Android devices have a number of special boot modes for various tasks and today I’ll be showing you how to boot the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL in Fastboot Mode.
When we boot our smartphones and tablets like normal, we’re booting into the Android operating system that is installed. This could be Samsung’s OEM user interface or LG’s user interface or even a custom ROM that you manually installed on the device. We can do a lot to our devices from the Android operating system but some things need to be done from a special boot mode since they give us a deeper level of access to the hardware (including other partitions).
There are a few of these special boot modes for Android but today I’ll be showing you how to boot the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL into Fastboot Mode.
This is also referred to as Bootloader Mode by some people within the community so be aware of that. From Fastboot Mode, we can flash custom kernels, custom recoveries as well as other special boot modes like Recovery Mode. These special boot modes are just something that you should know how to do.
Pixel 2 Fastboot Mode
- Press and hold the power button for a few seconds
- Tap the Power Off option when the Power Menu appears
- Wait for the Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL to completely turn off
- Then press and hold the Power button and the Volume Down button at the same time
- Continue holding these two buttons down until you boot into Fastboot Mode
Explanation
As mentioned, what we’re doing here is booting into a special boot mode so that we can gain more access to our device. I will be referencing how to boot the Pixel 2 into Fastboot Mode in future tutorials so again, this is just something you should know. No need to memorize it though as I will always link back to this tutorial when applicable. The process is easy though so it’s not something that is overly complicated and I appreciate that.
First of all, we need to power down the device so go ahead and press and hold the Power button. This will bring up the Power Menu right next to the Power button on the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL. Now you can tap the Power Off option and the device will start to shut off. It’s important that you wait until the device is completely off before you start the next steps or the button presses might not be recognized properly and you could just boot back into Android, or force the device to reboot.
Once the Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL is powered off, go ahead and press and hold the Power button as well as the Volume Down button. These two buttons need to be pressed at the same time and you’ll need to continue holding them until you boot into Fastboot Mode. If you made a mistake here, you’ll either boot into Android or you’ll cause the device to reboot. But as shown in the video, just hold these two buttons down and you should boot into Fastboot Mode.
This is where you’ll issue Fastboot commands with your ADB & Fastboot tools, and it’s also where you can boot into Recovery Mode. Just be careful about what you do here. Flashing an incompatible kernel will result in the phone not booting back up. This an always be reversed by flashing the stock kernel, but it’s something you should be aware of just in case you run across it. You’ll control the highlighted option with the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons and then you can selected the highlighted option by pressing the Power button.
If you’re done with Fastboot Mode then just make sure the Start option is highlighted and then press the Power button.
