Picture of the Play-Pause and Volume-UP buttons highlighted on the JBL Flip 5 speaker.

JBL Flip 5 Hard Reset Instructions

Gives JBL Flip 5 hard reset instructions to restore the 5 to default settings.  Hard resetting erases any earlier paired Bluetooth devices from its memory.  Clearing these stops the 5 from pairing to any nearby Bluetooth devices after the reset.  Also, you might hard reset this speaker to get it ready for sale or re gifting, or to stop it from pairing with devices you no longer wish it to pair with.





JBL Flip 5 Hard Reset Instructions

1. Turn on the JBL Flip 5 

Press and hold the Power button until it lights up.

Top view of the JBL Flip 5, powered OFF, with the Power button highlighted.
Top view of the JBL Flip 5, powered OFF, with the Power button highlighted.

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

Then, the Power button lights up along with the battery power scale, as shown next.  Here, since we’ve paired the speaker with Bluetooth devices before this, it does not enter Bluetooth discovery mode.  We know that because the Power button is glows solid gray, rather than blinking blue.

Top view of the unit, powered ON, not paired, showing the glowing Power button highlighted.
Top view of the unit, powered ON, not paired, showing the glowing Power button highlighted.

2. Wait for the Power Up Sound

The JBL Flip 5 makes a rising rock guitar strum sound when it comes on.  The Flip is ready for use after this sound finishes up.

3. Press the Volume UP and Play-Pause Buttons Together to Start the Hard Reset

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

Picture of the Play-Pause and Volume-UP buttons highlighted on the JBL Flip 5.
Play-Pause and Volume-UP buttons highlighted on the JBL Flip 5.

The Flip 5 JBL then enters hard reset, as shown in the next picture.  Note that both the Bluetooth and Power buttons light up gray white for a couple seconds.  Shown next.

Top view of the speaker during reset, showing all panel lights glowing.
Top view of the speaker during reset, showing all panel lights glowing.

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





4. Check that JBL Flip 5 Hard Reset Worked

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

Now this time, after hard reset, our JBL speaker comes up in Bluetooth discovery mode, as shown next.  Note that the Bluetooth button blinks white to denote this.  When the   Bluetooth  button blinks, this means that the unit is not currently paired.  Indeed, we expect it not to pair to anything after a hard reset.

Top view of the JBL Flip 5 speaker, showing the glowing Bluetooth button highlighted.
Top view of the JBL Flip 5 speaker, showing the glowing Bluetooth button highlighted.

5. Done with JBL Flip 5 Hard Reset !

Resetting is now finished.  You may now pack up the speaker for sale, or pair it again with your favorite BT devices.  The unit will no longer automatically connect with any previously paired in-range Bluetooth device.  So to restore automatic Bluetooth pairing, manually pair the Flip 5 with a tablet or phone.  Then, any time that both speaker and that device have Bluetooth turned on, pairing with automatically take place once more.

Other Posts About the JBL Flip 5

  1. How to Restart JBL Flip 5 Bluetooth Speaker

Related Posts to JBL Flip 5 Hard Reset

  1. Hard Reset Alexa Echo Dot Instructions
  2. JBL Charge 3 Hard Reset Instructions
  3. Hard Reset JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth Speaker Instructions
  4. JBL Charge 4 Hard Reset Instructions
  5. Reset Echo Spot to Factory Settings, How To Hard Reset

References for JBL Flip 5 Hard Reset 

  1. JBL Flip 5 Portable Bluetooth Speakers, on JBL.com

Revision History

  • 2020-06-19: First published.