Sony XB20 Hard Reset Instructions

The Sony SRS XB20 speaker front with blue light ring glowing.

Gives Sony XB20 hard reset instructions to return this portable speaker to its default settings. Hard resetting restores the 20 to right-out-of-the-box state. Plus, it erases any earlier paired Bluetooth devices from its memory. This stops the speaker from pairing to any nearby Bluetooth devices. Further, you might hard reset the unit to get it ready for sale or re-gifting, or to stop it from pairing wirelessly with devices you no longer wish it to connect with.

Sony XB20 Hard Reset, Step by Step Instructions

1. Turn ON the XB20

Press and release the Power-Pairing button for a half-second or so. Find this button as shown in the next picture.

The Sony XB20 Power button.

Then, that button illuminates, as we see next.

The Sony XB20 Power lamp glowing.

The speaker may make a two-tone sound as it ramps up to full operation, to announce that it has paired, should it sync to a nearby device. Or it may play no sound at all if it does not. But whether the unit links or not though, this hard reset routine works the same way, as follows.

2. Press and Hold the Power-Pairing and Volume DOWN Buttons Together

Find these controls as shown next. They are both on the top button panel, as we point out in the next picture.

The Volume-DOWN and Power buttons.

The XB20 then enters its hard reset program in its firmware.

Then after several seconds, the speaker powers down, and the Power-Pairing button goes gray, as shown next. At that time, release the pushbuttons. Note that on the SRS XB20, there is no power-OFF noise.

The buttons panel, all lamps dark.

3. Check that your Sony XB20 Did Indeed Hard Reset

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

Note that after this hard reset, the XB20 comes up in pairing mode. The Pairing Status lamp quickly blinks white to let you know this. But the speaker should not sync with any device fresh after a hard reset.

E.g. See this in the next picture.

The Bluetooth Status lamp glowing.

This is a signal that you may then look for this speaker on a nearby BT device, and pair to it if you so desire.

4. Done with the Sony XB20 Hard Reset !

This operation is now over. So you may now sell or gift the speaker, or pair it again with your favorite Bluetooth devices.

After a hard reset, the XB20 no longer automatically links with any Bluetooth device. So to restore auto joining, you manually pair it with a device. Then after that, any time that both speaker and that device have Bluetooth turned on, and are in range, pairing would automatically take place once more.