Handing over your favorite Android phone to a service center for repairs can be quite stressful. I don’t blame you for being skeptical about it because not only are you going to spend time without your dearest handset, but you’re also handing over your smartphone — an extension of yourself — to the repairing folks who could potentially snoop on your private photos, files, and other personal data. You can always hide, clear some of your crucial data or even factory reset your phone before getting it repaired, but it’s not an ideal solution, is it? Samsung’s solution to this is its “Maintenance Mode,” a feature that’s designed to keep your data from getting into the hands of bad actors.
That’s right, the Maintenance mode in Samsung’s One UI 5 and One UI 5.1 protects your personal data and privacy by preventing the technician from accessing your accounts, photos, files, and other personal data that are stored on the phone. This particular mode basically creates a separate user account for the technicians with access to just the preinstalled apps like Gallery, Messages, and more. It’ll allow them to use all the “core functions” of the device, like installing apps from Galaxy Store or Play Store, changing system settings, running diagnostic tools, etc., but they won’t be able to go through any of your private stuff. It automatically creates a guest profile, separating all your private data, so you don’t have to factory reset or worry about clearing or hiding your data before handing over your phone for repairs.
You will, however, have to manually enable and disable the Maintenance mode on your Samsung Galaxy device before and after the fact, but I believe it’s still better than wiping the phone clean and restoring everything once your phone is back from repairs. If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone running One UI 5 or above and are wondering how to use this particular feature, then read the tutorial below to learn how to set it up.
How to enable Maintenance mode on your Samsung Galaxy device
The Maintenance mode on Samsung Galaxy devices, as I mentioned earlier, has to be enabled manually before you hand over your phone to a technician for repairs. Here’s how to do it:
- Head over to the Settings page and scroll down to locate Battery and device care.
- Select that and scroll down again till you find Maintenance mode, and tap it.
- Select the Turn on button on the Maintenance mode confirmation page.
- You’ll now see a prompt asking you to create a system log before enabling the mode. This log essentially provides all the necessary information to the technician that might be crucial to troubleshooting the problem you’re trying to fix. The system log doesn’t contain any personal data, so I recommend creating it before enabling the maintenance mode.
- Your phone will then boot into maintenance mode, following which you can hand over your Galaxy device to the service center for repairs.
How to exit the Maintenance mode
Once you’ve received your device back from the repairs and you’re ready to exit the maintenance mode, you can follow the steps given below to return your phone to its original state:
- Expand the notification shade to see a Maintenance mode banner. Select it to exit the mode.
- Confirm your selection by tapping the Exit button and verifying your identity with biometric authentication.
- Your device will now reboot into normal mode, essentially returning it to the state you left it.
Maintenance mode in Samsung Galaxy devices: Final thoughts
Samsung’s Maintenance mode is one of those nice-to-have features that make One UI one of my favorite Android skins. It’s packed with a ton of such features that you’ll appreciate when you need them the most. I hope you never find yourselves in a situation in which you have to enable this mode and hand over your phone for repairs. But on the off chance you do, this guide will help you set up the maintenance mode in no time.