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Booting into the Samsung Galaxy S23 Download Mode is required if you ever need to install a freshly downloaded copy of the One UI firmware. So let me show you how this works.
I previously showed you how to access Recovery Mode on the Galaxy S23. In that article I mentioned there are a number of different boot modes for the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra. One of these is called Download Mode, although sometimes people refer to this as Odin Mode because that is the name of the program that interfaces with it.
The only Android devices with a Download Mode are from Samsung because it is unique to this company. Smartphones and tablets from OEMs like Google, Xiaomi, Motorola, and OnePlus use Fastboot Mode instead. But the idea is basically the same.
What is Download Mode?
The Galaxy S23 Download Mode is a way for us to manually flash firmware image files to the device. Since we can’t access Android while also installing firmware files to that partition, we need to boot into a special boot mode. This leaves the Android filesystem partitions inactive and allows us to “flash” files to them.
While this is essentially the same thing as Fastboot Mode, there are some key differences…
- Download Mode requires us to use a program called Odin (or Heimdall) to install these firmware files to the device.
- It does not require us to have the bootloader unlocked for us to install official firmware from Samsung.
How to Boot the Galaxy S23 into Download Mode
We can boot into Download Mode on the Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra in the same exact way. It doesn’t matter which of these devices you have, the steps below will be the same for all of them.
Note: Take a look at these Galaxy S23 Screen Protectors!
Just like with Recovery Mode tutorial, Samsung has set things up in a way that makes it incredibly difficult to access the Galaxy S23 Download Mode by accident.
However, this does mean that you need to have a USB cable connected to the device if you ever want to access this special boot mode on the Galaxy S23 series.
- Shut down the Samsung Galaxy S23.
- Press and hold the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons.
- Insert the USB cable.
- Continue holding the Volume buttons until you see the special splash screen.
- You’ll then need to press the Volume Up button to enter Download Mode.
This process is fairly easy to follow but there are some important things that you’ll need to be aware of.
The USB cable that you connect to the Galaxy S23 must be providing a data connection to the device. This means you cannot follow this tutorial while the phone is plugged into your wall charger.
My goto process involves using the USB cable that is connected to my desktop PC, but you can also get it to work with other devices. I have heard of people using the USB-C headphones to access Download Mode, but you could also connect your smartphone to another smartphone (or a tablet) with a USB cable as well.
Again, it just needs to be a data connection.
How to Exit Download Mode on the Galaxy S23
Leaving this special boot mode is also relatively easy to do, and it even tells you how right on your screen. You simply need to press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power button at the same time. You’ll then need to continue holding these two buttons down for 7-10 seconds.
After that, you will see the screen go black as the phone shuts off and immediately begins to turn back on.
Note: Check out these great Samsung Galaxy S23 Cases!
I also want to point out that while you are in Download Mode you will be told to NOT turn off the device. This is great advice if you are in the middle of installing firmware files to the smartphone. However, even if you aren’t…you will see this message on the screen and I understand this can be confusing to some people.
Unless you have Odin open on your PC, it is connected to the smartphone with a USB cable, and you are flashing firmware to the phone then you are safe to force the device to reboot.
If you’re still paranoid about it, just make sure the Galaxy S23 isn’t connected to the PC with a USB cable when you want to boot back into Android.
Let me know if you have any questions about this tutorial, or just Android in general, by leaving a comment down below.
