How to Boot the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ into Recovery Mode

One of the important Android boot modes that everyone should know about is Recovery Mode. This can help out a lot as it provides a number of important tools and it’s also a way to boot into the custom Galaxy S9 Recovery Mode after you have installed something like TWRP.

There are a number of special boot modes built into Android with certain OEMs opting for some and not others. For example, Samsung devices do not have a Fastboot Mode (which is commonly referred to as Bootloader Mode) even though there is an option for it in its stock Recovery Mode.

Instead, this has been replaced with a Download Mode which somewhat allows you to do the same thing except you need a specific piece of software to interface with it instead of traditional fastboot commands.

HTC is known for using Download Mode as well but a special boot mode that virtually all Android devices have is Recovery Mode. Most people will boot into Recovery Mode if they ever run into a bootloop and/or need to perform a factory reset on the device. There are other functions that you can trigger in the Galaxy S9 Recovery Mode and I’ll show you these in later guides. But for now, I just want to focus on telling you how you can boot the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ into and out of Recovery Mode.

Boot into the Galaxy S9 Recovery Mode

1. Press the Power button for a few seconds to display Samsung’s Power Menu
2. Tap the Power Off option at the top
3. Then tap the Power Off option again to initiate the shutdown process
4. Wait for the Galaxy S9 to complete power down before proceeding
5. When ready, press and hold the Power, Bixby and Volume Up buttons at the same time
6. Continue holding these three buttons down past the Samsung logo splash screen
7. Once that splash screen goes away, you should see it take you to another screen
8. As soon as you see this secondary splash screen go ahead and let go of all three of these buttons
9. You will need to navigate this menu by using the Volume Up, Volume Down and Power buttons

Explanation

As mentioned, the most common reason someone needs to boot into the stock Android Recovery Mode is to perform a factory reset. If you have TWRP installed as your custom recovery though, you will go through this same process to boot into TWRP so that you can flash ZIP files, create Nandroid backups, and more. Even if you are sticking with the stock Galaxy S9 Recovery Mode though, there are some other tasks that we can do as well. Again, I’ll be covering these in individual tutorials later on.

So similarly to how we booted the Galaxy S9 into Download Mode yesterday, we’re going to need to power down the device again. You can do this anyway you want and it depends on what state the device is in. If you are able to boot into Android then just press and hold the Power button to bring up the Power menu and then tap the Power Off option twice to begin the process. If you’re currently stuck in a bootloop though then you can try pressing and holding the Power button for 10 seconds or so.

Sometimes that forces a restart instead of a shutdown so if that is the case then you’ll want to proceed to Step 5 of the guide above right when you notice the device reboots. The goal here is to be pressing and holding the Power, Bixby and Volume Up buttons together at the same time during the initial boot cycle. Continue holding these three buttons down through the Samsung logo splash screen as it will soon take you right into the Galaxy S9 Recovery Mode menu.

From here, you will need to control the highlighted option by pressing the Volume Up or Volume Down buttons. Once you have highlighted the option you want to select, go ahead and press the Power button to choose that option. If you accidentally booted into the Galaxy S9 Recovery Mode and want to get out of it, just be sure to highlight the Reboot System Not option and then press the Power button. This will restart the Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ and take you right back into the Android OS.