Find out how to enter the new recovery/restore screen on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 27 or iPadOS 27 to fix issues or erase your device and start fresh.
If you have owned a Mac, you may have used recovery mode to reinstall macOS (in case your computer wasn’t working properly). Or you may have used the recovery mode screen to boot into a second macOS installation, such as macOS 27 Golden Gate, that you installed on a partition of the same Mac.
On a somewhat similar note, iOS 27 now lets you boot into a recovery screen that offers options to diagnose issues, update software, erase the device, and more (all explained below).
The process to enter the 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 (currently both are in beta).
2) Switch off your iPhone or iPad if it’s already on.
3) Wait for 1 minute to ensure your device has shut down properly.
4) Press and hold the iPhone side power button or the iPad top power button. You’ll now:
- See the Apple logo that appears when you switch on the device. Keep pressing the power button.
- Soon, you’ll see ‘Continue holding for recovery…” on the screen. Keep pressing the power button until you see “Loading recovery options…”.
Your iPhone or iPad will boot into the new recovery/restore 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 one during the recovery process, as needed).
Options you see during iOS 27 recovery mode and what they do
As of writing, the recovery screen on 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)
- Diagnostics Mode
- Erase All Content and Settings
- Recovery Mode
- Nearby Device Recovery (only available on newer devices like the iPhone 15 Pro and later)
Here’s more on what these options do.
Recovery Assistant
As the name suggests, it identifies software issues and tries to fix them. In my first test, it completely erased my iPhone 11, and I had to set it up again. The second time, it didn’t erase my phone and simply said “No known issues found.”
Note: Even if your iOS device has no issues, the initial screen says “The iPhone/iPad encountered an issue while starting…,” which is scary wording for a feature description, in my opinion.
Software Update
It allows you to install the latest version of iOS available for your device. It didn’t work on my iPad Pro and kept me stuck on the password screen. This could be because my device is already on the latest iPadOS 27 beta 3, or there is a bug.
Diagnostics Mode
This mode lets Apple find hardware and software issues with your device. Once you get past its initial steps, you may be asked to install a configuration profile that allows Apple to diagnose the issue and suggest/complete the repair.
Erase All Content and Settings
This is the same option you find in iOS Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. It will delete everything from your device, including your apps, photos, videos, music, settings, etc. You’ll have to set up your iPhone again.
Recovery Mode
It’s the same as the previous recovery mode you may have used to update or restore your iPhone or iPad using a Mac or Windows PC, if the device was acting up, or to downgrade the software. Tapping Recovery Mode on the new iOS 27 recovery screen activates the said mode without you having to press the side and volume keys in quick succession (more in my tweet).
Nearby Device Recovery
Once you’re on the new recovery screen, press and hold the power button until you see a popup menu that has the ‘Nearby Device Recovery’ option (by the way, this is not a new iOS 27 feature). It lets you use another nearby device to recover your iPhone or iPad. I will be covering this in a separate tutorial.
You can exit Nearby Device Recovery mode without completing the restore process by force-restarting, which requires you to press the volume up, down, and power buttons in quick succession.
Exit the new recovery screen
There are a couple of easy ways to do that:
- Use the power button in the top right corner (if visible) and confirm that you want to restart.
- Press and hold the physical iPhone side/iPad top power button and choose Restart or Shut Down from the menu.
Also, new in iOS 27: