Galaxy Note 5: How to Boot into Recovery Mode

Recovery Mode on the Galaxy Note 5 is important if you want to do things like do a factory reset so let’s talk about how to boot into this special mode today.

There can be a lot of reasons why someone would need to boot into the Galaxy Note 5 to do something like a factory reset. Sometimes a custom modification doesn’t work out right and it can cause the device to go into a bootloop. This means that you are unable to boot into Android and you’ll need to boot into Recovery Mode so that you can reset everything.

There are also times when things like performance and battery life just aren’t what they seem like the should be and a factory reset can sometimes fix this issue.

I know personally, I will do a factory reset on a smartphone or tablet the very second I pull it out of the box. It’s mainly just a habit I have picked up along the way but I would rather reset everything very quickly than to spend an hour or two setting everything up and then find out that I need to do a factory reset after. Booting into recovery mode is also the way that we access custom recoveries like TWRP and CWM. Since these custom recoveries end up replacing the original recovery, you’ll need to follow these same steps if you want to boot up into a custom recovery as well.

Booting into recovery mode is a very similar process to what we talked about yesterday with booting the Galaxy Note 5 into Safe Mode. We’re going to be pressing and holding certain buttons during the boot up process and this is how we access the special mode. So let’s look at how this is done.

Galaxy Note 5 Recovery Mode

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

Explanation

If you have root access to the Galaxy Note 5, then you can install an application like Flashify and tell the device to reboot into recovery mode while the device is powered on. Not everyone roots their smartphone though and not everyone wants to install an application just to boot into a simple menu and this is why I like to write-up these tutorials. As you can see from the steps above, the process is very simple and it just takes holding down a few buttons while the Galaxy Note 5 is booting up.

It can take a time or two before you get the hang of it though so don’t get discouraged. While holding these three buttons down during the boot process, keep your eye on the top of the screen and look for this ‘Recovery Booting’ message that appears. Once you see this, then you know you have done the process correctly and you’ll want to let go of these three buttons. It can take a few seconds to fully boot into the Galaxy Note 5 recovery mode so there is no need to panic if it feels like it might be stuck. Just let the Galaxy Note 5 do its thing and it’ll boot properly.

Once you have booted up into the Galaxy Note 5 Recovery Mode, you’ll need to control the highlighter/selector with the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons. When you would like to select a menu option, simply press the Home button and it will select it. Sadly, this is the only way to control and navigate through the stock recovery mode because the touch screen doesn’t respond. If you install a custom recovery like TWRP though, then the touch screen is active and you can navigate through the menus with taps instead of button presses.

When you’re ready to leave the Galaxy Note 5 Recovery Mode, go ahead and highlight the ‘Reboot System Now’ option and then press the Home button to select it. Your Galaxy Note 5 will reboot into the regular Android OS and everything will be how it was.