Android recovery mode

The Android recovery mode is a mode of Android used for installing updates and wipe data. It consists of a Linux kernel with ramdisk on a separate partition from the main Android system.

Recovery mode can be useful when a phone is stuck in a bootloop or when it has been infected with malware.

Enablement
The way of entering recovery is different for every vendor.

Examples:


 * Zebra and symbol devices: left scan/action button


 * Nexus 7:  +   +
 * Samsung Galaxy S3:  +   +
 * Motorola Droid X:  +
 * Older Samsung devices [home]
 * Samsung Galaxy A10s:  +

Features
Features of the recovery mode usually include:


 * Applying updates using the Android Debug Bridge
 * Applying updates from the SD card
 * Hard resetting
 * Mounting partitions
 * Running a system test

Custom recovery
The recovery that is preinstalled on Android can be replaced by other software, such as TWRP, OrangeFox or ClockWorkMod. It can include features such as:


 * Full backup and restore functionality
 * Applying unsigned update packages
 * USB mass storage access to SD cards
 * Full ADB access, with ADB running as root