Hey what's up everybody it's Dallas with Gadget Hacks.
And today I'm gonna show you how to manually flash Android 11 on your Google Pixel.
Now at the time of this video, Google just dropped the first developer preview build
of Android 11.
Thing is, this isn't the beta, so you can't just opt in on Google's website and get the
update like a regular OTA.
What you have to do instead is flash the Android 11 images in fastboot.
So first things first, your Pixel's bootloader will need to be unlocked if you want to do
this.
If you haven't unlocked your bootloader yet, it's pretty easy.
Just head to the full tutorial linked out in the description below for help with that
part.
But as long as you have an unlocked bootloader, a USB cable, and a computer, you're good to
go.
First, head to developer.android.com/preview/download.
Scroll down a bit and find your device's download link in this little table.
You're gonna have to agree to the terms of service, but then just hit the download button.
It's a big file, so it will take a little while to download.
Once it's finished, go ahead and extract the contents of the ZIP with your favorite archive
utility.
I'm using 7 Zip if you need a rec.
When you're done there, just take note of where that folder is since you'll need it
later.
But now, head to Google's SDK platform tools download page.
You can just google that, or you can use the full tutorial where I have all the links set
up for you.
What you want to do here is scroll down and click the link for your operating system.
This one's a much smaller file, so it should only take a second to download.
Now, extract that ZIP just like you did with the other one.
Open the folder it creates..... then highlight all the files in here and press control-X.
Now, head to the folder where you extracted those firmware files and press control-v to
paste all that stuff in here.
Here's where it gets really simple.
If you want to do things by the book, all you'd have to do now is double click this
"flash-all.bat" file and hook your phone up in fastboot mode.
BUT, that would wipe all your data.
You'd lose your apps and files and have to start over.
It does that because you're upgrading from one major OS version to another, and it's
a really early version too, so having leftover app data and other files from Android 10 might
cause a bug here and there.
But the thing is, it probably won't.
And even if you change your mind, you can always just factory reset the phone after
you update to Android 11.
So to avoid that data wipe, right-click the flash-all.bat file and choose "Edit" from
the context menu.
This will open it in a text editor, and this might look a little intimidating, but all
you need to worry about in here is this "hyphen-W" towards the bottom.
Delete that, then just close the bat file and click save when prompted.
Now you can go ahead and double click the flash-all.bat file.
A command window will open up and it should say "Waiting for any device."
So let's get the phone hooked up.
Okay, so on the phone side of things, start by shutting your Pixel down completely.
Then, hold down the volume down button, and while you're still holding it down, long-press
the power button.
Kinda like you're taking a screenshot.
This will boot your phone into bootloader mode eventually, and you'll know you're good
when you see a menu like this.
Don't press anything, though.
Instead, just hook your phone up to your computer with a USB cable, and that Waiting for Any
Device prompt should start flashing the update automatically.
It'll take about 10 minutes in total, but the phone will automatically reboot when it's
done.
That first time booting up will probably take a lot longer than usual, but don't freak out.
Give it another 10 minutes if needed.
But at this point, you should be all set to try out Android 10.
If you need any help with any bumps in the road, be sure to check out the full tutorial
over on Gadget Hacks dot com.
And as always, we'd appreciate it if you would like and comment on this video and subscribe
to our channel.
So we'll see you again next time folks, but until then... happy gadget hacking.