My phone powered off during update to 8.1., now it won't complete. How do I get it to finish updating?

[Windows Central Question]

Phone powered off during update to 8.1. won't complete.

I left my phone to complete update. Battery was well charged. I forgot I was in an area where cell signal was low. When I returned several hours later, the screen was black and phone wouldn't do anything. I plugged it in and got the red battery symbol. After awhile, the gears showed up but nothing in the progress bar. It has now been sitting there with the wheels turning overnight with nothing in the progress bar. I restarted it and it just goes back to the wheels turning. Any suggestions?

 

[Harrie-S]

Re: Phone powered off during update to 8.1. won't complete.

If you have a SD card get it out and try again.

 

[Skulls138]

Re: Phone powered off during update to 8.1. won't complete.

Nokia Recovery tool sounds like your best bet if you can't hard reset it.

 

[GoNokindow]

Re: Phone powered off during update to 8.1. won't complete.

If all else fails. Hard reset!! Or use Lumia recovery tool which can be found online. Which is kinda of a hard reset. Hope it doesn't come to that. I know how inconvenient it is to have to reinstall all your apps n reupdate everything.