What does it mean to reboot? Is rebooting the same as restarting? What aboutresetting a computer, router, phone, etc.? It might seem pointless to distinguish them from each other but among these three terms are actually two entirely separate meanings.

The reason it’s important to know the difference between restart and reset is because they perform two very different functions despite sounding like the same word.

All of this might sound cryptic and confusing, especially when you throw in “soft reset” and “hard reset,” but keep reading to learn what’s really meant by these terms so that you’ll know exactly what’s being asked of you when one of these words shows up in a troubleshooting guide.

Restart = Off and On

Reboot, restart, power cycle, and soft reset all mean the same thing. If you’re told to “reboot your computer,” “restart your phone,” “power cycle your router,” or “soft reset your laptop,” you’re being told to shut the device down so that it’s no longer getting power from the wall or battery, and then to turn it back on.

Rebooting something is a common task that you can do on all sorts of devices if they’re not responding well.

To reboot or restart something only pertains to the power state. When you turn the device off, it’s not receiving power. When it’s turned back on, it is getting power. A restart/reboot is a single step that involves both shutting down and then powering on something.

When most devices (like computers) are powered down, any and all software programs are shut down in the process. This includes anything loaded into memory, like any videos you’re playing, websites you have open, documents you’re editing, etc. Once the device is powered back on, those apps and files have to be reopened.

However, even though the software is shut down, none of it is actually deleted. The applications are simply shut down when the power is lost; you can open those same software programs, games, files, etc. when power is back on.

Note: Putting a computer into hibernation mode and then shutting it completely down does not create the same scenario as a normal shutdown. This is because the memory contents are not flushed out but instead written to the hard drive and then restored upon the next startup.

Yanking a power cord from the wall, removing a battery, and using software buttons are a few ways you can restart a device, but not all of them are necessarily ideal methods. See How to Restart Anything for specific instructions on rebooting everything from your computer and phone to your router and printer.

Reset = Erase and Restore

Understanding what “reset” means can be confusing in light of words like “reboot,” “restart,” and “soft reset” because they’re sometimes used interchangeably even though they have two completely different meanings.

To put briefly: resetting is the same as erasing. To reset a device is to put it back in the same state it was in when it was first purchased, often called a restore or factory reset (also a hard reset or master reset). It’s literally a wipe-and-reinstall of a system since the only way for a true reset to take place is for the current software to be completely removed.

Say for example that you’ve forgotten the password to your router. If you were to simply reboot the router, you’d be in the exact same situation when it powers back on: you don’t know the password and there’s no way to login.

However, if you were to reset the router, the original software that it was shipped with will replace the software it was previously using. This means that any customizations you made, like a new password (which you forgot) or Wi-Fi network, will be removed as the new (original) software takes over. In this scenario, the original router password would be restored and usable again so that you could log back in.

A reset is necessary when something needs to be restored or undone. You can reset your PC to reinstall Windows from scratch (erasing the current install in the process), or reset your Windows password to get the default password back (or to completely erase the password).

Note: Remember that all of these terms refer to the same act of erasing the software: reset, hard reset, factory reset, master reset, and restore.

Why the Differences Matter

I already spoke on this above, but it’s easy to see how important it is to know the difference between a reset and a restart when the terms aren’t used correctly.

For example, if you’re told to “reset the computer after you install the program,” what you’re technically being instructed to do is erase all the software on the computer simply because you installed a new program! This is obviously a mistake since a simple restart will suffice.

Is this scenario, you should interpret the word “reset” to mean “restart” since there’s little need to completely restore the whole operating system each time you install a new program.

Similarly, simply restarting your smartphone before you sell it to someone certainly isn’t the best decision. Rebooting the device will just turn it off and on, and won’t actually reset/restore the software like you really want, which in this cause would erase all your custom apps and delete any lingering personal information.

Tip: If you’re still having a hard time grasping how to remember the differences, consider this:

• restart is to redo a startup
• reset is to set up a new system