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According to the official version offered by Xiaomi, the Chinese company blocks the bootloader of its terminals for security reasons. Offering a terminal with the bootloader unlocked exposes it to the fact that, for example, the stores that sell the terminal can install their own applications on the system. However, the brand does allow users to unlock the bootloader if they want to root their terminals to make the most of their terminals, or to be able to install the Gcam, the Google camera, on some of their mobiles, such as, for example, on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5. We have already taught you how to install the Gcam on a Redmi Note 7, a very simple process.
We are going to teach you how to unlock the bootloader in any Xiaomi terminal. It is a legal process offered by the same Xiaomi company. Opening the bootloader does not modify the warranty contract when buying the mobile. Of course, any modification you make, a posteriori, once the bootloader is opened, is your responsibility and you must assume the risk that it is rendered useless. In this tutorial we will show you how to open the bootloader… although more than how to open it, how to request the opening request. No, this process is not automatic. Once you request it, a message will appear warning you that you will have to wait between 360 and 715 hours (between 15 days and a month). There is no way to skip this, so you will have to wait.
Steps to unlock the bootloader of a Xiaomi mobile
The first thing we have to do to unlock the bootloader of your Xiaomi is to enter the MIUI unlock page and download the Mi Tools tool. In order to download it, you have to enter with the username and password of your MIUI account. Remember to put the corresponding prefix in the first box looking in the list of SPAIN countries, like this in English.
Once your password has been confirmed, a new screen will appear from which you can download the Mi Tools tool from which you will request the unlock.
Now we are going to go to our mobile to activate the development options and activate the USB debugging to be able to process the unlock. We are going to go to 'Settings' - 'About the phone' and we are going to click seven times on the 'MIUI version' section. A sign will warn us that we have successfully activated the development options.
Now we are going to go to 'System and device' - 'Additional settings' - 'Developer options'. Within these, we look for ' USB debugging ' and activate the switch. We must also activate the option 'My Unlock Status' in this menu.
Taking into account that the tool has already been downloaded (we recommend unzipping the folder with the tool on the desktop) we are going to turn off our terminal and turn it on by pressing and holding the volume minus and unlock / lock buttons at the same time. If you do it right, a screen will appear with the MIUI logo and the word 'FASTBOOT'. Now connect the terminal to your PC via microUSB cable.
We open the tool and it will ask you to reconnect to your Mi account in Xiaomi. Do not forget to put the prefix corresponding to the country of your phone number, in Spain, +34.
Once the terminal is connected and recognized by the tool, you just have to click on 'Unlock' and the process will start automatically. At the end, a message will appear with the time you will have to wait to unlock it. Very important: you must wait all the time and even a couple of days more.
When the set time has passed, we reconnect the terminal to our PC with USB debugging activated and enter FASTBOOT mode (volume down button + lock / unlock). We launch the tool again, enter the MIUI account and press 'Unlock'.
A percentage will notify us of the unlocking process. The mobile will restart only when it is finished and you will have the bootloader unlocked.
