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To enter recovery mode on an installed Ubuntu desktop, open GRUB, choose Advanced options for Ubuntu, select a kernel entry marked recovery mode, then choose Drop to root shell prompt. Before running a repair command, identify the filesystem and exact device, protect important data, and confirm the target is not mounted if its checker requires that.
Boot the installed Ubuntu system into recovery mode
- Restart or power on the computer and watch for the firmware splash screen.
- Bring up GRUB. On BIOS systems, Ubuntu Wiki documents holding Shift during boot; on UEFI systems, press Escape, possibly more than once. Timing varies by hardware, and UEFI fast boot can make the menu difficult to catch. These steps describe the common Ubuntu GRUB path, not every OEM boot menu. (Ubuntu Wiki recovery-mode instructions, last edited 24 September 2026.)
- In GRUB, select Advanced options for Ubuntu.
- Choose the recovery mode entry for the kernel you intend to start.
- In the recovery menu, choose Drop to root shell prompt. The root shell has administrator privileges; commands can change or delete system data. Canonical’s recovery instructions also document the Advanced options, recovery kernel and root prompt path. (Canonical recovery-mode guide, updated 14 July 2025.)
Recovery mode loads basic services and opens a command-line environment. Ubuntu Wiki says, “The root partition is mounted read-only.” That is a useful safeguard, not a substitute for checking which volumes are mounted before acting. (Ubuntu Wiki.)
Protect data before attempting repair
A filesystem repair can change filesystem structures, and damaged files may not be recoverable. Ubuntu’s desktop help warns that fragments that cannot be returned to valid form may be deleted or moved to lost+found. If the files matter more than restoring the installation quickly, make an image of the volume before repair; an external hard drive or SSD with enough free space can hold that image. (Ubuntu Help: Repair a damaged filesystem.)
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If the drive is making unusual noises, disappears intermittently, or contains irreplaceable data that you cannot safely image, stop rather than experimenting with repair commands. The available Ubuntu guidance does not establish a safe do-it-yourself recovery sequence for those conditions; seek appropriate data-recovery help.
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Check the filesystem type and exact target
fsck is a front end that searches for and runs a filesystem-specific checker. It is not a universal repair program: checker behavior and options vary by filesystem. Its target can be a device name, mount point, filesystem label or UUID, so do not copy a guessed path such as /dev/sdaN or an NVMe device into a command. First inspect device and filesystem identity with tools available in the recovery environment, then cross-check the intended volume against the system’s mount configuration. (Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Resolute fsck manual, util-linux 2.41.3-3ubuntu2.2.)
- Confirm the filesystem type before choosing a checker.
- Confirm the target identifies the volume you actually intend to inspect.
- Check whether it is mounted. A repair that requires an unmounted filesystem should not be run against a mounted target.
Ubuntu’s desktop guidance says its graphical filesystem check will unmount a filesystem if needed and describes that check as non-modifying. Do not assume that every command-line checker behaves the same way: its effects depend on the filesystem tool and options.
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Choose a check or repair path
| Operation | What it does | Important condition |
|---|---|---|
| Graphical filesystem check | Ubuntu desktop help describes its check as non-modifying. | It can unmount the filesystem if needed; this description is for the documented graphical operation, not every command-line checker. (Ubuntu Help.) |
| Command-line filesystem check or repair | fsck dispatches to a filesystem-specific checker; depending on the tool and options, an operation may report problems or write repairs. |
Identify the filesystem and target first, and leave it unmounted when the relevant checker requires that. Consult the manual for that filesystem’s checker. (Ubuntu fsck manual.) |
From the root shell, the Ubuntu Wiki documents remounting the root filesystem read/write with mount -o remount,rw / when a task requires writes. If /home, /boot, /tmp or another directory is on a separate partition, the Wiki documents mount --all after that remount. These are mount-management instructions, not prerequisites for every filesystem check; do not remount or mount unrelated filesystems just because recovery mode offers a root shell. (Ubuntu Wiki.)
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Do not expect fsck to repair XFS. Ubuntu’s Noble manual describes fsck.xfs as a wrapper that “do[es] nothing, successfully”; it says XFS performs recovery at mount time and points to xfs_repair for checking or repairing a damaged XFS filesystem. Follow the XFS tool’s own documentation and ensure its requirements are met rather than applying a generic fsck recipe. (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Noble fsck.xfs manual, xfsprogs 6.6.0-1ubuntu2.1.)
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Understand the generic fsck exit status
The Ubuntu Resolute fsck manual assigns these status values. When multiple filesystems are checked, the reported status is a bitwise OR of the individual statuses. A status describes the checker result; it does not guarantee that files are recoverable.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | No errors |
| 1 | Errors corrected |
| 2 | System should be rebooted |
| 4 | Errors left uncorrected |
| 8 | Operational error |
| 16 | Usage or syntax error |
| 32 | Checking canceled |
| 128 | Shared-library error |
These codes and descriptions are from the Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Resolute fsck manual. They are not a diagnosis of a particular filesystem’s condition.
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Return to normal boot
After the recovery task, exit the root shell and choose the recovery menu’s resume or reboot option, as appropriate to what you changed. If the filesystem checker reports unresolved errors, avoid repeatedly attempting repairs without protecting the data and consulting the documentation for that filesystem’s specific tool.
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