How to install Android 9 Pie on your Google Pixel phones

Google recently released the final version of Android 9 Pie to all its Pixel handsets. While installing the update on your Pixel (XL) or Pixel 2 (XL) is relatively easy, we've put together a step by step guide on how to install Android 9 Pie on your Google Pixel phones right now.

Step 1

Download the correct OTA file for your Pixel phone on developers.google.com/android/ota

• Pixel 2 XL
• Pixel 2
• Pixel XL
• Pixel

It is extremely important that you select the correct OTA file, as installing the wrong one could permanently damage your device.


Step 2

Download and install ADB and Fastboot on your computer. Windows users may also want to get the Universal ADB Drivers from ClockWorkMod.

Step 3

Set your Pixel in recovery mode by:

• Turn off your device
• Hold down the Power button and Volume Down button together until you see the Bootloader screen.

Step 4

Select Recovery Mode by using the Volume Up/Volume Down buttons to scroll to it and the Power Button to select it.

Step 5

The screen will change to a smaller Android with an exclamation mark. Now hold down the Power button and then press the Volume Up button for a second in order to get into Recovery mode.


Step 6

Use the power buttons to scroll down to Apply update from ADB and select it with the Power button. You’ll be left with a blank screen with some text at the bottom.


Step 7

Connect your phone to your computer. Open Terminal on Mac and navigate to the folder that ADB is located in. On Windows you can open a Command Prompt directly from the ADB folder.

• Windows users type the following in Command Prompt and press Enter:
  adb sideload [Insert OTA file name]
• Mac users type the following in Terminal and press Return:
  ./adb sideload [Insert OTA file name]

If you've following the steps correctly, you should see some text appear on both the computer and your phone confirming the update is in progress. Once the update is complete, you will return to Recovery Mode. Reboot your device, and you should boot into Android Pie.