So let’s talk about what a bootloader is, and why Verizon wants to lock yours down. What is a bootloader? The bootloader is the first thing that starts up when a phone is turned on.

The bootloader, in almost any computing environment (not just Android), is executable code that runs before the operating system loads and starts to run.

Unlock your bootloader, but do not flash your custom recovery yet. Reboot. Your device will force-boot into stock recovery, wipe data and cache, then reboot again.

You can now Reboot to Bootloader, and Power down. Previously you were unable to do this.