My phone shows an exclamation mark in a triangle on a black screen

Your phone may display an exclamation mark in a triangle on a black screen. This screen is called recovery mode, and is usually accessed from the bootloader menu on an Android device. The most common cause of issues with recovery mode is when the device has been rooted; or having installed a custom ROM.

Follow these steps to leave recovery mode and boot your phone normally:

If your phone has a battery, remove the battery, wait 5 seconds, then re-insert the battery.
If your phone does not have a removable battery, follow these steps to power cycle your phone:
Press and hold POWER until the Phone Options appear.
Select Power Off and wait for the phone to fully turn off.
Wait for a few moments, and then power the phone on by pressing and holding the POWER button.
Turn on the device.
If recovery mode appears again, hold VOLUME UP, and then press the POWER button.
Use VOLUME UP or VOLUME DOWN to highlight Reboot system and press the POWER button to select it.

A factory data reset can also resolve some software issues. See How to factory reset a device.

NOTE: These steps work with most Android phones but not all, since HTC customizes the bootloader and recovery mode of their phones. If these steps do not work, contact an HTC service center.

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