Getting your Samsung phone repaired? This new update makes it a lot easier

Repair Mode protects your data

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Getting your smartphone repaired can seem like a daunting prospect; knowing that your mobile - full of personal information and photos and sensitive apps - is going to be in the hands of a stranger for a time without you present.

And sure, the vast majority of repair specialists are trustworthy experts, but nowSamsung phonesare getting an extra feature that’ll help ease your mind. This is called Repair Mode, and it’s rolling out to phones from the company starting with theGalaxy S21series.

When activated, Repair Mode lets you block access to certain functions or apps on your mobile - for example, you could lock off your social media accounts or gallery apps, so that they can’t be accessed by strangers.

According toSamsung, once you trigger Repair Mode, your phone will reboot and “you won’t be able to access your personal data, such as photos, messages, and accounts, and only use the default installed apps.”

This means you can hand your smartphone over to repair companies without either worrying about your information, or having to back up and reset your phone.

It’s not quite clear when this update will arrive on users' devices and although we know the S21 series will be the first to receive the feature, Samsung hasn’t provided a timeline as to when that mobile family, or subsequent ones, can expect to gain access to Repair Mode. That said, we expect Samsung is staggering its updates on a region by region, as that’s common industry-standard practice.

Analysis: a good time to get a Samsung phone

Samsung has been surprisingly generous in 2022, with multiple updates bringing new features to its smartphones.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

Sure, the company has a habit of bringing the latest functionality from its flagship phones to older models soon after launch, but we’ve seen more this year.

For example, the company recently launched thePhotoshop-esque Enhance-X app, whichlets you use AI to fix photos, even those you didn’t originally take on a Samsung phone.

It seems that Samsung is taking a page out ofGoogle’s book, which has previously been good at bringing new tools and features to Pixel phones with its regular Pixel Feature Drops.

Because of this, and also because of Samsung’s promise that its newer phones will get four years of software updates, now is a really great time to pick up a new phone from the company. We’ve got a list of thebest Samsung phonesif you want to peruse them, but our list of thebest Android phonesoverall will help you check out Samsung alongside its rivals.

Tom Bedford was deputy phones editor on TechRadar until late 2022, having worked his way up from staff writer. Though he specialized in phones and tablets, he also took on other tech like electric scooters, smartwatches, fitness, mobile gaming and more. He is based in London, UK and now works for the entertainment site What To Watch.

He graduated in American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Prior to working on TechRadar, he freelanced in tech, gaming and entertainment, and also spent many years working as a mixologist.

Samsung is again rumored to be working on a cheaper Galaxy Z Flip 6

The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE could launch with an Exynos chip - and it might be here sooner than expected

Apple might still be developing that fabled smart ring after all, according to latest leak