How to flash firmware on Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro using Fastboot

The newest addition to the Google Pixel family has a lot of eye-catching features in the form of AI integration, improved cameras, and 7 years of OS upgrades. However, that isn’t it as there are a lot more exciting additions.

While you will be receiving new updates on time, sometimes people might not want to wait for the update to appear automatically. Instead, they are more than happy to manually flash firmware on Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro and install the update. If you don’t know the right method, things can end up going south quickly.

If you’re looking to know the right way to flash firmware, then this guide will be helpful. In this guide, you will get to know how to flash firmware on Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro using Fastboot.

How to flash firmware on Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro using Fastboot?

Step 1: Install Android SDK

To start off, install the Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC or computer. It’s the official ADB and Fastboot binary provided by Google. You should download it and extract it to a convenient location on your PC. Doing this will give you the necessary platform-tools folder.

Step 2: Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking

Then, you will need to enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking on your smartphone. The former makes your smartphone recognizable by the PC in ADB mode. Meanwhile, it’ll allow you to easily boot your smartphone to Fastboot Mode.

OEM Unlocking will be needed to carry out the bootloader unlocking process. You’ll need to go to Settings -> About Phone -> Tap on Build number 7 times -> Return to Settings -> System -> Developer Options -> Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking.

Step 3: Unlock bootloader on Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro

There is often an element of confusion regarding this step but to put it into perspective, you’ll need to unlock the bootloader on your device. Remember, unlocking the bootloader on your Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will mean wiping off all the data on your phone and nullifying the device’s warranty.

Step 4: Download the firmware for Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro

• Now, you need to get hold of the OTA image for your Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro from the following link –

Pixel 8 [Shiba] – OTA Image

Pixel 8 Pro [Husky] – OTA Image

• You should download the full update package
• Once you’ve downloaded the file, transfer the firmware to the platform-tools folder on your PC
• Likewise, you should rename the file to update such that the complete name ends up being updates.zip

Step 5: Boot your device to Fastboot Mode

1. Connect your phone to the PC via USB cable
2. Ensure that USB debugging is enabled
3. After that, head over to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in the address bar, before hitting Enter
4. It’ll launch the Command Prompt
5. Type in the following command in the CMD window for booting your device to Fastboot Mode

adb reboot bootloader

6. Then, type in the below command to verify the Fastboot Connection

fastboot devices

7. If you’ve got a device ID followed by the fastboot keyword, the connection will be successful

Step 6: Flash firmware on Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro using Fastboot Commands

• To start off, you should extract the firmware in the platform-tools folder
• After that, rename the bootloader, image, and radio files –
  • bootloader-codename-codename-version.img to bootloader.img
  • image-codename-version.zip to image.zip
  • radio-codename-version to radio.img
• After that, connct your device to the PC using a USB cable, ensuring your device is rooted to Fastboot Mode
• Then, go to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in the address bar and hit Enter to launch the Command Prompt
• Type the following command in the CMD window for flashing the bootloader file –

fastboot flash bootloader bootloader.img

• Then, execute the below command to boot your smartphone back to Fastboot mode

fastboot reboot-bootloader

• Next, you should flash the radio file using the following command –

fastboot flash radio radio.img

• You will have to boot your smartphone to Fastboot Mode using the following command –

fastboot reboot-bootloader

• Now, you need to decide whether you wish to format your device or not
• Typically, it is recommended that you should perform a factory reset but if you’re only installing monthly security patches, then you could skip this step
• Here are the two commands to help you do that –

Factory Reset – fastboot –w update image.zip

Without Reset – fastboot update image.zip

• Once the flashing is complete, you should use the following command to boot your smartphone to the OS –

fastboot reboot

Done!! this is how you can install firmware using the fastboot method on your Pixel 8 / 8 Pro.