In this guide, we will show you the steps to install Google’s Android Bootloader Interface Drivers on your PC. There are quite a few USB drivers that you might have heard of, all related to your device. The first one is the general Android USB Drivers. These are the most frequent ones and are used to carry out some of the basic yet most important tasks.
These include the likes of transferring files between your device and PC, using it in PTP Mode, or sharing your device’s WiFi with your PC via the USB Tethering Mode. Then comes the turn of Android SDK Platform Tools. This tool is officially provided by Google and contains all the necessary binary files needed to execute ADB and Fastboot Commands.
Next up, are the Qualcomm USB drivers which are installed on your PC so that it is able to interact with your device in EDL Mode (Emergency Download Mode). These drivers are only applicable for devices with underlying Qualcomm chipsets and are used when the device is hard bricked. So in all these, where does Google’s Android Bootloader Interface Drivers fits it? Well, let’s check it out.
[We also have a separate guide for Windows 11, you may check that out as well. The only difference between both these guides is the screenshots. The below steps are performed on a Windows 10 PC, whereas in the linked guide, you will find the screenshots from the Windows 11 PC. Everything else, including the process and instructions, are the same across both these guides].
What are Google’s Android Bootloader Interface Drivers
Once you boot your device to Fastboot or Bootloader Mode (via the adb reboot bootloader command or the hardware key combination), the regular Android USB Drivers wouldn’t come in handy. Their role ends as soon as the device leaves the booted OS. So when your device is booted to Fastboot or Bootloader mode, you will need the help of additional drivers.
And these additional drivers are Android Bootloader Interface. All in all, whenever a device is connected to either of the two aforementioned modes, your PC will only be able to identify it when it gets the required driver files, of which Google’s Android Bootloader Interface Drivers plays an integral part. So with this, you would have got perfect knowledge regarding the usage of these drivers. Let’s now check out its installation steps. Follow along.
- How to Execute Android ADB Fastboot Commands Wirelessly
- How to Run ADB Fastboot Commands directly on Android without Root
- Use ADB and Fastboot Commands on Android Without PC
- How to fix ADB Device not found [List of Devices Attached is blank]
How to Install Android Bootloader Interface Drivers
- To begin with, download the Android USB Driver and extract it to any convenient location on your PC.
- Upon extraction, you should get the usb_driver folder. Within that, there will be the android_winusb.inf file, which we will be using here.
- Now connect your device to the PC via USB cable.
- Use the Windows+X shortcut keys and select Device Manager from the menu.
- Within that, go to the Other Devices section and your device will be listed there with a yellow exclamation mark. [If it’s not there, then don’t forget to check the Port or the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section as well].
- Right-click on it and select Update Drivers.
- Then click on Browse my computer for driver software.
- After this, select Let me pick from the list of device drivers on my computer.
- Then select Show all devices and hit Next.
- Now click on the Have Disk button, then click on Browse.
- Navigate to the usb_driver folder, select the android_winusb.inf file and click Open > OK.
- For ADB Drivers, select Android ADB Interface whereas for Fastboot Drivers, select Android Bootloader Interface, and click Next.
- You will now get an update driver warning, click YES, and finally click Install.
- The installation process will now begin and once completed, you will be notified of the same.
- Now enable USB Debugging on your device. Go to Settings > About Phone > Tap on Build Number 7 times > Go back to Settings > System > Developer Options > Enable USB Debugging.
- Once that is done, download the Android SDK Platform Tools onto your PC. Extract it and you should get the platform-tools folder.
- Go to this folder, type in CMD in its address bar, and hit Enter. This shall launch the Command Prompt.
- Type in the below command in this CMD window to boot your device to authorize the ADB connection
adb devices
- You will now get a prompt on your device, tap Allow.
- Now use the below command in the CMD window to boot your device to Fastboot/Bootloader Mode
adb reboot bootloader
- Your device will now be booted to Fastboot. To verify the same, type in the below command and the result shall be a device ID followed by the fastboot keyword:
fastboot devices
So this was all from this guide on how to install Google’s Android Bootloader Interface Drivers. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.
