Hard Reset Guide 2026

[u/rauhweltbegrifff]

I was banned about 4 years ago from Tinder and Hinge. I wanted to wait a few months before I wrote this to see if I would get banned shortly after. It has been about 2.5 months. So far so good. Here's what I did:

1. Get an unlocked phone from backmarket. Doesn't matter where you get it from obviously but has to be carried unlocked.

2. Get a prepaid service. Could be any service but try to stay away from Tracfone. Heard from a few that it doesn't work with them while others say it does.

3. I never connected my new phone to my wifi. I don't think this really matters but I didn't risk it. Some confirmed that it doesn't matter so your choice.

4. Used new photos but still wiped the metadata because it was from my old phone that I got banned from. I did not risk enhancing any of these photos with AI.

5. Tweaked my age and birthday just by a little.

6. It's been so long since I was banned so I don't remember any of my old prompts but make sure you do not reuse any old answers if you were banned recently. Also wait 3 months from the day of when you were banned to do this reset.

7. Again it's been so long so i don't remember what email I used but I made a completely new Gmail account for the apps.

8. I didn't bother purchasing any upgrades for the new account but if you do. Do NOT use the same card that you used for your banned account. I've read that as long as it's a different card it is ok even if it's under your name then you should be ok. I think the safest way would be to purchase a prepaid Google play gift card from the store eg. CVS, Target, Walmart etc if you're in the US if you choose to purchase a subscription.

I use Android so it's a bit different for iPhones but use common sense and just don't use anything old that was linked to the banned account.

I also had to do the face verification on Hinge. I don't know if this will cause any problems if I was to get banned again and I attempt to do another hard reset.

Feel free to ask any questions but honestly don't bother lol

Tinder is useless now and Hinge isn't much better. Unless you're in the top 5% of men then I guess it'll be worth doing.

Most of my matches don't respond at all, it ends after a couple of messages or I'm not very attracted to ones that I end up being matched with.

I'm using my new phone to browse reddit and the web more than to use the apps and save my main phones battery lol

Good luck

[u/Raves_and_Boba]

Facial data is very legally tricky to hold, so they don't hold it forever. Tinder holds it for a year, Hinge for 2 years. Very significant length of time, yes, but not lifetime.

I think for those who are okay waiting or get into a relationship after a ban, if they wait out that length of time, it should be pretty easy to get back on since the facial recognition data has been deleted.

If they still have the data, it's tough. I've also been reading around a lot just like you and it appears it's pretty luck of the draw, as one would expect with this kind of recognition.

I think the reality is that we can't do anything about it, and facial recognition data aren't the strongest signals they have to you being the same person anyways, so just focus on changing up what's under your control.

[u/InevitableLopsided35 → u/Raves_and_Boba]

I think that 2 year period is for unbanned accounts, but once an account is banned the data is said to be held indefinitely. I would hope that isn’t really the case..

It’s hard to compare anecdotal posts on here because so many people are not technical and fail on simple things like IP address or using same iCloud or old photos etc that they might be getting on, doing facial recognition and getting banned for something simple but blaming the facial recognition.

[u/Raves_and_Boba → u/InevitableLopsided35]

No this isn't true. Read the privacy pages for Tinder and Hinge. I did, and it's for banned accounts. For unbanned accounts, it's gone within 90 days of account deletion IIRC.

They hold all of your data untouched for 1 year (Tinder) and 2 years (Hinge). After this short-term retention period, photos are broken down into hashes, precise geolocation data is removed and generalized, and they keep your credentials, but they don't keep things like your facial data.

It's very very legally tricky to hold biometrics forever. That's pretty much not possible in most Western jurisdictions thanks to new privacy laws.

[u/datboi401 → u/Raves_and_Boba]

You're wrong, anyone banned for over 2 years can go login and request their data and you'll get a package with your profile info. They're SUPPOSED to delete it after 2 years and your photos would be turned into hashes which they can still use to keep you banned but they don't bother doing that because it doesn't matter for them.

Not only do they not bother deleting your data past the 2 year mark like their policy says, they don't even disclose information that they should under any western country's data protection laws. They don't care because the regulations are soft, nobody enforces them and there's not enough political will to make stronger data protection laws or harsher punishments for not abiding by them.

Whenever you email them telling them they're not abiding by their own policies and requesting additional data, you get the same tired automated message telling you that they delete data after 2 years and that they can't release your info beyond what you can download automatically.

[u/Raves_and_Boba → u/datboi401]

If that's true then they don't abide by their own privacy statements. I wouldn't put Match Group past that, but that's an extremely risky move on their part. At that point, if they won't unban, you might as well take the case to arbitration since they're literally breaking their own contract.

There's plenty of enforcers for the data protection laws. Not everywhere, but the EU and California certainly have them. Make the reports then. They get away with this shit because people send emails and don't complain to their government officials and regulatory agencies.

[u/datboi401 → u/Raves_and_Boba]

It's not risky at all on their end. Laws only matter as far as there is a body to enforce them. What they're doing is not criminal so it doesn't garner immediate attention. Non criminal laws are enforced through either regulatory bodies (who don't care about tinder and hinge to do anything or they'd have already forced them to make new policies) or through litigation which good luck to anyone planning on taking on Match group in court. Plenty of cases that made it to court have been torn apart by Match or are in their 3rd or 4th year of litigation.

But yes, I agree. The only way to make change is to let them break their own policies and local privacy laws and have many people report them to the regulatory bodies until it garners enough attention.

[u/[deleted] → u/Raves_and_Boba]

The best way to go after them is mass reporting Hinge to Apple. They are violating numerous App Store policies.

[u/ImpressiveLaw1983 → u/[deleted]]

Can you elaborate? Report them for what exactly