Occasionally, you will need to reboot your BlackBerry, (e.g. if the BlackBerry seems to get stuck hour-glassing, or doesn’t respond).

Did you know that you don’t have to pull the battery?

You can do a quick reset, but press Alt + Caps + Del. This will perform a quick reset, and should be sufficient for most problems.Purpose:
People often don’t know when / how to reset their BlackBerry when they have a problem, this guide will cover the methods, reasons, and order in which resets should be done.

Reason:
There are many reasons to reset a BlackBerry, in general when things are just not working the way they should a reset is likely to correct the problem.

Some possible reasons to perform a reset:

Network Issues
• Handheld displays an X beside the coverage indicator
• Handheld displays GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) or lower case gprs (General Packet Radio Service) as the network status indicator
• User is unable to send or receive messages on the handheld

Software Issues
• User receives an error code on the handheld
• Applications do not appear to be functioning correctly
• Desktop Manager is stuck at “working” status when the handheld is connected
• Bluetooth is not detected

Hardware Issues
• Handheld display is hard to read. For example, the display shows lines obscuring text
• Keypad is not functioning correctly. For example, keys do not work, the trackwheel is not functioning correctly, or the handheld does not turn on

Works on Models:
All models except the 850/857 & 81XX Series

There are four different types of resets, and they should be tried in order:

1. Power cycle - simply turn the device off, then on
2. Soft-Reset - Hold down ALT + CAP + DEL
3. Double-Soft-Reset Hold down ALT + CAP + DEL once the screen illuminates repeat to press ALT + CAP + DEL again.
4. Hard-Reset - Locate and push the reset button using a paper-clip. Or remove the battery for 30 seconds, then replace.

Performing a double-soft reset stops all applications on the BlackBerry device and is nearly the equivalent of a hard reset. Timing however is critical. Perform a soft reset by pressing the ALT + CAP + DEL keys. The screen will go blank. When the screen is no longer black, press the ALT + CAP + DEL keys again. You should then see another blank screen followed by an hour glass.

Note: This does not apply to the BlackBerry Pearl smartphone.

Note: The BB-7100 and BB-7290 and BB-7520 do not have reset buttons, on these you need to remove the battery (gently) wait a few seconds and then re-insert the battery. Be careful as you do not want to damage the contacts (or get them dirty for that matter).

Reset-Button Locations:
67xx / 95x / 77xx - On the back, at the bottom of the unit (small hole)
62xx / 72xx - Underneath the battery cover (small hole, marked as RESET)
6510 / 7510 - By the battery (small hole)

No reset button:
71xx / 7290 / 7520

BlackBerry 7290 can Perform the Reset after an upgrade to 4.1 OS or later

• Hold down ALT + CAP + DEL

How to Hack Your BlackBerry’s Network Signal Strenght Display

To accomplish this hack simply, hold down:
• the “ALT” key and type “N M L L“

Keep your eyes on the top right section of the video (Network Coverage Strength Display) Poof 1 second its there 1 second its not. Why would you want this? Its pretty straight forward, just that having the live number indicator is more accurate on network coverage.

We also recommend checking out:

• Useful Built-in Secret Applications for Your BlackBerry Curve

BlackBerry Themes - iLike (Zen Version) for Curve 8300 - 8310 - 8320 - 8330

Requirements
• BlackBerry OS 4.1 or later. WARNING: You MUST have OS 4.1 or later or you may render your BlackBerry unusable! Go to Options -> About to check your OS version.

We offer no warranty and cannot be held responsible for anything that may happen to your BlackBerry as a result of installing this theme.

Installation
If you must use desktop installation, unzip the file, then open up the BlackBerry Desktop Manager and install the iLike files you unzipped as a new application for your BlackBerry. You may have to reset your BlackBerry by pulling out the battery after downloading the theme in order for it to appear in your theme list. Or Read our Howto Reset Without Removing The Battery Article.

NOTE: The version of Desktop Manager that some carriers are shipping (namely Verizon) does not match the operating system version on the BlackBerry, making the desktop software think there’s nothing compatible.

