All smartphone smartphones and tablets have a different bootable partition that is not the standard Android operating system, and it is called the recovery mode. Most Android operating system running on a device have the recovery mode for applying updates, factory resets and even rooting the Android operating system. While Samsung does have the recovery mode like most other manufacturers and OEMs, the way in which we get there is unique.

Most manufacturers enter the bootloader mode which then gives them access to the recovery mode. On Samsung mobile devices, there is a button combination that skips the bootloader part and just goes directly into the recovery mode. It is from the recovery mode screen where we can do things like reboot the system now, apply update from ADB, apply update from external storage, wipe the data, apply a factory reset, wipe the cache partition, reboot to the bootloader, power it down, view the recovery logs, enable the CP logging and disable the CP logging.

Samsung Galaxy S4

You need to be careful what you press when in the recovery mode, The volume buttons are the ones that scroll through the list of choices so you can make your section and it is the power button that confirms a selection. It only takes one press of the power button to confirm your selection so don’t have a brain freeze or accidentally press Power when in the recovery mode unless you mean it.

Those of you who know Android on deep levels will be aware that there are two types of recovery mode: the stock recovery and the custom recovery. All of us can only install one of these at a time, so if you have a custom recovery installed then it is not possible to access the stock recovery partition and vise verse. It does not matter if you have a custom recovery or a stock recovery installed because the same hardware button combination is going to work for accessing the recovery mode. All you need to do is make sure you know what you want to do once you are inside. Both the stock and custom recovery environments have the same features available for updating and applying reset to recover a device. It is the custom version of the recovery that allows for the rooting and also gives more features to enhance ROM and kernel flashing.

Entering the Recovery Mode on the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone using the hardware button combination

  1. To boot the Samsung Galaxy S4 into recovery without a computer first you need to start by turning off the smartphone.
  2. Boot the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone holding down the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons at the same time.
  3. The Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone is now in the recovery environment.
  4. Scroll through the menu by pressing the Volume keys and confirm your selections by pressing the Power button.

In conclusion, that is how to boot the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone into the recovery mode using they hardware button combination. You may now do anything that you like on the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone from the list of options that are present from the recovery menu. The menu you see here is similar to what other smartphones show from the bootloader menu. The Samsung smartphones do not have a traditional bootloader menu screen. They have the download mode and then put the bootloader screen as the first thing you see from the recovery menu.