Howto reinstall Samsung Galaxy S5

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is a powerful phone and have lasted me over 2 years. Regular updates and the many different applications installed and removed does cause the storage to be bloated and its good option to clear everything and reinstall only the required apps after such a long time.

I will be doing a factory reset (wipe out all data on phone) then allowing the Galaxy S5 to restore last saved settings and finally restore application settings from Samsung Smart Switch (the PC software provided by Samsung). A USB cable is required to connect Galaxy S5 with the PC running the Smart Switch. Make sure the phone is detected when using the USB cable, else you may need to get another USB cable.

IMPORTANT

Backup all your data before proceeding. Copy your login information for Google, Samsung and other apps on a paper, if you need to.

Before we begin, there are 2 steps to be carried out;

BACKUP PHONE INFORMATION
Use the Backup and Restore.
From the phone, select the Settings (This usually looks like a gear when you pull down to display the menu from top of the screen) and choose Backup and Restore. Choose your backup and restore settings, including storing it on Google drive.

Backup other settings and apps to a PC or external storage as needed.

SAMSUNG SMART SWITCH
We will be using Samsung Switch, so go ahead and install this on a PC.  Start Smart Switch, plugin the Galaxy S5 phone to the PC via USB cable, then do backup of applications and other media that you require.

Here are steps taken to reinstall the smart phone from Samsung. Make sure the phone is fully charged BEFORE you start.

Step 1. FACTORY RESET (optional)
From the phone, select the Settings (This usually looks like a gear when you pull down to display the menu from top of the screen) and choose Backup and Restore. Then choose Factory Reset.

This may take a while as it will also reinstall default applications found on the phone.

Step 2. INITIALISE THE PHONE
Start the phone and follow the instructions to setup. I choose not restore all Apps from google but only the settings. Finish the setup with last steps that include confirmation of the phone name.

Step 3. UPDATE AND RESTORE DATA
On the PC, start Smart Switch then plugin via USB the Galaxy S5 phone. If prompted to upgrade, accept and follow instructions provided. Strongly suggest that the CAUTION message displayed is followed to avoid wasted time on failed software update.

Smart Switch update software for Galaxy S5

Smart Switch CAUTION messages

You will need to disconnect the cable once its done. This will cause the phone to restart, wait a little bit as it flashes the text "SAMSUNG", then it will show "Android is upgrading" before the phone can resume as normal. For me, on the phone it mentioned optimizing app total of 284, and this restart process took just over 15minutes before I could get the login screen.

RESTORE DATA
Start Smart Switch on the PC. Login to the phone and plug it to the PC using the USB cable.

Smart Switch should detect the phone, then clik on the Restore button and follow the instructions. Once restore is complete, disconnect he USB cable. On the phone, Check the Contact, calendar and other contents that is needed.

TIPS
Find Lock a lost Samsung phone using a web browser.
Open a web browser and type location as https://findmymobile.samsung.com and login with the Samsung account used with the phone. Here is a well documented site on ensuring that you enable basic actions that you can take when the phone is lost.