diff --git a/selfdrive/ui/qt/setup/reset.cc b/selfdrive/ui/qt/setup/reset.cc
index c9e0525784..82fd5a7820 100644
--- a/selfdrive/ui/qt/setup/reset.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/ui/qt/setup/reset.cc
@@ -97,6 +97,11 @@ Reset::Reset(ResetMode mode, QWidget *parent) : QWidget(parent) {
     body->setText(tr("Unable to mount data partition. Partition may be corrupted. Press confirm to erase and reset your device."));
   }
 
+  // automatically start if we're just finishing up an ABL reset
+  if (mode == ResetMode::FORMAT) {
+    startReset();
+  }
+
   setStyleSheet(R"(
     * {
       font-family: Inter;
@@ -124,6 +129,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
   if (argc > 1) {
     if (strcmp(argv[1], "--recover") == 0) {
       mode = ResetMode::RECOVER;
+    } else if (strcmp(argv[1], "--format") == 0) {
+      mode = ResetMode::FORMAT;
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/selfdrive/ui/qt/setup/reset.h b/selfdrive/ui/qt/setup/reset.h
index 8bf368e3e8..2e0784cdc9 100644
--- a/selfdrive/ui/qt/setup/reset.h
+++ b/selfdrive/ui/qt/setup/reset.h
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 enum ResetMode {
   USER_RESET, // user initiated a factory reset from openpilot
   RECOVER,    // userdata is corrupt for some reason, give a chance to recover
+  FORMAT,     // finish up a factory reset from a tool that doesn't flash an empty partition to userdata
 };
 
 class Reset : public QWidget {