GUIDE / FACTORY RESET

Factory reset.

Three escalating options: soft reset (RouterOS still works, you just want a clean config), button reset (you can't log in but the box still boots), Netinstall (the box won't boot or you want to reinstall the OS). Try the softer option first.

1. Soft reset (you can still log in)

Wipes the configuration but leaves the OS image alone. no-defaults=yes skips the default-config script (the one that sets up the bridge and DHCP server) — useful when you want a truly empty starting point. 

# wipe config, keep defaults
/system reset-configuration

# wipe config and skip the default-config script
/system reset-configuration no-defaults=yes

# wipe config and run a config script after reset (e.g. yours)
/system reset-configuration run-after-reset=mtkf-baseline.rsc

2. Hardware button reset (you can't log in)

Every MikroTik has a small reset button. The exact behaviour depends on how long you hold it and when (during boot vs after boot):

  • Hold during power-on for ~5 seconds, until the user LED stops flashing → resets configuration only. OS stays put.
  • Hold during power-on for ~10 seconds, until the user LED stops flashing then turns solid → resets configuration and clears the bootloader state. Useful for stuck-bootloader cases.
  • Hold for ~15 seconds (until the LED goes off entirely) → enters Netinstall mode (see below).

Timing varies by board — the LED behaviour is the authoritative signal, not the wall clock. Check the model's datasheet PDF for the specifics.

3. Netinstall (the nuclear option)

Re-flashes the OS image over the network using MikroTik's Netinstall utility. Use this when:

  • The box won't boot (corrupted OS).
  • You want to downgrade across a major version (sometimes the only safe path).
  • You bought it second-hand and want to be sure it's clean.

Netinstall workflow differs

RouterOS v6

v6 Netinstall is Windows-only. Boot the router with the reset button held until Netinstall mode (see button reset above), connect a directly-cabled PC, point Netinstall at the .npk image, click "Install."

Linux / macOS users have to either run Netinstall under Wine or share a PC with a colleague.

RouterOS v7

v7 ships Netinstall-CLI for Linux and macOS as a separate download from MikroTik. Same workflow (boot in Netinstall mode, direct cable, point at image), but you can finally do it without a Windows VM. The original GUI Netinstall remains Windows-only.

macOS gotcha: System Integrity Protection blocks the raw-socket access Netinstall-CLI needs. Either grant Terminal full disk access, or run from Recovery Mode.

After the reset

Whichever path you took, you're now staring at a fresh 192.168.88.1 with the default admin account. First connection walks through setting it up again, and a clean backup right after the rebuild saves the next reset's worth of pain.