I love this style chair, and have owned four in the past ten years, by various makers. I was disappointed that I could not make it recline, which is the reason I bought it. My daughter got it into the reclining position once, but I couldn't do it the next time I used the chair. I found that a little spray lubricant helped loosen it up, and then I was able to push the back joints upwards. This caused the chair's back support bars to lower and line up with the lower frame. I haven't been able to get into the chair in the upright position and simply shift it to recline (yet) but maybe the lubricant will help with that eventually. In the meantime I align it to recline while upside down, then flip it over. It's pretty nice once it reclines!