How to Reset a Bosch Dishwasher In 3 Easy Steps

Is your Bosch dishwasher acting out? Then a quick reset might whip it back to shape. Check out 3 ways you can do this in this article.

Quick Bosch dishwasher reset tips:

To reset a Bosch dishwasher, press and hold the “CANCEL” and “DRAIN” buttons. If you have a Bosch Ascenta dishwasher, you can press and hold “START RESET” and then press and hold “ON/OFF”.

Are you ready to find more Bosch dishwasher reset tips and get your appliance working properly again? Then make sure you check out the next section of this article. Coming up, I will provide you with a step-by-step guide to resetting your Bosch dishwasher. 

Finding Dishwasher Reset Instructions

As much as I’d like, I can’t provide one set of instructions for every type of Bosch dishwasher. The quickest and easiest way to reset your dishwasher is to find the specific instructions for your model.

Even among appliances made by a single manufacturer, there can be big differences. Two dishwashers both made by Bosch could have completely different reset rules.

Luckily, finding the right manual is simple.

Google is your friend here. Typing in “Bosch [model] Dishwasher Manual PDF” will get you results just about every time. Just replace “model” with your dishwasher’s model number, and you’ll pull up the specific manual in no time. Here’s an example:

Bosch Ascenta SHE4AP02UC Dishwasher Manual PDF

I typed this into a Google search engine and found this dishwasher manual. Once you’ve found your manual, you can skip right to the troubleshooting section for safe reset instructions.

How to Reset A Bosch Dishwasher – 3 Common Methods

Are you ready to reset your Bosch dishwasher? Then you’ll find 3 methods that will help you do this coming up next.

Method #1 Press and Hold “CANCEL” and “DRAIN” 

This first method will help you to reset any Bosch dishwasher that has “CANCEL” and “DRAIN” buttons. Here’s what you should do:

1. *Open the dishwasher door ajar
   1. *NOTE: To open the dishwasher door, you may first need to turn off the child lock. To do so, press the “<” symbol.
2. Press and hold the buttons “CANCEL” and “DRAIN” for 3 seconds. (You can find these buttons on the control panel.) 
3. Close the dishwasher door
4. Wait for one minute
5. Open the dishwasher door ajar
6. Press and hold the “ON/OFF” for 3 seconds. After you press these buttons, the dishwasher will reset itself. 

Method #2 Press and Hold “START” and “RESET” 

Do you have an Ascenta Bosch dishwasher? The reset method for this type of dishwasher is a little different from other models. Here are the step-by-step instructions you will need to reset your Ascenta dishwasher:

1. *Open the dishwasher door ajar
   1. *NOTE: To open the dishwasher door, you may first need to turn off the child lock. To do so, press the “<” symbol.
2. Press and hold the buttons “START” and “RESET”. You should continue to press and hold these buttons until the “ACTIVE” LED light turns off. 
3. Close the dishwasher door
4. Wait for one minute
5. Open the dishwasher door ajar
6. Press and hold the “ON/OFF” for 3 seconds. After you press these buttons, the dishwasher will reset itself. 

Method #3 How to Reset a SHE5AM Dishwasher

Do you have a SHE5AM Bosch dishwasher? Again, the reset method for this type of dishwasher varies slightly from other Bosch models. Here are the step-by-step instructions you will need to reset your SHE5AM dishwasher:

1. *Open the dishwasher door ajar
   1. *NOTE: To open the dishwasher door, you may first need to turn off the child lock. To do so, press the “<” symbol.
2. Press and hold the buttons “START” and “RESET”. You should continue to press and hold these buttons until the clock timer displays the numbers “0:01”.
3. Close the dishwasher door
4. Wait until the clock timer displays the numbers “0:00”
5. Open the dishwasher door ajar
6. Press and hold the “ON/OFF” for 3 seconds. After you press these buttons, the dishwasher will reset itself. 

Tips for Resetting Any Dishwasher

There are a few things you can try to reset any dishwasher. Most smart dishwashers have a few standard reset methods that can be used.

Tip #1 Check for Error Codes

If holding down buttons doesn’t work, then it’s time to look for specific problems. Check the display for error codes. If there’s an error code, you can look it up to find the right way to reset the dishwasher.

Smart dishwashers are able to self-diagnose their problems in most cases. If you’re seeing an error code, you can check the problem at Bosch’s error code database. Here you will find a list of the most common Bosch error codes. You’ll also see some handy instructions that will help you fix the problems. 

Here are the most common error codes that you may see on your Bosch dishwasher.

Tip #2 Hard Reset

If there’s one thing that works across just about every technology, it’s the hard reset. Just about everything with a computer chip inside can benefit from some time turned off. That’s the case for dishwashers too.

A hard reset will fix just about everything a soft reset can. Just be careful, because this can sometimes erase your settings. 

Here’s how you can perform a hard reset on your Bosch dishwasher:

1. Turn off the dishwasher. If there’s a power button on the dishwasher, press and hold it until it turns off.
2. Unplug the dishwasher. Reach behind the unit and remove the plug from the wall. If it’s a built in dishwasher, look for a plug under the sink. If that all fails, you can always switch off the power via your circuit breaker.
3. Wait at least ten minutes.
4. Plug the dishwasher back in and turn it back on. Your dishwasher should now be back in working order!

*TIP: If you cannot reach behind the dishwasher to unplug it, turn it off at the circuit breaker. Leave the circuit breaker off for at least 10 minutes before attempting to turn it back on again. This method will also reset the dishwasher.

Why Do Dishwashers Need a Reset?

Everything with computer chips in it is vulnerable to computer bugs. The smarter your dishwasher, the more parts there are that can freeze up.

Sometimes, programs can get caught in a loop. If a program is given too many commands at once, commands that conflict, or commands that make no sense, it can freeze. Basically, the program gets confused and stops responding to anything.

In your computer, this problem looks like a Blue Screen of Death. In your dishwasher, it can appear like an unresponsive rinsing cycle or a flashing control panel.

Resetting is a quick solution to this problem. It terminates the program that’s having problems and lets it restart. As long as the problem was a temporary glitch, you’ll be good to go after a quick reset.

What If It Still Isn’t Working?

If your dishwasher is still throwing its toys out of the pram, don’t worry. Try searching our site for what the symptoms are (is it beeping, making strange noises, or not turning on?).

We’ve got a large collection of dishwasher troubleshooting guides, which is growing every week. If you can’t find your issue, please let us know via our contact page and we’ll be in touch to help!

Conclusion

Is there something about the way your Bosch dishwasher is running that is not quite right? Then a quick reset may be all it needs to set it straight again. In this article, we have discussed 3 easy methods that you can use to reset your dishwasher. I’m sure they have helped you get your dishwasher up and running again.

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Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Cheers,

Craig