To reset all settings to factory default and delete stored content on Xiaomi phone, you can head to the Settings on the phone and perform factory data reset on Xiaomi phone. Sometimes however this might not work for you. For example, you may forget your Mi account password which is required to reset the phone; your MIUI may crash and you can’t get into the Setting to initiate the factory data reset on Xiaomi phone; you may forget the pattern lock or passcode to unlock your phone. A hard reset on your phone can you the last resort.
Perform factory reset from Recovery on Xiaomi phone
Boot Xiaomi phone into Recovery mode from MIUI
There are different ways to boot Xiaomi phone to the Recovery mode, the easier way is to boot your Xiaomi or Redmi phone to the Recovery mode from the MIUI. Power on your phone, go to Settings >> About phone >> System updates >> More options >> Reboot to Recovery mode.
Boot Xiaomi into Recovery mode using hardware buttons
If your mobile phone OS crashed and you can’t enter into the Xiaomi MIUI, you can press its hardware buttons to boot the phone into Recovery mode. Hold down the Power key to switch off the Xiaomi or Redmi phone. If this does not work and you can’t power off the phone, you may take out its battery then re-install it. When your phone has been powered off, hold the Volume down + Power buttons at the same time until you see the “Select Boot Mode” screen on Xiaomi phone. Different model of Xiaomi or Redmi or MIUI version may require different method to boot into its Recovery mode. Some users said the Volume up and Power keys combination works on their Xiaomi or Redmi phone. You should see different boot mode on the phone, including Recovery mode, Fastboot mode and the Normal mode. Use the Volume down button to scroll the pointer to Recovery Mode and press the Volume up button to select. After that press the Power button to enter the Android system recovery mode.
Wipe data and reset Xiaomi Redmi phone from Recovery mode
The main menu of Xiaomi or Redmi Recovery mode looks like below.
In the Recovery mode, highlight and select Wipe & Reset and then you will find options to Wipe Cache, Wipe User Data, Wipe SD Card, Wipe All Data. Follow on-screen tips to delete all user data under Recovery mode from Xiaomi mobile phone. Note that data deleted under the Recovery mode can NOT be retrieved. Once you delete them, you lost them forever.