JBL Speaker Factory Reset

JBL Charge 5 Bluetooth speaker, front right view.

We give here JBL speaker factory reset routine, that works on most any JBL speaker. Following these will return these Bluetooth speakers to their default factory settings. This also clears any earlier paired Bluetooth devices from the speaker’s memory. Moreover, clearing old settings halts these speakers from pairing to any nearby active Bluetooth devices after the reset. Also, you might reset these speakers to get them ready for sale or re gifting, or to stop them from pairing with devices you no longer wish it to link with.

JBL Speaker Factory Reset, Step by Step

1. Turn on the JBL Speaker

In this example, we’re resetting the JBL Xtreme 2. But an almost identical routine works on most any other JBL speaker, although the keys you press to start it may differ depending on the model.

At any rate, when the speaker is off, all buttons are dark, including Power, Bluetooth, and Connect+ lamps. button, as shown next.

Top view of a typical JBL speaker, showing the -Power- button highlighted and dark (OFF).

Then, press and release the Power button. That button should right away light up as shown in the following pictures. The green arrow points at the Power button, as shown in the last picture above.

Next, the Power button comes on, as we show next. In our case, since we’ve paired this particular speaker with our tablet before, it automatically pairs with it now. We know that because the Power button glows a solid color (often blue or white), rather than slow blinking. Yours may light up with different colors or flash patterns depending on the model of JBL speaker you have.

Top view of a common JBL speaker, showing the -Power- button glowing steadily, meaning that the speaker is ON and paired.

2. Wait for the Power Up Sound

Just about every model of JBL speaker except for the earliest ones, makes a rising electric guitar strum sound when it powers up. Then the speaker is ready for factory resetting after this sound finishes.

Now if your JBL speaker pairs with an in-range Bluetooth device, you’ll also hear the three rising single guitar notes a few seconds after the startup cord. No matter though. In fact, whether or not the speaker pairs with a Bluetooth device does not change how you factory reset it. In either case, the reset routine is the same, as we enumerate next.

3. Press the Reset Buttons Together to Continue with JBL Speaker Factory Reset

Now many s JBL speaker use the Play-Pause and Volume UP buttons for starting a factory reset. But some, like the Charge 4, the Go 2, and Go 3 models, assign the Bluetooth and Volume Up button pair to this function. Still others like the JBL Flip 3 and Clip 2 models, assign the Bluetooth and Phone buttons for this. So if one key chord does not factory reset your model of JBL speaker, we suggest trying these others.

At any rate, for the speaker here, see the next picture to find the Play-Pause and Volume Up buttons.

The -Volume UP- and -Play Pause- buttons.

The JBL speaker then enters the factory reset process, as shown in the next picture.

Note that all lighted buttons glow for a few seconds as the factory reset progresses. The Power button might glow a pale blue or white, and the Connect or Bluetooth button glows gray-white for a second or two. Again, the lights you see depend on your speaker model. For our demo, we circled the buttons in green that glow on our test speaker, as shown next.

The -Power- and -Connect Plus- buttons glowing during factory reset.

Then after a short pause, the JBL speaker turns off. Thus all the lights go off, and it makes the power-down guitar sound.

4. Next, Check that the Factory Reset Did Indeed Happen

Next, power on your JBL speaker again, as described in step 1 earlier. In short, press and release the Power button, as shown next.

Now this time, after factory reset, our speaker immediately comes up in Bluetooth pairing mode, as pictured next.

Note that we did not press the Bluetooth / Pairing button first, since after a factory reset, the speaker automatically enters BT pairing mode without us having to press this button. Note that some button blinks to show that this mode is in effect. Which one actually blinks, again, depends on the model of JBL speaker you have. Now when the (usually the Power or Bluetooth) button blinks, the speaker is not currently paired. Indeed, we expect it not to pair to anything after a factory reset.

The -Power- button glowing blue, meaning that this speaker is ON and paired.

5. Done with JBL Speaker Factory Reset !

Factory reset is complete at last. Thus you may now pack the speaker for sale, or pair it again with your favorite Bluetooth devices.

Note that any JBL speaker, after a factory reset, will no longer automatically pair with any previously paired in-range Bluetooth device in discovery mode. So, to restore auto BT pairing, you’ll need to forget the previously paired speaker listed in the Bluetooth devices section of your source device settings. Once that’s done, then manually pair the speaker with that device again if so desired. Then after that, any time that both speaker and that device have Bluetooth turned on, pairing with automatically happen once again.