How to Clear CMOS? Focus on 2 Ways

What Is CMOS?

CMOS, whose full name is Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor or complementary-symmetry metal-oxide-semiconductor, is a small amount of memory on a computer motherboard that stores the Basic Input /Output system BIOS settings.

The BIOS is the firmware embedded on the chip on the computer’s motherboard. It is also known as system BIOS, ROM BIOS or PC BIOS. The main function of BIOS is to instruct the computer on how to perform some basic features, such as booting and keyboard control. It also used to configure hardware on the computer.

If the computer fails to boot or it turns on but no display, you can choose to clear CMOS to recover the boards because this action restores the BIOS settings to default.

To clear CMOS, you need to be careful enough. Otherwise, mistaken operating may give rise to the damage to the computer or the BIOS.

So, in the following section, we will show you how to clear the CMOS.

How to Clear CMOS – Battery

To clear CMOS, you can use the battery method.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Power off your computer and then remove all peripheral devices connected to your computer.
2. Disconnect the power connections.
3. Then remove the computer cover.
4. Find the battery on the board. The battery may be in a horizontal or vertical battery holder, or connected to an onboard header with a wire.
5. After that, you need to remove the battery. If the battery is in a holder, pay attention to the + and – on the battery. Then pry it from its connector. If the battery is connected to an onboard header with a wire, disconnect the wire from the onboard header.
6. Then wait for 1-5 minutes.
7. After that, reconnect the battery to the computer.
8. Plug the computer cover back on.
9. Then reconnect the peripheral and reboot your computer.

When all steps are finished, you have successfully cleared CMOS. How to clear CMOS without jumper? You can try this way.

Then we will show you the second way to clear CMOS. In this way, you can clear CMOS via jumper.

How to Clear CMOS – Jumper

In this part, we show you the second way to clear CMOS. You can do that via Jumper.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Power off the computer.
2. Open the cover of the computer so you can see the motherboard.
3. Then you can read the motherboard manual to find out the CMOS jumper. In general, the CMOS jumper is three pins located near the battery.
4. The COMS jumper has positions 1-2 and 2-3. Move the jumper from the default position 1-2 to position 2-3 to clear CMOS.
5. Then wait for 1-5 minutes and move the COMS to the default position.
6. After that, reboot your computer. In some computers, you need to enter the BIOS to reset it to the factory reset.

When all steps are finished, you have cleared the CMOS.

Final Words

As for how to clear CMOS MSI, after reading the post, you may have the answers. If you have any different ideas of clearing CMOS, you can share it in the comment zone.