Samsung Maintenance Mode Protects Private Data From Prying Eyes During Repairs

Smartphones, essential as they are, are also privy to a lot of our private information including our photos, videos, documents, and vital statistics. When you give your smartphone to a service center executive for repair, there is always a concern about the safety of your data. To address this issue, Samsung is rolling out an update that keeps your personal information protected when you hand over your device at the service center. 

The update includes a new Maintenance Mode in the Settings app that lets you create a second user account on your device before you hand over the phone, so that all your private information is inaccessible. You can enable Maintenance Mode by going to the Settings app, navigating to Battery and Device Care, Enable Maintenance Mode, and Reboot your Device. 

After rebooting, your Samsung Galaxy phone will boot into a new home screen with factory settings. The repair technician will be able to use the phone for diagnostic and testing purposes, but will not have access to your photos, videos, contacts, or the apps you have installed. 

When the repair technician hands over your phone, you can delete all the data and accounts created during the repair process as you exit Maintenance Mode and login with your own account. All the apps the technician has installed will also be removed. 

There’s only one caveat. The phone needs to be in working condition to enable the Maintenance Mode. If the display does not work, or the touch screen stops working, you are out of luck. 

The Maintenance Mode is being rolled out to global users with the Samsung Galaxy S22 series smartphones running on OneUI 5. The feature was being tested first in South Korea this July, before a rollout in China in September. Samsung said it has plans to expand Maintenance Mode to other devices in 2023.