Getting root access is the first step in truly setting up your Android device. However, root alone will only allow you to install root apps and custom recovery tools, but doesn’t offer anything of its own to help you customize the items on your phone.
To actually install something that customizes your phone, you’ll need a so-called custom recovery. TWRP recovery is one such custom Android recovery that allows you to install many custom developments on your Android devices.
In the next tutorial, you will learn how to install and use it.
What is TWRP recovery?
Custom recovery with TWRP was developed for Android devices. When you install it on your device, it replaces the standard recovery and gives you additional features that were not included in the standard one.
It is an open source project and is available for a range of Android phones and tablets. You can take a copy of it for your phone model and flash it to use many of its functions on your device.
How to install custom recovery using TWRP on Android?
To install TWRP custom recovery on your Android device, you have two ways to do it. Which method you use to install it depends on the root requirements of your particular model.
Some phones require you to install a custom recovery on them first and then root them, while some other phones need to be rooted first before you can install a recovery on them. In the following sections, you will learn which method should be used to install TWRP on your phone.
Use TWRP app to install recovery
Most of the time, when your phone is already rooted, you can use the TWRP app to install a custom recovery on your device. This is an easier and faster way to set up and run custom recovery on your phone as it does all the flashing procedures on its own.
- Launch the Google Play Store on your device, find the Official TWRP App and install it on your device.
- Launch the application and click on the option labeled TWRP Flash.
- Select your device model from the drop-down menu on the next screen and click Flash to Recovery.
- It will download and install a custom TWRP recovery image into your phone’s recovery slot.
Use Fastboot to Install TWRP Recovery
If your device first requires a recovery to be installed and then you can root it or if the app method doesn’t work for you for some reason, you can manually flash the recovery image on your device using Fastboot
Fastboot helps you replace the default recovery on your device with a custom one and you only need to run a command to do it.
- On your Android device, go to Settings> Developer Options and enable USB Debugging.
- Connect your device to your computer using a USB cable.
- Download and extract the Fastboot package to your computer.
- Download the IMG version of TWRP recovery for your computer. device and save it in the Fastboot folder.
- Open the Fastboot folder, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard, right-click anywhere in an empty space, and select Open Command Window Here.
- Enter the following command and it will reboot your device into bootloader mode.
adb reboot bootloader
- Type the following command, replacing twrp.img with the actual name of the recovery you downloaded, and press Enter.
fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
- After flashing recovery, enter the following command to reboot the device.
fastboot reboot
TWRP recovery must be installed on your Android device.
How to enter TWRP recovery mode on Android?
Since custom recovery is not a regular application, it will not be available in the app drawer for you to launch. You will need to either press the key combination to enter TWRP recovery mode or run the command to reboot the device into recovery mode.
Both methods should do the same job, and it depends on what is convenient for you. You probably don’t want to use a keyboard shortcut when executing commands, and similarly, you don’t want to use a command when you’re not using a utility.
Using keyboard shortcuts to enter TWRP Recovery Mode
The key combination for entering recovery mode depends on your device. What works with Samsung device may not work with Pixel phone, etc.
However, on most phones, you can press the volume down and power buttons at the same time to reboot into the bootloader. Then you can select the recovery option and enter TWRP recovery mode on your device.
On some other phones, you can immediately reboot into recovery by pressing the volume up and power buttons at the same time.
Using ADB to Reboot into TWRP Recovery Mode
This method should work for all ADB and Fastboot devices. You basically need to run the command and it will reboot you into recovery mode.
- Run the following command from the Fastboot folder and your phone will reboot into TWRP recovery mode.
adb reboot recovery
When your phone restarts in recovery mode, you will see various options.
How to use TWRP recovery on Android?
In most cases, you will only be using the following TWRP custom recovery features on your Android device.
Install
This will allow you to flash a variety of custom files, including custom recovery files, root files, custom kernels, custom ROMs, etc. You will use this option most often.
Wipe
This will allow you to erase data on your device and restore factory settings. You can use it if the default setting in the Settings app is not working.
Backup
This allows you to create a complete backup of your Android device. It can include all the contents of your phone.
Recover
This allows you to restore backups you created earlier on your device. You need one touch and all your data will be restored to your phone.
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