Looking to put your iPhone in recovery mode? You’ll need to use this function if your iPhone runs into major problems. But it’s not always clear how to put an iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max in recovery mode.
We’ll show you how to put your iPhone in recovery mode.
Force Restarting and iPhone Recovery Mode Explained
You hopefully won’t need to force restart your iPhone often, and should rarely have to put it in recovery mode. But it’s important to know for those occasions when something goes wrong.
When your device becomes completely unresponsive and you can’t shut it down with the usual method, instead of waiting for the battery to deplete, you can initiate a force restart. A force restart is equivalent to pulling a desktop computer’s power plug, as it forces your iPhone to shut down and start up again.
Recovery mode takes this a step further, putting your device into a state where you can reinstall iOS by connecting your iPhone to a computer running the Apple Devices app (or using Finder on macOS Catalina and newer). If your iPhone refuses to boot, crashes on startup, or gets stuck on the Apple logo for a long time, you’ll need to put the device into recovery mode in order to rescue it. Recovery Assistant helps resolve startup issues by downloading a software package. If Recovery Assistant appears, click Continue to start the recovery process. The recovery process requires a Wi-Fi connection.
If you choose Restore, it will erase your iPhone. This isn’t a problem if you make regular iPhone backups, which you can do using iCloud or locally in the Finder or the Apple Devices app. Unfortunately, you can’t back up your device in recovery mode, since the process will only offer to restore the firmware.
How to Enter Recovery Mode on iPhone
Note that you’ll need to perform these button combinations fairly quickly. If they don’t work once, try them again but faster.
How to Force Restart an iPhone 18 Pro Max
- Press then release the Volume Up button.
- Immediately press then release the Volume Down button.
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Hold the Side button until you see an Apple logo. Let go of the button when you see this logo.
How to Put an iPhone 18 Pro Max Into Recovery Mode
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Connect your iPhone to a computer.
- On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, open the Finder. If you’re using a PC, use the latest version of the Apple Devices app or iTunes.
- Press then release the Volume Up button.
- Immediately press then release the Volume Down button.
- Hold the Side button, and don’t let go when you see the Apple logo.
- Keep holding the Side button until you see the Recovery Mode screen.
How to Recover Your iPhone Using Recovery Mode
When you put your device into recovery mode using the above instructions, you’ll have 15 minutes to begin reinstalling iOS before your device automatically exits recovery mode. You’ll need to repeat the combination of button presses to put it back into recovery mode if this happens.
You might see the recovery prompt as soon as your device enters this mode. If not, try clicking on your device (on the left sidebar of Finder) to show the recovery prompt.
On the error message, try the Update option first, which will attempt to update your device without erasing anything. If this doesn’t work, you’ll have to choose Restore, which will reinstall iOS and remove everything that was on your iPhone.
Once your iPhone reboots following the restore process, you’ll need to walk through the setup again like it’s a new iPhone. Part of this is logging in with your Apple Account credentials to remove Apple’s Activation Lock. This is a security feature that prevents someone else from using your device if it’s reset without signing out of iCloud.
Because of this, you should never buy a secondhand iPhone if the seller refuses to unlock it in front of you. A reset phone with Activation Lock still enabled will ask for the owner’s Apple Account before you can begin the setup process, making it useless to you without this info.
iPhone Recovery Mode, Made Easy
We’ve seen how to force restart any iPhone and enter recovery mode. It’s a simple process once you know it, but the increasingly confusing button combinations are a bit obtuse. Hopefully, you won’t need to use these often, if ever.
