Find out how to flash a new recovery/recovery screen on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 27 or iPadOS 27 to fix problems or wipe your device and start over.
If you have a Mac, you may have used recovery mode to reinstall macOS (if your computer wasn’t working properly). Or you may have used the recovery mode screen to boot into a second installation of macOS, such as macOS 27 Golden Gate, which you installed on the same Mac build.
On a similar note, iOS 27 now lets you boot to a recovery screen that gives you options to diagnose problems, update software, wipe the device, and more (all explained below).
The process of flashing a new recovery mode screen on iPhone and iPad is the same as on MacBook and Mac desktops.
Boot your iPhone or iPad into recovery mode
1) Update your device to iOS 27 or iPadOS 27 (both are currently in beta).
2) Turn off your iPhone or iPad if it’s already on.
3) Wait for 1 minute to ensure that your device is turned off properly.
4) Press and hold i The power button on the side of the iPhone or i The top power button for the iPad. Now you will:
- See the Apple logo that appears when you turn on the device. Keep pressing the power button.
- Soon, you’ll see’Keep holding on to get well…” on the screen. Keep pressing the power button until you see “Loading options to get…“.
Your iPhone or iPad will enter a new recovery/recovery screen, as seen in the image below. It should already be connected to a previously known, available Wi-Fi network (or you’ll be prompted to connect to another during the recovery process, as needed).
The options you see during iOS 27 recovery mode and what they do
As of writing, the recovery screen in iOS 27 beta 3 and iPadOS 27 beta 3 shows the following six options:
- Recovery Assistant
- Software Update (I don’t see this on my iPhone 11 running iOS 27 beta 1 and beta 3)
- Diagnostic mode
- Erase All Content and Settings
- Recovery Mode
- Nearby Device Discovery (only available on newer devices like iPhone 15 Pro and later)
Here’s more about what these options do.
Recovery Assistant
As the name suggests, it identifies software problems and tries to fix them. In my first test, it completely wiped my iPhone 11, and I had to reset it again. Second, it didn’t wipe my phone and it just said “No known issues found.”
Note: Even if your iOS device has no problems, the first screen says “iPhone/iPad encountered a problem while starting…,” which is terrible wording for a feature description, in my opinion.
Software Updates
It allows you to install the latest version of iOS available on your device. It didn’t work on my iPad Pro and kept me stuck at the password screen. This may be because my device is already on the latest iPadOS 27 beta 3, or there is a bug.
Diagnostic mode
This mode allows Apple to diagnose hardware and software problems with your phone. Once you’ve gone through its initial steps, you may be prompted to enter a configuration profile that allows Apple to diagnose the problem and suggest/complete a fix.
Erase All Content and Settings
This is the same option you get on iOS Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. It will remove everything from your device, including your apps, photos, videos, music, settings, etc. You will need to reset your iPhone.
Recovery Mode
It’s the same as the previous recovery mode that you might have used to update or restore your iPhone or iPad using a Mac or Windows PC, if the device was working, or to downgrade software. Tapping Recovery Mode in the new recovery screen of iOS 27 it opens the specified mode without having to press the side and volume keys in quick succession (more on my tweet).
Nearby Device Discovery
Once you’re on the new recovery screen, press and hold the power button until you see a popup menu with a ‘Nearby Device Discovery’ option (however, this is not a new feature of iOS 27). It allows you to use another nearby device to find your iPhone or iPad. I will talk about this in a separate lesson.
You can exit the recovery mode of the nearby device without completing the recovery process by force restarting, which requires you to press the volume up, down, and power buttons in quick succession.
Exit to the new recovery screen
There are a few simple ways to do that:
- Use the power button in the upper right corner (if visible) and confirm that you want to restart.
- Press and hold the top power button of the iPhone/iPad and select Start over or Shut down from the menu.
Also, new in iOS 27: