 hard reset is now complete. Thus you may now pack it up for sale, or pair it again with your favorite Bluetooth devices.

As noted prior, the speaker will no longer pair with any previously paired device. Further, you’ll need to forget the previously paired Charge 5 in the Bluetooth devices section of your source device.  Then once you do that, you manually pair this speaker with that device again. Then finally, any time that both speaker and that device are active and in range, pairing happens again automatically.

Other Posts About the JBL Charge 5

    1. How to Tell if JBL Charge 5 is Charging
    2. How to Make Discoverable
    3. Software Update Instructions
    4. How to Charge
    5. Charge 5 Charging Time to Get a Full Recharge

References

    1. JBL Charge 5 Official Home Page at JBL.com