Galaxy S6: How to Boot into Recovery Mode

Recovery mode is use to do things like a factory reset or wiping the cache partition. So let’s go through the step by step process for how to boot the Galaxy S6 into recovery mode.

Here at Android Explained I talk a lot about doing some fairly heavy modifications to both smartphones and tablets alike. When doing some of these modifications to the core Android OS, there can be times when we mess up(or the mod messes things up) and it can result in some very scary bootloops.

If you created a Nandroid backup then you can simply restore from the backup to fix things but this isn’t possible with the stock recovery.

So unless you can fix whatever ended up messing things up via ADB or Fastboot, then you’re most likely going to have to boot up into the recovery mode and do a factory reset. In the stock recovery, we can also perform some tasks like wiping the cache partition and applying an update from cache/external storage/ADB. Whichever task you need to perform to fix your Galaxy S6, booting into the recovery mode is something that everyone should know how to do.

So let’s dive in and find out how we can access this stock(and custom) recovery mode.

Galaxy S6 Recovery Mode

1. Power Down the Galaxy S6
2. Press and Hold the Power Button, Volume Up Button and the Home Buttons at the Same Time
3. Continue Holding These Buttons Until You See Some Blue Text at the Top
4. When You See the ‘Recovery Booting….” Text, Then Let Go of These Buttons
5. Wait Until the Galaxy S6 Fully Boots into the Recovery Mode

Explanation

If you have root access and you have installed an application like Flashify, then you can simply boot into the recovery mode with that app but for the rest of us, we need to follow the steps above. So you’re going to need to power down the Galaxy S6 first. Once the it has been shut off, you’ll want to press and hold the Power button, Home button and the Volume Up buttons at the same time. It might take a few tries before you get this right but once you get it once it starts to become easier.

Watch the top of the screen because you’re going to need to continue holding these three buttons down until you see some text at the top of the screen that says “Recovery Booting….”. This is the traditional message that appears when you boot up a Samsung device into recovery mode and once you see that text, then you can let go of all three buttons. It might take a few seconds to fully boot into recovery mode so just let the Galaxy S6 do its thing and then you’ll eventually see a little green Android appear on the screen.

After you see the little green Android, wait a little longer and then you should be instantly taken to the standard Recovery Mode menu. If you are prompted by a warning message, just confirm that everything is ok and then you’ll be taken to the recovery mode menu. When you are in the recovery mode, the touch screen does not work. You will have to navigate/control the selector controls with the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons. Once you have highlighted the option you want to select, then press the Power button.

Be careful what you are doing here because you could end up doing a factory reset if you select the wrong option. When you are ready to leave the Galaxy S6 recovery mode, all you have to do is highlight the ‘Reboot System Now” and then press the Power button. Once you select this option, the Galaxy S6 will reboot and as long as you aren’t holding down those three buttons like before, then you will be taken directly into the standard Android OS.

If you have any troubles with this tutorial, or if you come across an issue while performing the steps, don’t hesitate to leave me a comment at the bottom of this guide. I might not be able to reproduce the issues you are having but I will certainly do my best to help in any way that I can.