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Whaleboy1660363
New Participant
June 29, 2026
Question

I'm new to this can't get pass initial setup

Hi I've set up a account turn on my brand new pair of Meta quest 3 vr head set and get to the set up WiFi put in the password it says download update then jumps straight to saying applying software update then just restarts and repeats over and over I've tried restarting factory reset and it keeps doing the same thing and I've tried plugging into 2 different PC's to manually install the updates going into side load mode and yes used the cord it came with it seems to see the quest3 but soon as i hit connect it says your device is not supported and the whole process over again never getting to the 5 digit pairing code to pair with the app I've search the whole internet for solution never finding one 

 

13 replies

Choleni
Choleni
Honored Contributor
June 29, 2026

Hi Whale_boy​ 🙂

Can you access the boot menu? Press the headset power button until the menu pops up, then release the button. with the volume button up/down you can select one of the options.

Select factory reset and confirm with the power button. After the factory reset, try again to set up the Quest, maybe something went wrong on the update which can be fixed through a factory reset.

If this doesn't work - or if you even can't bring up the boot menu - bring/send the headset back to where you bought it and get either a working one or get your money back.

How to factory reset your Meta Quest | Quest help (en-gb)

  

    Maccyb123
    Honored Contributor
    June 29, 2026

    Whale_boy​ Follow Choleni​ 's instructions but also I noticed you only mentioned that you tried two different pcs. You do know that you have to set up your device first time using the Horizon app on your mobile phone. You cannot do an initial set up of your headset with a PC. 

      Choleni
      Choleni
      Honored Contributor
      June 29, 2026

      Maccyb123​  as far as I understand him, he connected the Quest to pc to use the update tool, not to set up the Quest?🤔

       

        Choleni
        Choleni
        Honored Contributor
        June 29, 2026

        Whale_boy​  You already tried factory reset...... sorry, I didn't read carefully enough 🙄

        Bring the headset back............. one more thing.

        If you bought directly from Meta, definetely refund it and get your money back.

        Replacements are always refurbished headset. I'm fine with that, if the headset is already a few months old, but not if I even could set it up.

          Maccyb123
          Honored Contributor
          June 29, 2026

          Choleni. You might be right but did you see at the beginning of the post that he is trying to set up a brand new headset? He might have set up a Meta account on his pc and is trying to get it updated there. I've seen people trying to do that getting the same errors he's getting. He might have bypassed the Horizon app setup and connected directly to his pc. However, he doesn't make it exactly clear what he's doing so you might be right too. I did have a similar conversation with someone who went straight to pc to try to set it up....and was very annoyed that he needed to use a mobile phone! 😁 

            Choleni
            Choleni
            Honored Contributor
            June 29, 2026

            Maccyb123​  Yeah, I remember the conversation you mean.😉

            But how I understand Whale_boy​ , he turned on his headset, put in the wifi password and the Quest started updating..... just what a new headset normally does, but gets immediatly in a boot loop.

            He mentioned updating through the pc only after the headset was in that boot loop.🤷‍♀️

            But maybe you are right and I completely misunderstood what's going on🤪

              Whaleboy1660363Author
              New Participant
              June 29, 2026

              Yes I tried setting up with the app First it came on with the tutorial then asked for WiFi and password I put it in and comes up saying downloading update estimated time never gives a estimated time and the download goes straight to full then says applying software update it's says that for about 15 seconds then restarts and repeats that screen over and over this is what it has did from straight out the box the problem with sending back is I live in the Bahamas and have no way of sending back 😔 when I factory reset and go through the tutorial again it just does the same thing again. Which is why I then tried to side load the update as a last resort which I understand now doesn't work unless they have already been set up but I never get far enough to get the 5 digit code the app needs to Link.

                Whaleboy1660363Author
                New Participant
                June 29, 2026

                I set up the Meta account in the app after downloading the app 

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