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FAQ: Start Your BlackBerry in Safe Mode (OS 4.6+ Only)

by Ronen Halevy on Apr 24th, 2009 at 3:00 pm EST
15 Comments »
 

Safe mode is a new feature that RIM introduced with OS 4.6 that has been present in later builds too. All it does is stop third party applications from loading automatically on boot. This lets you remove troublesome applications before they start running. This is not exactly new but a friend of mine needed this fix yesterday so I thought I would remind everybody about it. Keep in mind safe mode is only available on OS 4.6+ devices and I did find that it did not work on one OS 4.6 build so no promises.

devices_safe_Mode To startup in safe mode (via Knowledge Base):

  • Remove the BlackBerry battery and reinsert it
  • Hold down the Escape key after the red LED goes out and keep holding it (The escape key is the one that looks like a sideways “U” shaped arrow by the trackball on the Bold commonly called the “back key/arrow”)
  • You will then see this dialog box to the right and click ok
  • To exit safe mode just remove the battery and reinsert again

Let me know if you have any issues!

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 24th, 2009 and is filed under BlackBerry FAQ.
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15 Comments to “FAQ: Start Your BlackBerry in Safe Mode (OS 4.6+ Only)”

  1. Posted by: n8
    April 24, 2009 at 3:37 pm EST

    I have found this to come in handy when the leaked plazmic themes were crashing devices and the user didn’t have access to DTM to remove the files.

  2. Posted by: Phreqd
    April 26, 2009 at 1:32 am EST

    Thanks! Did not know about this.

  3. Posted by: TTune
    April 26, 2009 at 11:03 am EST

    There is a slightly easier alternative to a battery pull: If your BlackBerry model supports it you can also do that key combination similar to CTL-ALT-DEL in Windows. On your handset it’s LEFT-ALT RIGHT-SHIFT and DEL all at the same time. When the screen goes black just hold down the Escape key (as above). Same results, less work.

    TT

  4. Posted by: DavidB
    April 26, 2009 at 2:37 pm EST

    Agree with you TT, BUT just like a soft reset is only so good so far when troubleshooting a Windows problem, doing a full power cycling often sometimes resolves issues that a soft reset doesn’t. I would try soft first of course but with a BlackBerry many times pulling the battery (or using QuickPull) is the only way.

  5. Posted by: benzworm
    April 26, 2009 at 6:44 pm EST

    i cant get this to work on my bold… im running 4.6.0.266

  6. Posted by: berrytimes
    April 26, 2009 at 10:32 pm EST

    i do as follow and it works on my 8900 4.6.1 os:
    - press alt+num+del to reboot my berry;
    - press and hold escape immediately till the led red goes off and my berry start rebooting in white;
    - the windows pops out after rebooting asking if i would like to use safe mode;
    - i can reboot it with alt+num+del again to switch back to normal;

    share with all!

    • Posted by: Made_in_Rim
      July 28, 2009 at 3:43 pm EST

      Hey Berrytimes,
      I also have an 8900 with 4.6.1.231. os. I have the 552 error message up and i’m trying to start it in safe mode but holding the escape key isnt working. Any ideas? Thank you in advance.

  7. Posted by: eliebingue
    April 27, 2009 at 8:06 am EST

    I want to know whether the fact to keep in safe mode presented a risk to the terminal?
    I tested the application googlemaps and I can tell you that charge cards at a phenomenal rate.

  8. Posted by: eliebingue
    April 27, 2009 at 8:10 am EST

    (suite du message)
    Mon terminal est un blackberry storm et mon OS est 4.7.0.131

  9. Posted by: mark jackson
    May 3, 2009 at 7:20 am EST

    I have a blackberry storm it keeps starting in safe mode and when i reset it wont turn it off. Can anyone help?

  10. Posted by: Made_in_Rim
    July 28, 2009 at 3:10 pm EST

    Hey Berrytimes,
    I also have an 8900 with 4.6.1.231. os. I have the 552 error message up and i’m trying to start it in safe mode but holding the escape key isnt working. Any ideas? Thank you in advance.

  11. Posted by: DavidB
    August 3, 2009 at 8:21 am EST

    Does not seem to work on the Tour with 4.7.1.40. Tried twice and it booted like normal and 3rd party launch apps (YouMail, ILBB, etc) were running.

  12. Posted by: mckinneycm
    August 26, 2009 at 11:36 am EST

    Not working on the Bold running 4.6.0.297. Tried with QuickPull and Battery Pull.