What Is ClockworkMod Recovery And How To Use It

On Android [Complete Guide]

ClockworkMod, abbreviated as CWM, is a popular custom recovery for Android phones
and tablets developed by Koushik Dutta (Koush) a well-known name in the Android dev
community. ClockworkMod recovery allows you to perform several advanced recovery, restoration,
installation and maintenance operations on your Android device that arent possible with the stock
recovery, and is one of the most common ways used to gain root access, back up device data, install
custom ROMs, kernels, themes & mods, and more. However, for anyone new to Android
customization and hacking, some of its options might prove to be a tad confusing. In what follows,
we will cover all that this recovery is capable of doing, and how to do it.
Here is what we shall be covering in this guide:
1.

About Android recovery

2.

Introduction to ClockworkMod

3.

Installing ClockworkMod

4.

Booting into ClockworkMod

5.

Feature tour

6.

Using ClockworkMod for ROM, kernel, apps, theme or mod installation.

About Android Recovery

All Android devices ship with a recovery console that is basically a partition on the devices internal
memory and can be booted into. The stock recovery of almost all Android devices provides a few
basic yet handy options that allow you to factory reset your device, clear its cache partition, and
recover its operating system using an official ROM in zip format, but thats all you can do with it.
Thats where a custom recovery comes handy.
A custom Android recovery basically replaces the stock recovery with one that lets you do all you
can do with the stock recovery, plus a plethora of more options to give you a lot more control on your
device. With a custom recovery, you can install official and unofficial ROMs as well as other updates
including hacks, themes, kernels etc. using zip files, wipe not just user data but pretty much every
standard partition on your device, mount the storage card for USB mass storage access without
leaving recovery, partition your SD card, wipe dalvik cache and battery stats, fix permissions,
perform, manage and restore backups, and so on.

Introduction To ClockworkMod
ClockworkMod recovery is one of the most widely used custom Android recoveries that is available
for most mainstream Android devices. It is our custom recovery of choice here at AddictiveTips and
almost every custom ROM that we install on our devices is done using this recovery.
ClockworkMod recovery has been developed by Koushik Dutta (also known as Koush) the same
guy who brought us the Android ROM Manager. He can be found at his blog hacking away at
Android devices, and at Twitter.

Installing ClockworkMod
For most devices, ClockworkMod has a dead simple installation process. This method does require
you to fully root your device in order to be installed but once rooted, installing it is as simple as
installing ROM Manager from Market, launching it and using its first option i.e. the one that says
Flash ClockworkMod recovery.
However, in certain scenarios, the ROM Manager method wouldnt work, or would simply not be the
preferred method for your situation. In such cases, there are several other methods available to
install ClockworkMod. We have covered the ROM Manager method as well as all these alternative
methods in our guide on how to install a custom recovery to your Android device.
Multiple devices:

How to install any version of ClockworkMod recovery using ROM Manager with a trick.

Our ClockworkMod recovery coverage for guides on several other devices.

Booting Into ClockworkMod

Once you have ClockworkMod recovery installed on your Android device, booting into it is quite
simple. All you have to do is launch ROM Manager and tap Reboot into Recovery.
Also, if you have ADB installed on your computer, you can simply enable USB debugging mode on
your device from Settings > Applications > Development, connect it to your computer via USB,
launch a Command Prompt / Terminal window on your computer and enter this command:
adb reboot recovery

The above methods will not work in certain cases though, for instance if you cant boot into Android
in the first place due to some issue, or if you are using a device like the HTC HD2 that doesnt
natively support an Android recovery. Many solutions are available in these cases.

