How to Install a Custom ROM on the Pixel and Pixel XL

We’re starting to see custom ROMs released for the Pixel phones, and today I’m going to show you how to use Pure Nexus as my example for how to install one.

Many were hoping that the Pixel and Pixel XL would have received custom ROM and custom kernel support right from the start. This has been how things were with the release of Nexus phones, and that actually resulted in some community development projects being released to the public before the phone was even delivered to anyone.

Sadly, Google changed a number of things for Android when it comes to the Pixel phones and this has caused some major delays so far.

There are a couple of custom ROMs out there now, and I’ll be using a popular one as an example for how to install them on the Pixel and the Pixel XL. The ROM I’ll be demonstrating here is the Pure Nexus Project as it offers a very stock-like experience with a bunch of customization options thrown inside it. I was actually on the fence about installing a custom ROM on the Pixel XL phone I have. Then I saw that the Pure Nexus custom ROM had the ability to disable the navigation bar (since I like to use pie controls), and I immediately started to install it.

Naturally, you will need to have an unlocked bootloader, you’ll need to have TWRP installed, and you should go ahead and create a Nandroid backup before you begin this process. I also want to note that various custom ROMs will have special steps that are required. So be sure to check with the XDA thread and see if you need to do certain things, or avoid others entirely.

Installing a Custom ROM on the Pixel

1. Download the Custom ROM onto the Pixel phone (Pixel – Pixel XL)
2. Download Gapps on the Pixel phone (if required)
3. Download a copy of the TWRP .ZIP file on the Pixel phone (if required)
4. Download a copy of the Vendor .IMG file on the Pixel phone (if required)
5. Boot the Pixel phone into Recovery Mode
6. Tap on the Wipe option
7. Tap on the Advanced Wipe button
8. Select the Dalvik, System, and Data partitions
9. Swipe the white arrows to the right to format those partitions
10. Tap the Home button
11. Tap the Install button
12. Browse to and tap on the Custom ROM .ZIP file (from step 1)
13. Tap on the Add More Zips button, then tap on the Gapps .ZIP file (if required)
14. Swipe the white arrows to the right
15. Wait for the custom ROM (and other .ZIP files) to install
16. Tap the Home button
17. Tap on the Install button
18. Browse to and tap on the TWRP .ZIP file (from step 3)
19. Swipe the white arrows to the right to reinstall TWRP
20. Once installed, tap on the Reboot System button
21. Wait for the Pixel to boot back into Android
22. Reboot
23. After activating Android, boot back into Recovery Mode to flash SuperSU (optional)

Explanation

Since I am using the Pure Nexus custom ROM as the example here, you’re going to see some of these steps be specific to that. As shown above, you’ll likely need to have a fresh copy of the Vendor .IMG file on the Pixel phone since it is required (as shown in the video). At this time, Pure Nexus doesn’t require that you download a Gapps package since they are included. This will change in the future and that is why I mention it in the text guide, but don’t do it in the video guide.

Once you have the files downloaded onto the Pixel or Pixel XL, you’ll want to boot into TWRP so that you can do an Advanced Wipe on the Dalvik, System, and Data partitions. This is required in order to do a ‘clean install’, which is what we’re doing when we first install a custom ROM. Once those partitions have been formatted, we can tap the Home button and then go back to the TWRP main menu. From here, you’ll want to tap on the Install button and start installing the custom ROM of your choice.

In the example of Pure Nexus, you will need to install the TWRP .ZIP file again after Pure Nexus has been installed. This is required (at least at the time of writing this) because installing the custom ROM will overwrite TWRP (which is one of the many changes Google made with the Pixel phones). After you have install the custom ROM and then the TWRP image, you can reboot back into Android and activate it with your account.

This first boot cycle will take a long, long time. It took at least 6-7 minutes for me so be patient during the process and don’t give up too early (I almost did). When you boot back into Android, if you get the Vendor .IMG error, then you’ll want to boot back into TWRP and flash that Vendor .IMG file as shown in the video. It’s also advised to wait until Android has been activated before you try and flash SuperSU. I mention the one I used in the video above, but the latest version should work just fine.

Again, I can’t stress enough how important it is to read through at least the first page of the XDA thread for the custom ROM you want to install. You should read through all of it if you can, but I know these can get out of hand with hundreds of pages. Still, at least read through the first page so you can get an idea of what steps are required for the custom ROM you have chosen to install.