Tutorial – How To Install ClockworkMod Recovery On Android

Android is by definition an open source operating system and has always been more appealing to the geek community, who likes to get its hands dirty, than Apple’s iOS. ClockworkMod Recovery is one of the most important tools to have if you fit in the above described group and with this article we will help you understand what can you use it for and how to get it installed on your Android smartphone.

The stock Android recovery mode is very limited and does not permit users to perform powerful actions, while ClockworkMod Recovery, also known as CWM is a custom recovery that is less restrictive. Some of the most important features are: the possibility to install/flash custom ROMs, custom themes and hacked apps, to manually update the Android OS, to regularly backup the Android OS and to restore the backups when system crashes occur.

You will generally find references to ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM) within our articles that cover installation procedures of custom ROMs.

Things to do before flashing ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM) on your Android device:

• charge your phone/tablet to 100%
• root your phone/tablet using any viable method available on the internet. We have extensive tutorials on our site covering this procedure for most of the Android devices available on the market. Go to our home page, use our search engine (upper left corner) and look for “How to root [name of your device] on [your Android version]“. If you can’t find your device through our articles, use Google and search for the phrase described above. Also, if you don’t know your Android version go to Settings > About.

Disclaimer: onebitzero.com will not be held responsible for any issues you encounter after or during the installation process. The tutorial we will present works without a flaw on most of the Android phones available on the market but you have to be careful with devices that do not come with Android installed, like Nook Color. For this latter ones you should search for other methods to flash ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM).

How to flash/install ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM) on Android:

1. Go to the Android Market and search for ROM Manager FREE. Download and install it. If you have money to spear, you can install the premium version (paid), it will remove the ads and give you access to  additional custom ROMs.
2. Open ROM Manager and, while in the main menu, select Flash ClockworkMod Recovery(first option in the Recovery section.
   

   Install ClockworkMod Recovery On Android - Flash

3. An addition window will pop up, asking you to confirm your phone model. Each phone requires a different version of ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM) so choose carefully. If you don’t know the model of your phone, use any search engine to help you find out.
4. Once CWM is downloaded and installed, your terminal will restart.

After you’ll finish the 4th step, presented above, you have two ways of entering the ClockworkMod Recovery:

• Launch ROM Manager and select Reboot into Recovery (that might not work so you’ll have to use the second oprion, presented below)
• Boot into ClockworkMod Recovery manually:
• Shut down your device by holding the power button
• Power on your device and while it starts, hold down a specific button combination. For many of the phones available on the market the correct combination is Volume Down + Power Key but for others this combination will not work. In this case, you’ll have to go to your favorite search engine and look for “how to boot [name of your device] into clockworkmod recovery”. For example, another general combination (especially for Samsung handsets) is Volume Up + Home + Power.

That’s it! You have installed ClockworkMod Recovery on your device and you should now be able to experience Android in a more “profound” way. Don’t forget, be careful and always back up before experimenting!

If you have any problems drop us a comment below and we will try to help!

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