How to hide personal information before taking Samsung smartphone in for repair?

A new function has appeared in Samsung smartphones: thanks to the Maintenance Mode, smartphone owners can protect all their personal data when sending their device for repair.

"We have our entire lives on our phones—from credit card information to family photos. With Maintenance Mode, we create additional confidence so that Galaxy users can maintain the privacy of their personal data even if they give their phone to someone else," said Samsung Electronics' Mobile eXperience Business company—dealing in mobile communication devices—vice president and head of the Security Team, Seungwon Shin.

What features does Maintenance Mode offer?

According to Samsung's official blog, if the user turns on this mode, access to all personal data of the owner of the smartphone will be blocked, and a new account will be created for the repairer with limited rights so that he can work on the phone, but will not have access to the owner's photos, messages, contacts, and other personal information.

When in the Maintenance Mode, the smartphone repairer will also not have access to applications installed by the owner of the phone. If necessary, the repairer will be able to download apps from Galaxy Store, but they will be automatically deleted, along with all data and accounts created in Maintenance Mode, when the owner of the phone exits this mode.

Here's how to find and enable the Maintenance Mode:

On which smartphones is new feature available?

The Maintenance Mode was successfully tested on Galaxy S21 series smartphones in South Korea this July, and then launched in China in September. Today, this regime is gradually being implemented all over the world. Initially, the innovation will appear on some models running One UI 5, and in 2023 the list of devices on which the new function will be available will be gradually expanded.