CustomDroid

How to unlock your bootloader, brand by brand

Almost every custom ROM starts with the same step: unlocking the bootloader so the phone will accept software its maker didn't sign. How that works — and whether your phone allows it at all — depends on the brand, the region, and sometimes the carrier that sold it.

What unlocking costs you

  • It wipes the phone. Android's bootloader specification requires a factory reset on unlock, so everything on internal storage goes. Back up first.
  • It can be permanent.On Samsung the Knox fuse can never be reset; on Sony the DRM keys are gone for good. Relocking later doesn't undo either.
  • It may affect the warranty.Policies range from “no effect on hardware warranty” (Fairphone) to “no longer covered” (Motorola). Read your maker's terms, not a forum summary.
  • Some apps will notice. Banking apps, tap-to-pay and HD streaming can stop working on an unlocked phone — what commonly breaks.

The part that's the same everywhere

  1. Open Settings → About phone and tap Build number seven times to enable Developer options.
  2. In Developer options, turn on OEM unlocking(and USB debugging). If the switch is missing or greyed out, connect to the internet and check again — then see your brand below, because a switch that stays unavailable usually means this phone can't be unlocked.
  3. Install Google's platform-tools and, on Windows, the right USB driver.
  4. Reboot to the bootloader, run your brand's unlock command or tool, and confirm on the phone's screen. The phone wipes itself and reboots.

On phones that use fastboot, the command is fastboot flashing unlock on most current devices and fastboot oem unlockon many older ones. The ROM's install guide for your exact codename names the right one — use that, not a generic list. If you see “Flashing is not allowed in Lock State” later, the unlock didn't take: see that error.

Google Pixel

The easiest phones to unlock. Turn on OEM unlocking, reboot to the bootloader and run fastboot flashing unlock, then confirm on the phone with the volume and power keys.

The exception is carrier models. Pixels sold by Verizon can't have their bootloader unlocked — a SIM unlock from the carrier doesn't change that, because the two are different locks. Google's own Flash Tool notes say that if OEM unlocking stays greyed out after the phone has been online, it is probably locked by the carrier and can't be unlocked. Check that toggle before you buy a used Pixel.

OnePlus

OnePlus allows unlocking through fastboot with no code. Recent models use fastboot flashing unlock; older ones use fastboot oem unlock (the OnePlus 5, for example). The install guide for your exact model tells you which.

Carrier-branded OnePlus phones are the catch — T-Mobile models have needed an unlock token obtained through the carrier — and models sold in China can have their own application process. Check your model's forum before assuming it works like the global version.

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO

Xiaomi phones don't unlock with a fastboot command. You bind the phone to a Mi Account, then run Xiaomi's Mi Unlock tool on a computer with the phone in fastboot mode. Mi Unlock usually refuses the first attempt and makes you wait: reports commonly put that at 72 hours on HyperOS and 168 hours (a week) on MIUI, sometimes longer.

This is the brand whose rules change most often. HyperOS added an application step in the Xiaomi Community app, with limits on how many devices one account can unlock per year; China-region models have been reported as impossible to unlock officially; and at the end of 2025 users reported the application option disappearing from the Community app altogether, without an official statement from Xiaomi. Treat any waiting period you read about — including this one — as a snapshot, and check the current state in your model's forum before buying a Xiaomi phone specifically to flash it.

Samsung

Samsung doesn't use fastboot at all. On models that allow it, you enable OEM unlocking, boot to Download mode and choose the device-unlock option there. Three things make Samsung different from every other brand here:

  • Knox is tripped permanently.Unlocking sets Samsung's Knox warranty bit, a one-time hardware fuse. Samsung's Knox documentation describes it as marking the device permanently, whatever you do afterwards. Features that depend on Knox — Samsung Pay/Wallet, Secure Folder, work profiles — stay blocked even if you go back to stock and relock.
  • US Snapdragon models generally can't be unlocked. Galaxy phones sold in the United States have long shipped without the OEM unlocking option.
  • One UI 8 appears to end unlocking everywhere. Since mid-2025, analysis of One UI 8 firmware reported by SamMobile and others shows the OEM unlocking option gone regardless of region. Samsung hasn't publicly confirmed it, but if your Galaxy runs One UI 8 or later, assume it can't be unlocked. Firmware-downgrade workarounds circulate; they're fragile, and a wrong downgrade is a common way to brick a Samsung.

Motorola

Motorola issues unlock codes through its bootloader unlock site (you'll need to sign in). In fastboot mode you run fastboot oem get_unlock_data, paste the output into the site, receive a code by email, and run fastboot oem unlock followed by that code.

Not every model is eligible — carrier-sold phones commonly aren't — and the site is the only authority on yours. The LineageOS install guides note that some newer Motorola phones make you wait up to about a week before the OEM unlocking toggle becomes available. Motorola states that a phone you obtain an unlock code for is no longer covered by its warranty.

Sony Xperia

Sony publishes an official unlock page. First check the phone allows it: dial *#*#7378423#*#*, open Service info → Configuration, and look for Bootloader unlock allowed: Yes. Then enter your IMEI (IMEI 1 on dual-SIM phones) on Sony's page to get a code, and use it with fastboot oem unlockas your model's install guide shows. Sony lists some US variants (XQ-CT62, XQ-CQ62) as not supporting unlocking at all.

Sony is unusually frank about the cost: unlocking erases the phone's DRM security keys, which on some models degrades camera processing such as low-light noise reduction; it may void the warranty; and Sony says you won't receive further official software updates. Those keys can't be restored later without a backup you had to make beforehand.

Fairphone

Fairphone supports unlocking and documents it in its support guide. On current software no unlock code is needed any more (older software still used one). It's a two-step unlock: fastboot flashing unlock, confirm on the phone, then fastboot flashing unlock_critical and confirm again.

Fairphone says unlocking doesn't automatically void the hardware warranty, though support may ask you to go back to Fairphone OS to diagnose a fault. Its guide also warns that relocking with the wrong software image can trigger anti-rollback protection and brick the phone — see relocking the bootloader.

Nothing

Nothing phones unlock through fastboot without a code — the LineageOS guide for the Phone (1) uses fastboot flashing unlock. Nothing doesn't publish its own step-by-step guide, so follow the install guide for your exact model, and check Nothing's warranty terms for your region rather than relying on forum claims either way.

How to check your own model

There's no reliable public list of which model, region and carrier combination can be unlocked — makers don't publish one, and carrier rules change. That's why CustomDroid doesn't show an “unlockable” badge. The honest check is on the phone itself and in its community:

  • Look at the OEM unlocking switch. Present and switchable after the phone has been online is the best single sign. Buying used? Ask to see it before you pay.
  • Know your exact model number and codename. A carrier or regional variant can share a marketing name with an unlockable model and still be locked — find your codename.
  • Read the install guide for that codename. Search your phone to see which ROMs support it; each ROM's install page covers the unlock step for that device.
  • Check recent posts in its XDA forum. People report quickly when an update removes unlocking. Sort by newest — a guide from three years ago may describe a process that no longer exists.

Next

Keep a way back before you flash anything: restoring stock firmware covers each brand's official recovery tool. And if you're thinking about locking the bootloader again afterwards, read when relocking is safe first — doing it on the wrong ROM is one of the surest ways to brick a phone.