Last Updated on July 4, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

Most Huawei phones do require their bootloader be unlocked before you can root or install a custom recovery on them, and the Huawei’s P9 Plus is no different. The phone requires you first to unlock the bootloader using the official Huawei unlock method, and then you are free to install whatever custom recoveries you want on your phone.

Fortunately, TWRP Recovery is available for the Huawei P9 Plus phone, and once you have done the following procedure for unlocking the bootloader, you should be able to get that custom recovery up and running on your phone in no time.

Unlocking the bootloader on the Huawei P9 Plus is not a daunting task; all it requires you to do is issue a couple of commands using command prompt, and you are all set.

Here’s how:

Details You Should Know

  1. Unlocking the bootloader voids the warranty of the phone. Please only proceed if you agree to lose your warranty.
  2. The unlocking process should erase all the data stored on the Huawei P9 Plus phone. So, please backup everything that you wish to preserve or it will be gone forever.
  3. This tutorial uses the Windows version of Fastboot to unlock the bootloader. If you happen to be on a Mac or Linux-based computer, you will need to install either ADB for Mac or ADB for Linux on your computer before you can do this tutorial.
  4. You should have ADB USB drivers installed on your Windows computer. If they are not, install them first.
  5. The guide should use the official method to unlock the bootloader on the phone.
  6. You should only do this on a Huawei P9 Plus phone.

Files You Need

  1. Download Fastboot and save it to your computer. It should help you execute commands on your phone from your computer.

How to Unlock Bootloader on Huawei P9 Plus

  1. First of all, unzip files from Fastboot over to your computer by right-clicking on the Fastboot archive and selecting the option that says Extract here. It will make the files available for your use.
  2. On your Huawei P9 Plus phone, head to Menu->Settings->About phone and tap on Build number for 7-8 times and it will say you are a developer. It has just unlocked the developer menu on your phone.
  3. Head to Menu->Settings->Developer options on your phone and turn on USB debugging.
  4. Head to Menu->Settings->Developer options and enable the option that says OEM Unlock. It should allow for the bootloader to be unlocked.
  5. You need to note down the IMEI number and Product ID of your phone before you can unlock the bootloader. To get the IME number, dial *#06# from the dial pad on your phone and you should see a 15-digit code that is your IMEI number. For the product ID, you need to dial * # * # 1357946 # * # * and your product ID should be shown on the screen. Note them both down.
  6. Head over to the EMUI web page from where you can request for an unlock code to unlock the bootloader on your phone.
  7. Get yourself logged in using your Huawei account. If you do not already have an account, create one and then log-in.
  8. Find the link for bootloader unlock page and click on it to begin the process for requesting an unlock code.
  9. At one point, the web page should ask you to input your phone details, such as the IMEI number and product ID. Enter everything it asks for and submit the data.
  10. The company should send the unlock code to your email address in a day or two.
  11. Open the email containing the unlock code and copy the code to your clipboard.
  12. Plug in your Huawei P9 Plus phone to your computer using a suitable USB cable.
  13. Launch a command prompt window in the Fastboot folder by opening the folder, holding down Shift on your keyboard, right-clicking anywhere on the screen, and selecting Open command window here.
  14. When the command prompt window launches, type in the following command and hit Enter:
    adb devices
  15. Make sure your phone appears in the list, or you have drivers’ issues. If you do not see your phone in the list, re-install the drivers and reboot your computer. Then, do the procedure once again.
  16. If your Huawei P9 Plus phone appears in the list, enter the following command into the command prompt window and press Enter:
    adb reboot bootloader
  17. It will reboot your phone into the bootloader mode from where you can unlock the bootloader.
  18. When your phone enters the bootloader mode, type in the following command into the command prompt window and hit Enter:
    fastboot devices
  19. Make sure your phone appears in the list.
  20. Next up, type in the following command into the command prompt window and press Enter. Make sure to replace CODE with the unlock code you have received from that website.
    fastboot oem unlock CODE
  21. Wait for it to unlock the bootloader on your phone. Allow the prompts that appear on your screen.
  22. When it’s done unlocking the bootloader, reboot your phone using the following command:
    fastboot reboot
  23. Your Huawei P9 Plus phone should reboot.

And there you go, the bootloader on your Huawei P9 Plus should now be unlocked which means you can now root and install a custom recovery on your phone and then enjoy tons of custom developments happening in the Android world on your phone.

Let us know how this went for you in the comments below!

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