My phone has gone into recovery mode, but I want to save my pictures before I restore it. What do I do?
iPhone 5
To anyone who is searching through this post looking for an answer to the original question, let me tell you this. NO.. YOUR INFORMATION IS NOT GONE AND YOU CAN STILL GET IT BACK. If your iphone is stuck in recovery mode, you can still get your photos, contacts, and any other information needed back again.
I know you're probably frustrated like I was of people saying things like "just restore from back up", or "you have to restore the iphone first to get it working again"...or suggesting tools like Dr. Fone, and TinyUmbrella which don't work at all because the phone isn't being recognized in Windows explorer or by the USB in general.
This is what you have to do. Repeat, this is ONLY for an iphone that is able to be turned on an all you get is the usb plug saying plug into itunes screen (the Recovery Mode screen).
This process is for Windows. I think some MAC users will be able to follow it also, but the instructions are for PC users.
1.) Turn your iphone on if it isn't already.
2.) Load up itunes (make sure you have the latest Itunes. I would even suggest that you uninstall your itunes if it isn't up to date, through Control Panel Add/Remove programs, and then go to the Itunes website and download the latest version.)
3.) When you load up Itunes, it will tell you that your iphone needs to be updated or restored. Just click okay or cancel to get that dialog box out of the way. Then just minimize the itunes for right now.
4.) Download the LATEST firmware for your correct model of iphone. Just choose your model from the drop down boxes. Once you've chosen everything, click the Download button. It will produce a link. Just click the link and take note of where that file downloads on your computer.
5.) Once the download finishes, go back to Itunes...and you'll have two buttons to click... Restore and Update. VERY IMPORTANT: Hold down the SHIFT key and click UPDATE (SHIFT + UPDATE) .
6.) A box will pop up to search for a file. Navigate to the folder that you downloaded the firmware file in step 4 to. And choose that file.
7.) Then Itunes will tell you things like Blah blah..this file might not work, if your phone can't be updated it will have to be restored....blah blah. Just click OK through all of that and start the update.
8.) Your phone will update to the latest firmware after a pretty lengthy process, maybe about 30-40 mins. Could be longer, but it will work. Don't get anxious, don't unplug the iphone because you think it's frozen or something. There will be times when it seems like it's not doing anything. Just sit back, put on a netflix movie, and continue to monitor the process from time to time. Soon your iphone will turn back on...and everything will be updated and back to normal.
BACK IT UP IMMEDIATELY 🙂
I hope this works for a lot of you out there, and I hope it gives those of you like me who felt there was no hope.......a little bit of relief.
<Edited by Host>
I tried it all. Multiple cords and computers. Other devices sync up no problem. What about a 3rd party vendor ? Even brought to the Apple Store. Same ****.. 🏼♂
What state, exactly, is your device in now? What do you see on the screen?
GB
I'm in New York. It's stuck on screen telling me to plug into iTunes.
Lol ok. So no way to recover some pictures? Some people say yes.. and some say no.. very confusing. The phone is not backed up so that is not an option.
Thanks. it works :-)
If you have a windows computer once you plug the phone in the computer you should get a prompt message that asks you if you want to import photos and videos. doing it that way you should be able to save photos and videos.
No recovery mode does not mean that the phone is wiped, its has just locked you out. Restoring the phone is what wipes it. I HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE AND IT WORKED. If the prompt message does not come up go to the start menu and click on computer, the device will show up along with the hard drive of the computer. Right click on the device and you will have the option to import pictures and videos. This only works with Windows computer though.
Again recovery mode does not wipe the phone -- even after a full erase all content and settings the data is not truly erase the hardware key is merely removed making the data inaccessible (apple article ht2110). However when in recovery mode you can still retrieve - only with a windows computer - and only pictures.
I wish I would have known this before-My phone went into recovery mode the other day after I did an update. Apple restored it getting all my information back but my pictures! I lost them all 😟. Although I dont remember seeing the iphone when I plugged into my Windows. The apple associate told me the "might" come back but have not! Stinks..any last ditch advice?
IF you don't know your stuff, KiltedTim, please don't reply argumentatively. If the phone is in recovery mode, it has corrupted files, just like any other hard drive. It hasn't been wiped until you fully restore. That's a pretty well known state of affairs.
The software linked to here, Mac Fonelab, worked beautifully for me. My iPhone went into recovery mode during a failed update, and by allowing the phone to simply restart with this software, the phone was fully restored (no data loss). Fortunately, I knew better than to initiate a recovery in iTunes prior to attempting the software restart.
YMMV, but this worked perfectly for me.
I had the same problem and the windows solution did not work for me. Note: I did not restore the ipad when the problem initially occured. I used RecBoot (free software for the mac - but I think it works with windows too http://www.hackintoshosx.com/files/download/2596-recboot-2-2-mac/). It detects the device when you connect it to the mac, then gives you the option to remove the device from recovery mode. Once I did this, it opened as usual in iTunes and iPhoto and all data was fine. I guess it must depend on the severity of the issue that has resulted in being put into recovery mode. Mine happened when an error occured during an update to IOS 8. Hope this helps.
For what it is worth I tried this on a windows 7 machine with an iPhone 5s that is in recovery mode and the phone was not seen by the windows. So opening the computer in the windows explorer did not show the phone device. (Problem happened when updating ios 7 to ios 8.) Looks like it works for some devices, just now all...
Seems like the webmasters edited ALOT of my previous post which basically makes it hard for anyone to follow who doesn't know what they are doing....on the borderline almost useless. So if you've read my previous post, and you aren't 100% sure on what exactly to do, I want to help as many people as possible because I know how frustrating this problem is.
<Personal Information Edited by Host>
Does this work? I am desperate for help. I forced quit during the ios8 verification process on my iphone 5. When I tried to re-start, it went into bootloop. I can set to recovery. I am SUCH an idiot, I haven't backed up my phone - again, I get it I am an idiot. All I care about are my photos and videos. Can someone please help me!
My phone has gone into recovery mode, but I want to save my pictures before I restore it. What do I do?
