reset
To start something over or return it to its original state. People say "reset" when they want to clear a mistake, begin fresh, or restore normal working order.
What a model may hear
- hard or soft reboot computer hardware and operating systems
- may power-cycle a device, clear volatile memory, or interrupt all running processes
- state reinitialization software engineering and APIs
- may restore default configuration values, clear session data, or re-instantiate objects
- version control rollback Git and source control
- may discard uncommitted changes, move HEAD to a prior commit, or force-push history
- neural state clearing machine learning and conversation systems
- may wipe context window, forget prior turns, or reinitialize system prompt
- circuit or register reset electronics and embedded systems
- may trigger RST pin, clear flip-flops, or return to power-on state
Where people and models part ways
“I need to reset this conversation.”
Meant: The person wants to change topic or start a cleaner discussion.
May be taken as: A model may wipe its context window and forget everything said, including instructions the person gave.
Say instead: “Let me start a new thread on a different topic, but keep my earlier instructions in mind.”
“Reset my account.”
Meant: The person wants to fix a problem or restore original settings.
May be taken as: A model may assume deletion of data, revocation of tokens, or full re-provisioning of services.
Say instead: “Restore my account settings to their original defaults without deleting any data.”
“Can you reset that?”
Meant: The person wants to undo a recent change or answer.
May be taken as: A model may interpret this as a system-level command to clear state rather than simply retracting its last response.
Say instead: “Please ignore your last response and answer again from the beginning.”
“Give me a hard reset.”
Meant: The person wants a thorough fresh start on a problem.
May be taken as: A model may invoke destructive operations, complete memory clearing, or irreversible state changes.
Say instead: “Let's approach this problem from scratch, keeping our overall goal but setting aside what we tried so far.”
Tips
- Say "start over" or "from the beginning" when you only want to reframe, not erase context.
- Specify what to keep and what to discard when asking to reset part of a task.
- Use "restore defaults" for settings, "clear" for data, and "restart" for processes to be precise.
- If you want the model to forget something specific, say exactly what rather than using reset broadly.
- Ask "what would reset do here?" before confirming if you are unsure of the model's interpretation.
Often confused with
- restart
- implies stopping and beginning again, often preserving less state
- reboot
- specific to systems and hardware power cycling
- revert
- returns to a prior saved state rather than default origin
- clear
- removes contents without necessarily restoring original structure
- refresh
- updates current view or state without full reinitialization
- undo
- reverses one specific action rather than systemic restoration