How to Boot Samsung Devices into Recovery Mode

If you want to hard reset your Samsung Galaxy device to fix overheating issues or lag in performance, you can do it via Samsung Recovery Mode. While there is no Samsung Recovery Mode tool available, you can get into the Recovery Mode on your Samsung phone or tablet using the hardware key combination and ADB command.

What is Recovery Mode on Samsung?

Recovery mode is a very useful feature found on all Android devices including Samsung. Using the Recovery Mode, you can perform a factory reset, wipe data, and cache partitions. These actions can help you fix some problems on your device. Moreover, you can also install the OTA update.zip package from Samsung to update your device software manually. If you’re having trouble with your Samsung Galaxy phone, you may be able to solve the problem by putting it into Recovery Mode. The mode is designed to help troubleshoot and fix issues with your phone.

Android Recovery Mode Options Explained

• Reboot to bootloader: You can use this option to enter the Download Mode on Samsung devices right from the Recovery Menu.
• Apply update from ADB: By selecting this option, you can flash the OTA update.zip file using the ‘adb sideload <file name>‘ command on your computer. Obviously, you will have to connect your device to the computer via a USB cable.

  adb sideload ota.zip

• Apply update from SD card: If you have the OTA zip, you can install it by placing the update package file on your Samsung phone’s storage. Just boot into the Recovery Mode, select this option, navigate to the update file, select it, and confirm.
• Wipe data/factory reset: As the very name suggests, you can use this option to wipe all data on your Samsung device and reset it to the factory state. Before you perform a factory reset to fix some minor problem on your phone, you should try to diagnose the problem using Safe Mode on your Samsung Galaxy device.
• Wipe cache partition: The cache partition keeps all cache data and by selecting this option you can clean all the accumulated cache on your phone.
• Mount/ system: Using this option, you can mount the System partition on your Android and modify anything on this partition via your computer.
• View recovery logs: The recovery logs on Android devices keep a record of all activities done via the recovery mode.
• Run graphics test: This option can be used to test the GPU (graphics processing unit) on Android devices. Since this option is not meant to be used by consumers. When I tried running a graphics test on my Galaxy Note 10 +, it started updating apps and erasing something. I thought it would wipe my phone but it didn’t.
• Run locale test: This, again, is not supposed to be used by normal users and is meant for app developers. This test helps developers “simulate the characteristics of languages that cause UI, layout, and other translation-related problems“.
• Reboot system now: Using this option, you can reboot your system in user mode.
• Power off: Select this option to turn off your Samsung phone or tablet.
• Repair apps: If any system app gets corrupted or you are having issues using apps, you can use this option to repair the apps.

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Enter Recovery Mode on Samsung Devices

I already wrote a detailed tutorial on booting into the Samsung Download Mode with and without keys. While there is no Samsung Recovery Mode tool available, you can still reboot your Samsung device into the Recovery Mode with and without pressing the hardware keys.

Samsung Recovery Mode Key Combinations

You can use a hardware key combination to boot into the recovery. Depending on your Samsung Galaxy phone’s model, you’ll need to use one of the following key combinations.

Samsung Devices with Home, Power, and Volume Keys

If your Samsung phone has a Home button, you can get into the Recovery Mode as follows.

1. Power off your device.
2. Hold the Volume Up + Home + Power keys at the same time for 5-7 seconds.
3. As soon as you see the Samsung logo, release the Power key but keep the other two buttons pressed until you see the screen with Android Recovery written on the top.

Samsung Devices with Power and Volume Keys

If your Samsung Galaxy phone has only the Power and Volume buttons, here’s how you can enter the Recovery Mode.

1. Turn off your device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up + Power keys together for about 5 seconds.

Samsung Phones with Power, Bixby, and Volume Keys

1. Power off your Samsung Galaxy device.
2. Hold the Volume Up + Bixby + Power keys simultaneously for about 5 seconds.
3. Keep the buttons pressed until the recovery menu appears.

Samsung Devices with Volume and Power/Bixby Keys

On the latest high-end and flagship Samsung devices like Galaxy S20, Note 10, Galaxy A80, etc., you can enter the recovery mode by using the following hardware key combination.

1. Power off your phone.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up + Power buttons for 5 seconds.

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Galaxy S22 and S23 Recovery Mode

If you own a Samsung Galaxy S2 or S22, none of the methods described above might work for you. Here’s how you boot a Galaxy S21, S22, S23, and newer Galaxy phones into the Recovery Mode.

1. Turn off your Samsung device.
2. Connect your phone to your desktop or laptop using a USB cable and instantly press and hold the Volume Up and Power keys at the same time.
3. Just as the Samsung Galaxy logo shows up on your phone’s screen, release both keys and wait until the device boots into Recovery mode.

Alternatively, you can also try the following method in which you don’t need to turn off your phone.

1. Connect your Samsung Galaxy phone to a computer using a USB cable.
2. Hold the power button to bring up the Power Menu. You can also access the Power Menu from the Quick Settings screen.
3. Tap on the Reboot option.
4. When the screen goes black, hold the Volume Up + Power buttons simultaneously.
5. Keep the buttons pressed until you see the Samsung Galaxy screen.
6. Release both keys and your Samsung phone will enter the Recovery Mode.

Boot into Recovery Mode without Pressing Hardware Keys

ADB commands do many things on Android devices and you can use them to reboot into the Recovery Mode as well. You can the ‘adb reboot recovery‘ command to reboot any Android device into the Recovery Mode. Needless to mention you’ll need a PC or laptop to be able to do this.

1. Download the latest SDK Platform-tools.zip for your Windows, macOS, or Linux computer and extract it on your desktop.
2. Navigate to the platform-tools folder that contains the ADB and Fastboot files.
3. Launch the command window from this folder by typing “cmd” in the folder address bar and pressing the Enter key.
4. Make sure to install the Samsung USB driver on your computer and enable USB debugging on the device.
5. Connect your Samsung phone or tablet to the computer via the USB cable that came with your device.
6. Execute the following command to check that your device is properly connected to the ADB server.

   adb devices

7. Now type the following command and press the Enter key on your keyboard.

   adb reboot recovery

8. Your Samsung Galaxy phone or tablet will reboot into the Recovery Mode without pressing any hardware keys.

Note: You can exit the Recovery Mode on Samsung devices by selecting the Reboot system now option.

Don’t forget to check out our super-detailed list of ADB Shell commands and Fastboot commands to explore the full potential of the command-line tool for Android.

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