All Android phones come with built-in recovery mode that is separate from the original operating system. The recovery mode is used to access different features of the phone without accessing the phone’s OS. The main function of the recovery mode is to fix the phone while staying away from the faulty OS of the phone.
If you own an Android phone, then it is very important for you to learn how to access this mode and how to utilize it. The process to access this mode depends on the manufacturer of your device and the model of your device. The options available in the Recovery mode may also vary, however, the basic concept is same for all Android phones.
In this tutorial, we are going to show you how you can access this mode on most Android phones and how you can use the available options to fix your phone.
Note: In recovery mode, the phone’s touch screen will not work, you will have to use the hardware buttons to navigate. To move between options, press Volume up and down button to move up and down respectively. You can press the Power button to select any of the options.
How To Access Android Recovery Mode
As we said, the basic concept is same, all you need to do is turn off the phone and turn it on by pressing specific keys (depending on the phone). On some phones you will enter Recovery mode directly and on others you may need to navigate through the different options to access Recovery mode.
Samsung Galaxy Series
- Turn off the phone (hold power button and select “Power Off” from the menu)
- Now, press and hold Power+Home+Volume Up buttons..
- Keep holding until device logo shows up and phone restarts again, you should enter recovery mode.
If you see a menu instead, then navigate (like mentioned above ) to “Recovery mode” option and press power button to enter.
Nexus Series
- Turn off the phone
- Press and hold Power+Volume Up+Volume Down buttons.
- Keep holding until you see a menu with Recovery mode option.
- Navigate to Recovery mode option and press Power button.
LG G Series
- Turn off the phone
- Press and hold Power+Volume down key until you see LG logo, and the menu to enter your phone recovery mode will show up.
- Just Navigate to Recovery mode option and press Power button.
HTC one Series
- First disable Fastboot by going to Settings > Battery and disabling Fastboot.
- Turn off the phone
- Press and Hold Power+Volume down key until you see a menu where you can navigate to “Recovery mode” and enter with Power button.
Motorola Droid Series
- Turn off the phone
- Press and hold Power+Home buttons.
- The phone will turn on and menu to enter recovery mode will show up.
- Navigate to “Recovery mode” option and press Power Button.
If your phone or manufacturer is not mentioned above, then try all of the methods mentioned above and one of them should work. If nothing works, then it is better to contact your manufacturer or check out your Phone’s official support page to see if you could get the key combination.
Recovery Mode Available options
The options available in recovery mode are different from manufacturer to manufacturer, however, there are some options that are common in all phones.
reboot system now
This is a plain reboot, which will restart your phone normally.
apply update from ADB
Using Android Debug Bridge (ADB) you can connect your phone to PC and provide commands right from your PC. This feature is mostly used by developers to fix bugs in applications.
wipe data/factory reset
Factory reset is the last resort for most android issues, you can just factory reset your phone and start over. However, this will also delete all your data, so make sure your phone data is backed up. This option is available from phone settings as well, but if you are locked out or can’t access the OS, then you can also reset from “Recovery mode”.
wipe cache partition
Wipe cache partition is not same as Application cache and cannot be deleted the same way. These are temporary files used in application installation mostly, no personal data is deleted along with them. However, they can sometime make the phone not work properly, so you can wipe them from “Recovery mode”.
If there are any questions or you need help with finding the key combination for your specific device, let us know in the comments, we might be able to help.
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