Using hardware button combination on most Android devices:

On most Android devices including ones by HTC, you can enter recovery by powering your
device off and then powering it back on while keeping either the Volume Down or the VolumeUp button pressed, depending on the device. This will enter the bootloader from where you can

select the RECOVERY option by navigating to it with the Volume key and entering it with the
Power key.
On most Samsung devices specifically Samsung Galaxy S series devices, you must keep both
the Volume-Up and Home keys pressed while powering on the device, to directly enter

recovery.
Using MAGLDR on HTC HD2:
Entering ClockworkMod recovery on the HTC HD2 cant be done via ROM Manager or any
hardware button combination but that doesnt mean it is difficult in any way. All you have to do is
power the device off, power it on by keeping the Power key pressed till you see the MAGLDR
bootloaders menu and finally selecting the AD Recovery option.

Feature Tour
Now that you have ClockworkMod recovery up and running on your phone or tablet, lets take a look
at all the options it offers you to manage your Android device. We are using a Nexus S running
ClockworkMod Touch recovery 6.0.2.5 but the details should apply to other devices and versions of
the recovery as well.
This is what you see when you reboot your device into ClockworkMod recovery:

If you are using ClockworkMod Touch recovery, you can simply tap on these options to navigate
between different sections and perform all the actions. On the non-touch versions of the recovery
though, you can navigate between items using the Volume-Up and Volume-Down button, and use
the Power button to enter/launch the highlighted option on most Android devices. On devices
equipped with a trackball or an optical track pad such as the G1, G2, Nexus One, HTC Desire etc.,
the trackball or track pad can be used for navigation and clicking it activates the selected option.
Lets review each of these options and their sub-menu options in detail now.
1.

reboot system now

This one is self-explanatory.

2.

install zip from sdcard

This option brings up the following sub-menu:

1.

choose zip from sdcard

Lets you install any zip file from any location on your SD card. The file can be for a ROM, a
kernel, an application, a theme or any mod as long as it is in recovery-flashable zip format.
This is the most widely used option for installing a ROM that you have downloaded and
copied to your SD card. Entering this option will bring up a screen that will allow you to

browse your SD card for the zip file and select it for installation.

2.

apply /sdcard/update.zip
This option can be used for installation of any official or unofficial update, ROM, kernel etc.
that is in a zip format installable from recovery, as long as the file is named update.zip and
it has been placed on the root of your SD card (i.e. not in any sub-folder).

3.

toggle signature verification

This turns the signature verification on and off. When signature verification is on, you will
not be able to install any custom ROMs that havent been digitally signed to allow
installation on the device (most custom ROMs arent signed). Switching it off skips the
signature verification check and proceeds with the installation.

3.

install zip from sideload

This option puts the phone into the new ADB sideload mode, allowing you to install zip files from
your computer using the ADB sideload command introduced in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

4.

wipe data/factory reset

This option wipes all user data on the device as well as cache. Doing this will leave your phone
in the state it was in when you bought it or when any custom ROM was first installed. It will also
wipe any sd-ext partition that you might have setup (more on this later). Selecting pretty much
any operation in ClockworMod (including this one) will bring up a confirmation prompt that can
save you from a lot of potential trouble in case you accidentally select the wrong operation.

5.

wipe cache partition

Wipes the cache partition of the device to clear all the data accumulated there over use. This is
often used before installing a new ROM, app, kernel or any similar mod via recovery.

6.

backup and restore Undoubtedly one of the most important features provided by a custom
recovery, the backup and restore feature also known as Nandroid backup allows you to take
a snapshot of your phones entire internal memory including all partitions, and save it on the SD

card. Here is how it looks:

1.

backup
Takes a full backup of your device, as explained above.

2.

restore
Lets you restore a previously taken backup. Entering this option presents you with a list of

existing backups from the SD card that you can choose from for restoration.

3.

delete
Lets you delete a previously taken backup to free up space on your SD card.

4.

advanced restore
This option is similar to the Restore option but once a backup has been selected to be
restored, this option allows you to choose the parts of it to restore. You can choose to

restore the boot, system, data, cache and sd-ext partitions, as shown here:

5.

free unused backup data

Lets you reclaim space on your SD card by freeing up any redundant backup data that isnt
required.

