Picture of a JBL Clip 3 Bluetooth speaker reset button combination suggestion. Play-Pause and Volume Up buttons circled.

JBL Clip 3 Hard Reset

These JBL Clip 3 hard reset instructions show you how to reset your JBL Clip 3 Bluetooth speaker to its default settings.  Resetting restores the Clip 3 to factory default state. Plus, it clears any prior paired Bluetooth devices from its memory. Erasing these stops the Clip 3 from pairing to any nearby Bluetooth devices after reset. Also, you might reset to get the unit ready for sale or re gifting, or to stop it from connecting with devices you no longer wish it to pair with.

JBL Clip 3 Hard Reset, Step by Step

1. Turn on the JBL Clip 3

Press and hold the Power button until the status lamp lights up and the guitar strum sound plays.

Picture of the -Power- button on the JBL Clip 3.
The -Power- button on the JBL Clip 3.

First, find the Power button, as shown in the last picture above.

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

Picture of the status lamp glowing white.
The status lamp glowing white.

2. Wait for the Power Up Guitar Sound

The speaker makes a rising electric guitar strum sound when it powers up. Then, the 3 is ready for hard reset after this sound stops.

It may or may not pair with a device, depending on whether there are any in-range Bluetooth devices that know about the Clip.  But whether paired or not, the hard reset works the same way, as follows.





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

Find the Play / Pause and UP Volume buttons.  The Play / Pause button is in the middle, and the Volume UP button is on the right, as we circle in the next picture.

Picture of the reset button combination. -Play-Pause- and -Volume UP- buttons.
The reset button combination. -Play-Pause- and -Volume UP- buttons.

The speaker then enters hard reset.  Then after a short pause, the JBL Clip 3 turns off. The status lamp goes dark, and the speaker makes the power-down guitar sound.

E.g. See how the speaker status lamp changes during reset in the following pictures.

Picture of the -Status- lamp glowing.
The -Status- light glowing.

Finally, the status lamp goes out (dark), as highlighted in the next picture.

Picture of the dark status light.
The dark status lamp.

4. Check that your JBL Clip 3 Did Indeed Hard Reset

Next, power on the 3 again, as we detail in step 1 above.

Note that after a hard reset, our speaker comes up in Bluetooth pairing / discovery mode.  That’s apparent because the status lamp fast flashes white as soon as we turn the speaker on. So you should now be able to see the speaker in a Bluetooth source device when connecting to it.





5. Done with JBL Clip 3 Hard Reset !

The JBL Clip 3 hard reset is now finished. So you may now sell or gift it, or pair the speaker again with your favorite BT devices.

After a hard reset, the 3 no longer automatically connects with any previously paired Bluetooth device that is in range and in pairing more. Thus, to restore automatic pairing, you have to manually pair the Clip 3 with a device. Finally, after that, any time that both speaker and that device have Bluetooth turned on, pairing would automatically take place once more.

Other Posts About the JBL Clip 3

    1. How to Make JBL Clip 3 Discoverable
    2. How to Put JBL Clip 3 in Pairing Mode
    3. Connecting the JBL Clip 3 to iPhone
    4. How to Check Battery Life on the JBL Clip 3
    5. Pairing Victor Reader Trek with JBL Clip 3

Related Posts to JBL Clip 3 Hard Reset 

    1. JBL Clip 2 Hard Reset
    2. JBL Charge 5 Hard Reset
    3. Boombox JBL Speaker Hard Reset
    4. JBL Xtreme 2 Hard Reset

References for JBL Clip 3 Hard Reset

    1. JBL Clip 3 Official Product Page at JBL.com

Revision History

    • 2021-08-10: First published.