There are a number of special “boot modes” that virtually every Android device has. A popular and very essential one is called Recovery Mode and it is available on the Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and the Galaxy S10e. Today I will be walking you through the process to boot these smartphones into this special boot mode.
The hardware of the Samsung Galaxy S10 alone is a combination of some of the best in the mobile industry that you can find. Getting these hardware components to work properly requires the software to run smoothly. Sadly, the software isn’t flawless and there can be some hiccups that occur from time to time.
Whether this is a combination of settings from Samsung’s own software (QA can only do so much) or a 3rd-party piece of software (like a mod) that has conflicts. It can even be caused by an official OTA update that we always see those notifications for.
Conflicts from software updates are a big reason why so many people don’t care about them.
This type of stuff is common for even the most average of users but the chances escalate when we begin modding the device. If one of these conflicts happens and you are unable to boot into Android then you will need to boot the Galaxy S10 into Recovery Mode for a factory reset.
Recovery Mode is used for more than just doing a factory reset, and I’ll talk about them in the future, but it is the most common use.
So let me walk you through the process and show you how to boot the smartphone into this special boot mode.
Time needed: 3 minutes
How to Boot the Samsung Galaxy S10 into Recovery Mode
- Press and hold the Power button for a few seconds to bring up the Power Menu
- Tap the Power Off button twice and wait until the smartphone completely shuts off
- Then press and hold the following three buttons at the same time. . .
Power Button, Bixby Button, Volume Up Button
- You will feel the phone vibrate when it turns on and you see the Galaxy S10 splash screen
And you will want to continue holding these three buttons down
- After the splash screen appears you should see a blue screen for a second before you are taken to Recovery Mode
Then let go of these three buttons when you see the stock Android recovery menu or your custom recovery menu.
I started off this article by telling you how useful the Recovery Mode is when you are unable to boot into Android. When I show you how to do a factory reset on the Galaxy S10 in the future, I will show you how it’s done within Android and through this special boot mode called Recovery Mode.
However, there are a number of other things that you can use this boot mode for. As you can see from the final image of the tutorial above, there are a lot of options to choose from. Things like mounting /system, viewing recovery logs, and running a graphics test are some that are rarely used though.
At least by me (and I presume the average user as well). But there are a number of other things we can do from here such as wiping the cache partition, manually installing an OTA update via ADB or an SD card, and more. When you first get into Recovery Mode the Reboot System Now option will be highlighted by default.
Navigating the Galaxy S10 Recovery Mode
You should be aware that the touchscreen does not work in Android’s stock Recovery Mode main menu. Instead, you will be forced to use the Volume and Power buttons to navigate through the menu. The Volume Up and Volume Down buttons let you control which option is highlighted.
And then once you are ready to select one of the options you simply have to press the Power button to select the highlighted option. There really isn’t anything more to it. I’ve just seen a few people confused and asking me why the touch screen doesn’t work in the stock recovery menu.
Now, if you have TWRP installed as your custom recovery then the process is the same for booting the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 Lite, Galaxy S10+, and the Galaxy S10e into it. All TWRP does is replace your current recovery image with a new one so boot into it remains the same.
Although, the folks behind TWRP have enabled touch screen navigation so you won’t need to use the Volume and Power buttons there.
How to Boot the Galaxy S10 Out of Recovery Mode
As mentioned, there are a number of things that we can do while in recovery mode and I will be covering the important ones in a future update. However, once you are done doing what you need then you want to get back into Android. To do that, make sure you are on the main menu screen.
Then, simply make sure the Reboot System Now option is highlighted (by using the Volume Up or Volume Down button) and then press the Power button to select it. You will then go through your normal boot cycle with the splash screen and the Samsung animation.
If you did a factory reset beforehand, this process will take longer than a normal reboot. However, if you were just exploring or booted into Recovery Mode by accident, then you will see the Android lock screen fairly quickly.
Experiencing difficulties with your Device, check out our “How To” page on how to resolve some of these issues.