6.

choose default backup format

Allows you to choose between tar and dup for the backup format. Leave this one as it is,

unless you are sure you want to change it.

7.

mounts and storage

Allows you to perform maintenance tasks on all the internal and external partitions of your

android device

1.

mount/unmount /system, /data, /cache, /sdcard or /sd-ext

These options let you toggle between mounting or unmounting these respective partitions.
Most users dont need to change these options.

2.

format boot, system, data, cache, sdcard or sd-ext

These let you directly format any of these partitions. Take extreme care with this option as
formatting any of these partitions will result in losing all data on them, especially the boot
and system partitions. Formatting the system partition will remove your ROM and leave
your phone without an operating system while wiping the boot partition may brick your
phone unless you restore or flash another one before rebooting your device. To learn more
about the contents of all these partitions, see our guide to Android partitions.

3.

mount USB storage

Lets you enable USB mass storage mode for your SD card right from recovery so that you
can connect it to your computer via USB and transfer any files to/from it without having to
leave recovery.

8.

advanced
This section contains a few options most users will not require, though these can come handy
quite often, especially wiping Dalvik cache, which is required before most ROM installations.

Here are the options from this section:

1.

reboot recovery
Lets you directly and very conveniently reboot from recovery right back into recovery. This
is useful option for certain back-to-back installations that require the device to at least boot
once between them.

2.

wipe dalvik cache

Allows you to wipe the cache for the Dalvik virtual machine (the custom-built Java virtual
machine for Android).This is required before most ROM installations and at other
occasions too, for fixing some problems.

3.

wipe battery stats

Wipes the saved battery usage statistics and effectively recalibrates the battery. Useful in
various scenarios when Android isnt showing correct battery levels. This option is not
shown in the above screenshot, but is present in many versions of ClockworkMod
recovery.

4.

report error
In case of errors, this feature can be used to save a log of recent ClockworkMod recovery
operations on the SD card that you can later report from Android using ROM Manager.

5.

key test
Lets you press any of the hardware keys to see if they are properly functioning, and to see
their key codes.

6.

show log
Shows you a log of your recent recovery operations.

7.

fix permissions
Fixes the file permissions for the internal memory partitions back to default. This is very
useful as a fix for several errors and Force-Closes that start appearing after you or an
application you installed and provided root access end up messing up the permissions of
important files.

8.

partition sdcard
This option gives you a no-frills way to partition your SD card properly for use with ROMs
that support data2ext (a very handy hack for low internal memory devices that enables
an /sd-ext partition on the SD card to be used as the internal user data storage i.e. as
the /data partition). Once this option is selected, you will be given options to choose the
sizes for the /sd-ext partition as well as an optional /swap partition on the SD card, and will
then automatically format it for you, leaving the remaining space for normal SD card usage.
This option will wipe all data from your SD card so use it with caution!

Using ClockworkMod For ROM, Kernel, Apps, Theme Or Mod Installation

While in the complete feature tour we have already shown you how to install a ROM, kernel, app,
theme or any similar mod from a recovery-flashable zip file using the recovery options, those of you
who jumped straight to this section expecting to get just this information quickly are at the right
place!
This guide is primary focused on a full feature tour of ClockworkMod recovery but in our previously
written guide on how to flash a ROM or app from a zip to an Android device file from recovery, we
have already covered in detail how to use ClockworkMod for installing any ROM, kernel, app, theme
or mod using a recovery-flashable zip file. While that guide is based on an older version of
ClockworkMod recovery, everything in it still applies to the latest versions and should work flawlessly.
Thats all there is to ClockworkMod recovery so far. We hope you enjoy using it as much as we do!

