Google has just released the final Android 5.0 Lollipop factory images for some its previous generation of Nexus devices except the Nexus 4 and 3G variants of the Nexus 7. The company has also started rolling out the OTA updates for these devices but they can take up to a month to land on your device.

If you cannot wait for the OTA update to land on your device, you can manually flash the factory images. However, the process will require you to wipe the device clean of all its data and unlock its bootloader as well. So make sure to create backups if you have any important data on the device. The installation process is pretty straightforward though if you are comfortable in using ADB/Fastboot or just Terminal or a Command Prompt window. All set? Follow the steps below then.

Step 1: Download all the files linked below and extract their contents inside a new folder called “android” on your desktop. To make it clear, all the files must be inside the same directory (android here) and not inside any other folder.

• Download Android 5.0 factory image: Nexus 5 | Nexus 7 (2013/Wi-Fi) | Nexus 7 (2012) | Nexus 10
• ADB/Fastboot: Windows | Mac

Step 2: Open up a new Terminal or Command Prompt window and use the ‘cd’ command to navigate to the “android” folder created in previous step on your desktop.

Example code below in case you are not well versed with the ‘cd’ command:

cd USERNAME/desktop/android

Step 3: Switch off your Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 and reboot them into bootloader mode using the key combination mentioned below

• Nexus 5: Volume Up + Volume Down + Power
• Nexus 7: Volume Down + Power
• Nexus 10: Volume Up + Volume Down + Power

Step 4: Before flashing the factory image, you need to make sure that your Nexus device is being detected by the PC.

fastboot devices

If you are using a Mac, then you need to prefix a “./” before every Fastboot command. So, the above command will look something like this on a Mac -:

./fastboot devices

The above command should confirm if your device is indeed being detected by your PC or not. If it is, then proceed to the steps below. If not, repeat the above steps again. Make sure to check that you have properly installed the drivers and are inside the correct folder.

Step 5: Unlock the bootloader of your Nexus device by executing the below command.

fastboot oem unlock

Make sure to confirm the selection on your Nexus 5 or 7 by pressing the Volume up button. Once the bootloader has been unlocked, proceed to the next step.

Step 5: If you are running Windows, copy-paste the following command in the Terminal/command prompt window -:

flash-all.bat

On a Mac, copy-paste the following command -:

./flash-all.sh

The script will then automatically flash the full factory image on your Nexus device after which it will automatically reboot. Keep in mind that the first boot is going to take an extremely long time so be patient and don’t start panicking. Even though your Nexus device now has an unlocked bootloader, be rest assured that it will still receive all future OTA updates directly from Google.

Facing any problem? Drop in a comment and we would be glad to help you out.