The Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone is the current 2015 flagship smartphone for the Sammy brand. I have one of these S6’s in my house and they are a great handset. The quality is so good that the last thing you want to do is tinker with the OS or internal hardware if you don’t know how to fix it. If you did find yourself unable to fix a soft bricked Samsung Galaxy S6, we can help you with everything you need. Thankfully with Samsung mobile devices, these solutions are never too difficult; this is why I love Samsung devices so much.
We will go through the list of things to try to fix a bricked Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone. We will start the list by including the easiest things first and finish with the last resorts to take to fix the Galaxy S6. By the end of the guide you will have an S6 like it was new out of the box.
The files You Need
If you are choosing to flash a new stock ROM on your device, you will need that stock ROM file. There are two websites where you can download the stock ROM for Samsung devices. The main website is Sam Mobile and the other website is Samsung-Updates. Both should have your stock ROM available. Be sure to enter your model number/search for your model number to get the correct stock Android ROM for your Samsung Galaxy S6.
If you need to boot into the recovery mode and have root access, but cannot get it done via the hardware keys, you can download the Quick Boot app from the Google Play Store. With the Quick Boot app, it will automatically put you in the recovery mode. The only thing is it doesn’t work unless you have root access; thus it doesn’t help anyone without root access. Root access is a custom operation on your device which does not come with the device as stock out of the box. if you don’t know what root access is, then you probably do not have it.
Moreover, if you do decide to install a stock ROM you’ll need the Samsung USB drivers. You can download them on the computer from the Samsung website or by installing Samsung Kies.
Unbricking The Samsung Galaxy S6
Take a master reset/factory reset
Make sure you backup the device data before taking a master reset. If you are suffering from a bricked S6 that’s so bad that you cannot backup the device, you should skip to installing the stock ROM. It’s a hard operation but does not wipe the data. Restoring the device and applying a factory reset does wipe the data clean, including pictures, videos, settings and restore the device just like it was out of the box.
To get the factory reset done, you need to enter the recovery mode. Entering the stock recovery mode is done by Long-pressing the Power button for a long time until you know the device is off and not sleeping. Now reboot the Samsung Galaxy S6 holding the Home + Power + Volume Up buttons. You should now get a new menu where you can use the Volume keys to navigate through the list until you see ‘recovery’. Click the Power button once to enter. Once you are in the recovery mode, navigate to the wipe data/factory reset option and you’re done.
Installing the Galaxy S6 stock Android ROM
Download one of the Odin apps — for this device, we recommend installing something around Odin 3.09. Now head to Sam Mobile and type your model number in the search box below where it says ‘firmware’. Download that firmware file directly to your computer. Extract the firmware file so you can see it on the desktop. Now open the Odin flashing tool and click the AP/PDA button. browse the desktop for the stock ROM and flash it by clicking the Start button from the Odin app for a computer.