How To Install ClockworkMod Recovery 3+ Using

ROM Manager

The latest versions 3+ of ClockworkMod Recovery have been out for a while now but at the moment,
there is no direct way to install them to your Android device using ROM Manager. Fortunately, a
quick hack allows you to change that and easily install any version of ClockworkMod Recovery to
your device directly from ROM Manager.
UPDATE: ClockworkMod Recovery 3+ is now officially available for installation using ROM Manager
for many devices and this trick should no longer be required unless a version for your device still
isnt available. However, this trick will still come handy as a general method for installing any version
of ClockworkMod recovery using ROM Manager regardless of whether ROM Manager is able to
directly install for you yet or not.
For those of you who arent familiar with ClockworkMod Recovery, it is a custom recovery image for
your Android device that lets you perform advanced installation, recovery and maintenance
operations on your device. You can find more details at our coverage of ClockworkMod recovery.
The latest major release of ClockworkMod recovery is 3 and while it is available for several Android
devices, trying to install ClockworkMod recovery through ROM Manager will result in the latest 2.x
recovery being installed instead of 3.x. While version 2 works great for most purposes, version 3 is
required to install CyanogenMod 7 nightly ROMs on your device that we have been featuring
here lately.

Fortunately, with a quick file rename hack, you can trick ROM Manger into installing ClockworkMod
Recovery 3.x on your device. Here is the complete method:

Requirements:

Your device must be rooted. In case it isnt, see our guide on how to root your Android

device.
You must have ROM Manager installed. If it isnt, install it from the Android Market.
You must also have the recovery image that you need to flash, in .img format. All officially
provided ClockworkMod Recovery images can be found at the official ClockworkMod recovery
image download page, though you may use this method with any official or unofficial recovery
image as long as it is in the right format.

Method:
1.

Download ClockworkMod Recovery 3.x for your device and copy it to your SD card.
Note: Make sure that it is in .img format and in case the file you downloaded was zipped,
extract the .img file from it first and use that rather than the zip file.

2.

Launch ROM Manager and tap the first option that says Flash ClockworkMod Recovery and
confirm the name of your device. This will install the latest 2.x version of ClockworkMod
recovery on your device.

3.

Launch File Manager, browse to the location where you copied the recovery in step 1 and
copy it.

4.

Now browse to sdcard > clockworkmod > download > koush.tandtgaming.com > recoveries.

5.

There will be a file with a name similar to recovery-clockwork-2.5.1.3-vision.img. The part of

the version number after 2 could be different and instead of vision, it might say something
else depending on your phone model.

6.

Rename that file by adding something to the end of the extension that you will later
remember. We added .bak to it and it is now named recovery-clockwork-2.5.1.3-vision.img.bak.

7.

Now paste the 3.x version recovery there that you copied earlier in Step 3.

8.

Rename this file to the name the previous file had before you renamed it in the last step. This
is very important, as in case of the name being even slightly different, this trick will not work. In
our case, we renamed it to recovery-clockwork-2.5.1.3-vision.img

9.

Close File Manager and launch ROM Manager again.

10.

Tap on the first option again to flash ClockworkMod recovery. It will ask for the name of your
device again, which you should confirm. Wait patiently while the recovery is flashed and youre
done.

You will still see the previous version of recovery in ROM Manager but in fact it is the new 3.x
version with that old file name. From now onwards, booting into recovery will get you to
ClockworkMod 3.x recovery with the orange text and you can use it to flash CyanogenMod 7 ROMs
to your device.
Note: Due to the number of Android devices for which ClockworkMod Recovery 3.x is available, we
cant give all the download links here. This is also due to the fact that the official ClockworkMod
Recovery website is under construction and we have to search a lot to look for the recoverys yet

unreleased 3.x version for many devices. For now, you will just have to search for a version for your
device on your own. We will soon be featuring a mirror download list of the latest ClockworkMod
Recovery 3.x versions for all the devices that we can find and will then update this post with a link to
that list, so stay tuned. ClockworkMod Recovery images for all officially supported devices are now
available at the ClockworkMod recovery website and a link for the download page has been added
to the requirements section.