HomeHow ToHow to Flash Recovery Image Using ADB and Fastboot

How to Flash Recovery Image Using ADB and Fastboot

Bootloader mode (Fastboot mode) allows you to do various amazing things. You can flash any partition using this mode. If you are familiar with the android stuff, these are .img that can be flashed via fastboot mode.

In some devices, you need to flash recovery image using ADB and Fastboot. Majorly this applies to the device which has Google’s stock UI such as nexus, pixel, most Motorola device, etc. You can learn what is custom recovery from our previous article is.

Here is the complete tutorial on how you can flash recovery via fastboot on your Android device.

Before taking any step further, we request you to take a backup of your Android device. This will be very useful if something goes wrong while flashing. In almost all cases, everything will work out fine.

Requirements

  1. Recovery Image.
  2. Android device drivers.
  3. ADB and Fastboot Drivers.
  4. If Bootloader is available, then it should be unlocked. Read: Unlock HTC Bootloader, Unlock Sony Bootloader.
  5. USB Cable.
  6. Windows PC/Laptop.
  7. An Android Device. ;)

Steps To Flash Recovery Image Using ADB and Fastboot

Follow these steps to flash the recovery image to your android device using ADB and Fastboot:

  1. Install your device drivers and Minimal ADB and Fastboot on your computer.

  2. Enable USB Debugging

    Enable USB Debugging On Your Device.(Go To Settings -> Developers Option -> Tick The USB Debugging Option)(In Case You Does Not Find Developer Options In Your Device Then Go To Settings -> About -> Tap On Build Number Many Times…A Pop Will Show That You Are Now A Developer….)

  3. Connect your device to your computer via USB cable.

  4. Open Minimal ADB & Fastboot

    Minimal Adb &Amp; Fastboot

    Open Minimal ADB and Fastboot on your computer.

  5. Check Connection

    Adb Devices

    To check whether your device is detected or not by the computer type “adb devices”

  6. Reboot into Bootloader

    Reboot into bootloader mode using the command “adb reboot bootloader”

  7. Copy recovery image to C drive and rename recovery image to recovery.img

  8. Flash the Recovery Image

    Type the following command to flash the recovery image “fastboot flash recovery c:\recovery.img”

  9. Reboot Bootloader

    Type the following command to reboot the bootloader “fastboot reboot bootloader”

  10. Erase Cache

    Type the following command to erase cache “fastboot erase cache”

  11. Reboot the Device

    Type the following command to reboot your device “fastboot reboot”

  12. Now disconnect your device.

  13. You have successfully flashed the recovery image to your Android device

    If you are looking forward to rooting your Android device, you can easily Root Android Device Using Custom Recovery.

Thank you for reading this post, and keep connected to Tech Arrival to continue enjoying wonderful posts. Share your views about this post in the comment section below. If you still have any queries, throw them in the comment section.

If you find this post helpful, don’t hesitate to share this post on your social network. It will only take a moment, and also it is quite easy and helpful for others.


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Published By

Mehul Boricha
Mehul Boricha is the founder of Tech Arrival & Astute Links. He is a computer and smartphone geek from Junagadh, Gujarat, India. He is a Computer Engineer by Education & an Entrepreneur by Passion. Apart from technology geek, he is an audiophile & loves to connect with people.

22 COMMENTS

    • Hello Marius,

      It’s very simple. Ctrl + C the downloaded image and go to drive C and press Ctrl + V. I hope you understand.

  1. Hello,
    Always stuck in final step sending ‘recovery’… forever. :(
    I was changed many folders and tried change file name but same result.
    Any solutions??

    Here is copy of command message:
    C:\adb>adb devices
    List of devices attached
    * daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
    * daemon started successfully *
    LGM210fe3eaa43 device

    C:\adb>adb reboot bootloader

    C:\adb>fastboot flash recovery c:\recovery.img
    target reported max download size of 262144000 bytes
    sending ‘recovery’ (16376 KB)…

    • Hello Han,

      It seems like there is something wrong with the connection of the device or bootloader. Never came across such problem in my life. So don’t know about it yet. Will let you know if I find what is causing this issue and probably a fix.

      • Hello,
        Thank you for your reply.
        This phone is LG Aristo Nougat 7.0
        This phone is my second phone, not main.
        I just interesting about install custom recovery using ADB and then root.
        I was tried many methods for installing custom recovery but all faild.
        Tried change COM port and USB port too.
        My computer properly detected connecting phone to PC.

        Anyway, this is not important for me I just interesting and I will keep search. :)
        Thank you very much anyway.

    • Have you booted your phone to fastboot mode? If yes then there is some problem with the connection. Most probably your computer does not have fastboot drivers for your device. To check that kindly go to device manager and see whether your device is recognized as a fastboot device or not.

  2. Erasing cache did not go through, Help please.

    D:\_Downloads\Lenovo P70-A\adb>fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
    target reported max download size of 134217728 bytes
    sending ‘recovery’ (13614 KB)…
    OKAY [ 0.454s]
    writing ‘recovery’…
    OKAY [ 0.861s]
    finished. total time: 1.320s

    D:\_Downloads\Lenovo P70-A\adb>fastboot reboot-bootloader
    rebooting into bootloader…
    OKAY [ 0.004s]
    finished. total time: 0.004s

    D:\_Downloads\Lenovo P70-A\adb>fastboot erase cache
    ******** Did you mean to fastboot format this partition?
    erasing ‘cache’…
    FAILED (remote: unknown command)
    finished. total time: 0.003s

    • Hello Lexy,

      I don’t know why that happened but you can continue without it. But it still you want to clear the cache manually then I will recommend you to manually boot into recovery menu and clear the cache from there. Otherwise, I will recommend you to give it a go without clearing the cache.

  3. hey guys,it’s showing the following lines after following the steps
    target didn’t report max-download-size
    sending ‘recovery’ (8886 KB)…
    OKAY [ 0.280s]
    writing ‘recovery’…
    FAILED (remote:
    partition ‘recovery’ not support flash)
    finished. total time: 0.299s
    plz help me out.

    • Hello Shivam,

      Please provide more details including your device make and model, from where you got the file, etc.

  4. Hello, I have an quick question:
    If i remove the “c:/”, and just put: fastboot flash recovery [file_name].img, does it works in the same way?

  5. Hi, xiaomi mi 10T lite 5G – bootloader LOCK
    I have this phone from few months, it is amazing till 2 days ago when I did update it OTA – from xiaomi
    now my phone just bootloop in MI logo

    I don`t know how to :( please help

    • If it’s only been a couple of months since you got the phone. Try contacting the Xiaomi Support and get them to flash new firmware for free in their service center.

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