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 devices from nexus, pixel, most Motorola devices, and many other manufacturers.
However, if you are using a Samsung Android device, this method won’t work because Samsung Galaxy Devices use their own firmware-flashing software. Hence, we recommend using Odin to flash anything for Samsung Devices. You can learn what is custom recovery from our previous article.
Here is the complete tutorial on how to flash recovery via fastboot on your Android device.
Before taking any step further, we request you 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
- Recovery Image.
- Android device drivers.
- ADB and Fastboot Drivers.
- If Bootloader is available, then it should be unlocked. Read: Unlock HTC Bootloader, Unlock Sony Bootloader.
- USB Cable.
- Windows PC/Laptop.
- 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:
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Install your device drivers and Minimal ADB and Fastboot on your computer.
First, install drivers for your Android device so your computer can recognize your device correctly. You can download your device drivers from the link in the requirements section, or you can use the official site of your device manufacturer. For modern operating systems, you can skip this step, but if you have any issues with ADB and Fastboot, recognize your device. Give this step a try.
After that, install ADB and Fastboot on your computer. There are two ways to proceed here. You can install the complete Android SDK Tools from Google’s official site or just the Minimal ADB & Fastboot from the link in the requirements section. The former is little data and resource intensive.
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Enable USB Debugging
Enable USB Debugging On Your Device. (Go To Settings -> Developers Option -> Tick The USB Debugging Option)(In Case You Do 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)
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Connect your device to your computer via USB cable.
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Open Minimal ADB & Fastboot
Open Minimal ADB and Fastboot on your computer.
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Check Connection
To check whether your device is detected or not by the computer type “adb devices”
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Reboot into Bootloader
Reboot into bootloader mode using the command “adb reboot bootloader”. This will reboot your device and boot it up in the bootloader mode, where you can then use fastboot commands to proceed further.
If you don’t want to use adb to reboot into bootloader mode, you can do it manually. First, power off your Android device. Press the Volume Down and Power Button together and check if your device boots into bootloader mode. If not, repeat the process with Volume Up and Power Button.
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Copy recovery image to C drive and rename recovery image to recovery.img
As per your device, obtain the recovery image compatible with your phone model. Change the recovery image filename to recovery.img and move it to C drive.
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Flash the Recovery Image
Type the following command to flash the recovery image “fastboot flash recovery c:\recovery.img”
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Reboot Bootloader
Type the following command to reboot the bootloader “fastboot reboot bootloader”
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Erase Cache
Type the following command to erase cache “fastboot erase cache”
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Reboot the Device
Type the following command to reboot your device “fastboot reboot”
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Now disconnect your device.
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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.
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hello! can someone tell me how can i copy recovery image to drive c?
Hello Marius,
It’s very simple. Ctrl + C the downloaded image and go to drive C and press Ctrl + V. I hope you understand.
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.
Try to change to another usb port from computer
Yeah, that can possibly work!
Stuck at fastboot ‘waiting for device’ how to solve this?
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.
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.
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.
It says function had been switched of after booting to bootlader. what to do
Hello,
Unable to understand what you just said. Please explain.
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?
Yes Daniel, If you put the recovery file in the adb/fastboot folder, there is no need to write the full path!
i did everything as mentioned but when i finally tried fastboot reboot, it got stuck on boot animation, what do i do
Hey Akash,
From where did you download the recovery image? Was it meant specifically for your phone? Was the bootloader unlocked?
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.
Now the command for reboot is fastboot reboot-bootloader
Cheers
I guess the both may work as mentioned here: https://source.android.com/docs/core/architecture/bootloader/fastbootd