Install Windows drivers for Android phones

Computers need drivers to identify phones and tablets. When connecting an Android device to a PC via a USB cable, Windows should automatically install the driver even without an internet connection. That is called Plug and Play .

If Plug and Play fails, you will have to manually install the driver to activate the connection between the computer and the phone. Installing Android drivers for Windows 10 is the easiest. Let's start now.

Install OEM driver

OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. Most Android device manufacturers have their own settings for Android drivers. A small number of brands still use drivers from other manufacturers, but they are often confusing such as OnePlus.

Install Windows drivers for Android phones Picture 1

To install OEM, visit the Android Developer website and find the Get OEM Drivers section . Determine the driver of the Android device manufacturer. If your manufacturer cannot be found, try searching the internet to enter "[manufacturer name] android drivers" , the manufacturer may be one of the first results.

After downloading the driver, you need to install it. Plug the Android device into the PC. Click the Windows + X button, then click Device Manager. Scroll down and click Portable Devices, in the extension, right-click the device's name and select Update driver. It will open the wizard update driver .

Install Windows drivers for Android phones Picture 2

Select Browse my computer for driver softwbare. Go to the OEM driver you just downloaded. Select the driver and click OK, then Next to install. It only takes a little time. As soon as the driver works, you should restart the computer.

Official Google tool

Installing Android drivers is a relatively long process. You need to download Android SDK Tools, Android SDK Platform Tools, and Google USB Driver through SDK Manager. SDK Manager is quite cumbersome and complicated with many different tools, users don't use it.

Install Windows drivers for Android phones Picture 3

In January 2017, Google launched ADB and fastboot as an independent software package. Google refers to the collection as the Platform Tools package. You can download this package directly from the SDK website. Complete the download, extract the desired location.

You really do not need to install anything after extracting, just open the Command Prompt in the SDK Platform Tools folder . Move to the folder, hold Shift and right-click. Select Open command window here from the drop down menu.

Install Windows drivers for Android phones Picture 4

Set PATH Variable

Computers know the location of everything.PATH variable is the main list of command line tools. It knows a few tools but some other tools need to be added manually. If you add the location of Platform Tools, you will easily find them when needed.

Open the Start menu , and search for the advanced system settings. Select View advanced system settings and click Enviroment variables.

Install Windows drivers for Android phones Picture 5

In the System variable, select Path. Then select Edit. When the new window opens select New, and paste the path to Platform Tools > Enter > OK.

Install Windows drivers for Android phones Picture 6

When you need to use ADB or fastboot, simply open the reminder window and enter your command.

15-Second ADB Installer

Before Google releases standalone packages, Android users will have to download Android SDK Manager before downloading the packages. However, users named Snoop05 have discovered that this long process can be significantly reduced. Therefore, 15-Second ADB Installer was born.

Install Windows drivers for Android phones Picture 7

Download this software, then double-click the file named adb-setup-1.xxexe . In the file's window, you need to answer some questions.

When the final question is answered, a new window will appear with Google generic driver installation.

All connected

It's frustrating when things don't work. We just know how to plug in the device and wait for the miracle to appear but rarely does that happen. However, the opportunity to automatically install drivers of Android devices is very high. If not, you can do our above to download and install the OEM driver for your device.