In this guide, we will show you two different methods to boot your Galaxy Watch 4 to Fastboot Mode. Being the first smartwatch from the South Korean conglomerate that beholds the open-source OS, it quickly became the talk of the town for the tech enthusiasts. For the everyday users, they were in for a treat as they could now welcome their favorite Android apps over to their watch. On the other hand, the geeks were more interested in digging deep into the OS.
In this regard, their first course of action is to step into the stock recovery. From there, you will be able to manually flash the firmware via ADB Sideload, delete the data in the cache partition, mount the system partition, factory reset your watch, and carry out a slew of other tweaks. However, it is the Fastboot Mode where the real fun lies. Right from unlocking the bootloader, to flashing customized firmware, installing a custom recovery, or flashing patched boot to obtain root, the possibilities stand endless.
However, don’t get your hopes high for now as all the aforementioned tweaks are currently not possible on the latest Watch 4. But in the not-so-distant future, you will be able to easily welcome these tweaks onto your watch. And when that time arrives, this guide is all that you would need. So on that optimistic note, let’s make you aware of two different methods to boot your Galaxy Watch 4 to Fastboot Mode. Follow along.
Table of Contents
How to Boot Galaxy Watch 4 to Fastboot Mode [2 Methods]
The below instructions are listed under separate sections for ease of understanding. Make sure to follow the same sequence as mentioned. Droidwin and its members wouldn’t be held responsible in case of a thermonuclear war, your alarm doesn’t wake you up, or if anything happens to your watch and data by performing the below steps.
STEP 1: Install Android SDK
First and foremost, you will have to install the Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC. This is the official ADB and Fastboot binary provided by Google and is the only recommended one. So download it and then extract it to any convenient location on your PC. Doing so will give you the platform-tools folder, which will be used throughout this guide.
STEP 2: Enable ADB Debugging in Galaxy Wach 4
- Head over to the Settings > About Watch > Software and tap Software Version 7 times.
- Then go to Developer Options and enable the toggle next to ADB Debugging.
- After that, scroll down a little bit and enable the toggle next to Debug over WiFi.
- It will now bring up the IP Address, note it down somewhere [do not include the port number, i.e. values after the colon].
- For example, if the entire value is 192.168.1.3:5555, then your IP will be 192.168.1.3.
STEP 3: Connect Galaxy Watch 4 to PC via ADB Command
- Head over to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in its address bar, and hit Enter. This will launch Command Prompt.
- Now type in the below command in this CMD window [make sure to replace IP accordingly].
adb connect IP
- You will now get a prompt on your watch, tap OK or Always Allow from this computer.
- Finally, execute the below command to verify the ADB Connection between your watch and PC
adb devices
- You will now get your IP Address and port number, followed by the ‘device’ keyword. This signifies that the connection has been successfully established.
STEP 4A: Boot Galaxy Watch 4 to Fastboot Mode from Stock Recovery
- Execute the below command in the CMD window [that is opened inside the platform-tools folder] and your Galaxy Watch 4 will boot to the Recovery Mode
adb reboot recovery
- Now scroll and select the Reboot to Bootloader option and press either of the two buttons on your watch to confirm it. Your Galaxy Watch 4 will now boot to Fastboot Mode.
- Once you are done with the tweak and wish to exit the Fastboot Mode on your Galaxy Watch 4, then just press and hold both the buttons on your watch for around 5 seconds, It will then boot to the OS.
STEP 4B: Boot Galaxy Watch 4 to Fastboot Mode from ADB Command
- Execute the below command in the CMD window [that is opened inside the platform-tools folder] and your Galaxy Watch 4 will boot to the Fastboot Mode
adb reboot bootloader
- Whenever you want to exit the Fastboot Mode on your Galaxy Watch 4, then just press and hold both the buttons on your watch for around 5 seconds, it will then boot to the OS.
Enter Fastboot vs Reboot to Bootloader in Galaxy Watch 4
You might have noticed that when we were booting to Fastboot from the Stock Recovery, we chose the Reboot to Bootloader option but just beneath it was the Enter Fastboot option as well. So are they both different? Yes, and whenever you want to boot to Fastboot, you should always choose the Bootloader option [across all Android devices- Smart TV, smartwatch, smartphones, etc].
If you end up choosing Enter Fastboot, then it will take you to FastbootD, which is a completely different mode. In smartphones, we use this mode to flash a few dynamic partition files, but in smartwatches, nothing of that sort is possible, as of now. Still, if you try accessing this mode on your watch, you will just be taken to the screen shown below. And to exit this FastbootD Mode on your Galaxy Watch 4, you need to press and hold both the buttons on your watch for around 5 seconds and it will boot to the OS.
So on that note, we round off the guide on how you could boot your Galaxy Watch 4 to Fastboot Mode. We have shared two different methods for the same. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.
