It is a pain to hand over your favorite phone to a service center for repair work. Even for quick repairs, there is a concern that the technician may go through your private photos and files stored on the device. Samsung aims to fix this problem with maintenance mode in One UI 5. Below is everything you need to know about this feature and how to use it on your Galaxy device.
What is maintenance mode in Samsung Galaxy phones?
Maintenance Mode in One UI 5 protects your privacy by protecting the data on your phone from prying eyes. The mode is intended for use when you send your phone for repair as you don’t need to format it in such scenarios. Instead, activate maintenance mode and send the phone to the service center without worrying about the technician accessing your personal data.
Back up important data before sending your phone in for repair.
Maintenance mode prevents access to your accounts, photos, files and other data stored on your phone. The technician only has access to pre-installed apps. They can also download and install new apps from the Galaxy Store, change system settings, sign in to their Google Account, access the Play Store, and run their diagnostic tools without any issues.
When maintenance mode is turned off, the data is lost and the device is restored to the same state as before the mode was activated.
Maintenance mode creates a separate guest account on your Galaxy device, which the repair technician can use for the test work. This also ensures that they do not gain access to your personal data on the device. Maintenance mode is why multi-user support is missing in One UI 5 despite the option being available in the first builds.
This feature is only useful when minor repair work has been done on your device. It will be of no use if there are significant issues that require a logical replacement or a complete system format. In such situations, you must make a backup copy of your data before handing over the phone to the service center. Otherwise, you risk losing all data.
Devices compatible with maintenance mode
Samsung trialled maintenance mode on the Galaxy S21 series in South Korea in July before expanding to China in September 2022. The feature is available on select Galaxy devices globally running Android 13-based One UI 5:
Samsung will continue to expand the availability of maintenance mode to more of its phones and tablets in the future.
How to enable maintenance mode on your Samsung Galaxy phone
Before turning your phone in for repairs, follow these steps to turn on maintenance mode:
- To open Settings Menu.
- Scroll down and select Maintenance of batteries and devices.
- Press Maintenance mode at the bottom of the list.
- Confirm your selection by pressing Turn on.
- A message asks you to create a system log before activating the mode. This gives the technicians additional details to troubleshoot the problem. It does not contain any personally identifiable information.
When the phone restarts, it will be in maintenance mode, with all your personal data locked away from prying eyes. You can then hand your Galaxy device to a technician to complete the necessary repairs.
How to exit maintenance mode
A maintenance mode overlay appears on the screen in the lower right corner to remind you that the mode is running.
- Expand the notification screen on your Samsung Galaxy phone.
- Press Maintenance mode is running banner to exit the mode.
- Confirm your selection by pressing Exit from the page that opens.
- Verify your identity using your fingerprint or enter your phone’s unlock pattern or PIN.
- This extra step prevents the technician or other unauthorized persons from exiting maintenance mode on the phone.
After this, your device will restart in normal mode with all your app data and files intact.
One UI 5 is packed with useful features
Maintenance Mode is another example of why One UI is the best Android skin. Samsung continues to improve the usability of the skin with each new release. There are many new features in One UI 5 that help improve the overall user experience, including new multitasking gestures, improved widget stacking, and a privacy hub.
