Last Updated on July 4, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

Unlocking the bootloader is what people who are itching to install a different ROM usually do first because it allows them to install a custom recovery. There are two types of recoveries that people can install on Android, and only one of them comes with your device by default. That is, of course, design limits the stock recovery and its features.

A custom recovery is a custom made to give you all the utensils that you need to get your new ROMs lock and loaded and to run smoothly. Both versions of recovery also let you efficiently recover the device. The custom version does not forget that recovering a device is still the primary purpose of the recovery partition. As such, there is no reason not to install a custom recovery if you want to install a custom ROM, kernel or anything else that does not come on the device by default.

Here is everything that people need to unlock the bootloader on the Huaei P9 Lite smartphone so they can then begin thinking about nstalling a custom recovery image like Team Win’s TWRP Recovery:

File You Need

  • Download the HiSuite from Huawei from here.
  • Download the SRK Tool from here.
  • Download the Huawei USB Drivers from here.

Note that you need to use this guide with the Huawei P9 Lite smartphone. We do not guarantee that the same steps are going to work on any other device, including the rest of the smartphones and tablets available in the Huawei range.

You must have a computer that is running on the Windows operating system to use this guide to unlock the bootloader because we are using the command prompt to run some commands.

Also, note that unlocking the bootloader on a Huawei smartphone is going to wipe the data clean. That means all data that you have not backed up before unlocking the bootloader is not able to be restored once you have completed the steps. You must backup beforehand. That includes any pictures you do not want to risk losing.

How to Unlock Bootloader on Huawei P9 Lite

1. Head over to the official Huawei website and create an account if you do not have one already.

2. Fill in the information on the page as follows. (You can see in the image that it gives you the English translation of the parts you need to fill in. If you have trouble doing it from the Chinese version of the website, you may also do the same thing from the English text version of the site. The reason we have not given the English version of our guides is that it is not running at the time of writing the post).

3. Jot down the unlock code that you get from the Huawei website once you have finished filling in the details.

4. Unlock the Developer Options menu on the Huawei P9 Lite smartphone by pointing to the Menu > Settings > About Device > Build Number. Don’t stop tapping your fingers on the build number until you get a message on the screen letting you know that you are using the device as a developer now which is usually at least seven generous taps.

5. Now you need to enable the USB Debugging Mode by entering the Developer Options menu that you just unlocked (Menu > Settings > Developer Options > USB Debugging Mode) and then checking the box that is available next to that mode.

6. Stay inside the Developer Option and enable the OEM Unlocking option that you see there also.

7. Extract the SRK Tools file so that you can see the executable file and then launch it so that the program opens up the computer. (You should be able to right-click the mouse on the file and choose the option for extracting to extract the file and then double-click the file to launch it).

8. Start by double tapping on the Enter key.

9. Choose option A and then hit the Enter key again.

10. Tap on the Y key from the following page which is confirming yes.

11. Tap on the Y key again to confirm that you do have the code.

12. The Huawei P9 Lite will now boot into the fastboot mode.

13. Press the Enter button on the keyboard once again.

14. Find the unlock code and paste it in the available field that you can see there at the bottom of the screenshot.

15. Click the Y button to confirm the code.

16. Give it a few minutes before expecting the following screenshot to appear which is letting you know that the bootloader is officially unlocked. (Our example doesn’t show that because it is already unlocked).

In conclusion, that is how to install the bootloader on the Huawei P9 Lite smartphone so you can go on to install a custom recovery image. The custom recovery that you can install as of today is the TWRP Recovery–the world’s most famous custom recovery image. Here is everything you need to install a custom recovery on the Huawei P9 Lite smartphone. Once you do have the TWRP Recovery installed, it allows you also to root the device. You can find the rooting guide attached at the bottom of the custom recovery post.

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