How to Turn on Developer Options and USB Debugging on Android

Being open-source, Android is a developer-friendly operating system. Its open nature attracts a lot of development activities that are not limited to apps only. You can find lots of mods, ports, and custom ROMs for Android devices that add more value. Thanks to the Developer options on Android that facilitate customization via custom recovery, root privilege, and ADB. By enabling USB debugging and OEM unlocking on your device, you can use ADB commands to unlock the PIN and Pattern lock on your Android phone and do more things.

What are Android Developer options?

As the very name suggests, the Developer options are not meant for new or average Android users as it contains some really sensitive device settings. If you tinker with these settings without any understanding, you might end up with a misbehaving phone.

On the Developer options screen, you’ll find a bunch of options to configure your device’s behavior, debug its performance, get bug reports, control hardware acceleration configuration, and GPU settings. Moreover, you can also enable USB debugging and OEM unlocking from there.

Whether you want to execute ADB and Fastboot commands, flash firmware, or install TWRP recovery, you will need to enable USB Debugging from Developer Options on your Android device.

Steps to Enable Developer Options on Android

On Android 4.1 and lower, it was easier to access the Developer options from the Settings menu. However, on Android 4.2 and higher, Google made the Developer options hidden by default, and turning it on became a bit tricky.

Now, to enable the Developer options, you need to tap the Build number 7 times. Please, keep in mind that the location of the Build number option on different Android versions may differ. Not just that, the location may vary depending on your Android device’s manufacturer.

• Android 5/6 /7: Settings > About phone > Build number.
• Android 8: Settings > System > About phone > Build number.
• Android 9, 10, 11. 12 & 13: Settings > About phone > Software information >Build number.
• Xiaomi MIUI: Settings > About phone > MIUI version > Build number.
• Realme: Settings > About phone > Baseband & Kernel > Build number.
• Vivo: Settings > System management > About phone > Software version > Build number.

When you tap the Build number 7 times, you’ll see a toast message saying, “You are now a developer!“, or “Developer mode has been enabled.”

Now, here are the detailed steps to turn on the Developer options on Android with screenshots.

1. Open your device Settings and tap the About phone, or About tablet, or About device option.
2. Now go to Software Information> Build number and tap it 7 times.
3. You’ll then get a toast message telling you that the Developer options have been enabled.

Developer Options on Xiaomi or MIUI Devices

In case you use a Xiaomi smartphone running MIUI ROM, the steps to enable the Developer options are a bit different.

1. Open the phone Settings and tap About phone.
2. Then go to MIUI version and tap it 7 times to turn on the Developer mode.

Developer options on Realme phones

If you own a Realme smartphone running ColorOS or Realme UI follow these steps.

1. Open device Settings > About phone.
2. Tap on Baseband & Kernel and then tap Build number 7 times in a row.
3. Enter your phone’s PIN when prompted,
4. You’ll see a toast message saying “You are now in Developer Mode!“
5. Now go back to Settings > Additional settings > Developer options and enable USB debugging.

Developer options on Vivo phones

If you own a phone from Vivo running Fun Touch OS, follow these steps to enable USB debugging.

1. Open device Settings > System management > About phone.
2. Tap on the Software version and then tap Build number 7 times in a row.
3. Enter your phone’s PIN when prompted,
4. You’ll see a toast message saying “You are now in Developer Mode!“
5. Now go back to Settings > System management > Developer options and enable USB debugging.

If you want to disable the Developer Mode later, read our tutorial describing 4 methods to turn off the Developer Options on Android devices.

Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking

Once you have enabled the Developer options on your Android device, you can access the developer mode menu easily from your device’s Settings screen. You can now enable USB debugging and OEM unlocking on your device. Below is a list of the locations where you can find USB debugging on different Android versions.

• Android 5/6/: Settings > Developer Options > USB debugging
• Android 8: Settings > System > Developer Options > USB debugging
• Android 9 and above: Settings > System > Advanced > Developer Options > USB debugging
• Xiaomi/Vivo/Oppo/Realme: Settings > Additional settings > Developer Options > USB debugging

If you want a more detailed description of the steps to enable USB debugging and OEM unlocking on your Android phone or tablet device, see below.

1. Having enabled the Developer options, go back to the Settings page and tap Developer options.
2. Now go to the USB debugging and OEM unlocking options and tap the toggle to enable them.
3. When you see the confirmation pop-up, tap on OK.

That’s it! You’ve successfully enabled USB debugging and OEM unlocking options on your Android device.

USB debugging and OEM Unlocking on Xiaomi Devices

On Xiaomi smartphones, follow the steps given below:

1. Open Settings and go to More Settings.
2. Tap the Developer options.
3. You can enable the USB debugging and OEM unlocking options from that screen.

Now, you are all set to use the ADB and fastboot commands to flash stock firmware, install zips and customize your Android device using the ADB Shell commands. Remember, when you send ADB commands to your device from a computer, you’ll need to authorize your PC as an ADB device on your phone.

Disable ADB Authorization Timeout

Please note that you need to authorize your computer on your device so that it can communicate with your phone via ADB. Once you authorize a device, you won’t need to Allow USB debugging on your device for 7 days. After that, the authorization is automatically revoked. However, if you execute ADB commands regularly, you might want the authorization to stick permanently.

In order that the ADB authorization for a particular computer to remain enabled, you can follow the steps given below.

1. Go to Settings> Developer options.
2. Look for an option called Disable ADB Authorization Timeout and tap the toggle button to turn it on.

Read Next: How to Mirror Android Devices to PC with Scrcpy