Download:

Desktop Installation
• Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

Over-The-Air Installation
• Sorry OTA Installation Is Currently Not Available -

Tested on BlackBerry 8300 - 8310 - 8320

If you want to use these shortcuts, you must go into Phone Options and turn OFF dialing from home screen.

How to Turn Off Dialing from the Home Screen

• Hit the Call button
• Menu
• Options
• General Options and select “off” on the Dial From Home Screen option
• Menu
• Save

Key shortcuts:

• A or C = phonebook
• S = search
• F = phone profiles
• B or W = browser
• H = help
• K = locks the keys
• L = calendar
• V = messages
• M = messages folder
• R = alarm
• T = tasks
• U = calculator
• I = applications
• O = options
• P = phone

Need more shorcuts?

Check out our BlackBerry Browser Settings & Shortcuts article

How to Setup One Touch Keyboard Lock on Your BlackBerry
Tested on a BlackBerry Pearl 8100 - 8110 - 8130 - 8300 - 8310 - 8320 - 8800 - 8820

Since all but one Blackberry are not flip phones, it is necessary to lock the keypad before one slips it into his pocket or her purse. When we first got the Curve, we had to navigate to the Keyboard Lock icon and click the trackball to lock.Too cumbersome. Luckily, there is a faster way. It is possible to set the PTT (Push-To-Talk) button so that when you click on it, it will lock the phone.

If you have official BlackBerry Accessories then you wont have to worry about Locking the Keyboard, as the official accessories have built in sensors

Here are the steps to set it up:
1. From home screen, navigate to the Options icon and click on it
2. Click the icon that reads “Screen / Keyboard“
3. Scroll down the entry that reads “Left Side Convenience Key Opens:“
4. Change it from “Push to Talk” to “Keyboard Lock“

BlackBerry Tips and Tricks - Howto Set Up Speed Dial Numbers
Tested on BlackBerry 8100 - 8110 - 8130 - 8300 - 8310 - 8320 - 8800 - 8820 Devices but should also work on other Models -

You can assign a phone number to each of the 26 letter keys. To do that, all you need to do is press and hold a letter key in the Home screen or the Phone screen. If the key has not been assigned yet, it will ask if you want to assign a Speed Dial to the key and you can then choose a number from your phone book. Once a key is assigned, you can dial it by pressing and holding the key.

TIP
• You can access the Voice Mail by pressing & holding the “1” key

NOTE - When you enter a phone number in the phone book, you can press the Menu (BB) button and select “Add Wait” or “Add Pause”. Both options are useful if you need to send extra digits after the phone number (e.g. to send extension, password for voice mail or access code for conference call). With the “Add Wait” option, it will prompt you to hit Return before sending the extra digits. “Add Pause” will send them automatically after approx 2 seconds delay.

How to Copy Your BlackBerry Contacts To The SIM Phone Book
Tested On BlackBerry 8100 - 8110 - 8120 - 8300 - 8310 - 8320 - 8700- 8800 - 8820 Devices

A SIM card stands for Subscriber Identity Module, on most mobile phones the SIM card is the place where it holds the address book and SMS messages. The SIM card is less important on the Blackberry because the address book is stored on the built-in flash memory or it can wireless sync your Outlook address book. But their may be a time where you want to retrieve the address book off a SIM, especially when you are a new Blackberry user coming from a regular mobile phone and want to import your contacts. We have already told you how to import your whole address book, but here’s how to selectively add a contact to your SIM card:

This ones tricky and depending on how many contacts you have might take a while to accomplish, but if you must have your contacts on your SIM then follow my guide -

1. Start off by going into the Address Book
2. Highlight a contact, now hit enter to get into the individual contacts screen
3. Now hit the Menu key and choose “Copy to SIM Phone Book“
4. Hit the Menu key and Save it

Easy right? Here is where it gets tricky. In order for this to work you will need to have the Contacts number be stored under the “Work” category. Also, if the contact has multiple numbers, for some reason the BlackBerry wont allow to you to save it to the SIM.

Note: If you receive the message “Not enough room in SIM,” delete the SMS messages on the Phone screen and delete the entries in the SIM Phone Book.

Make sure to check out:

How to Copy Contacts from SIM Card to The BlackBerry Phonebook